Show name	The Jay Leno Show
Format	Talk showVariety show
Runtime	60 minutes (with commercials)
Creator	Jay Leno
Presenter	Jay Leno
Narrated	Wally Wingert
Starring	Kevin Eubanks (as bandleader)The Primetime Band
Country	United States
Network	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV)1080i (HDTV)
First aired	September 14, 2009
Last aired	February 9, 2010
Num seasons	1
Num episodes	95
List episodes	List of The Jay Leno Show episodes
Related	''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' }}

''The Jay Leno Show'' is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of ''The Tonight Show''. In January 2010, NBC announced that due to affiliate dissatisfaction, ''Leno'' would be shortened to 30 minutes and moved from primetime to 11:35p.m., the timeslot that had been occupied by ''The Tonight Show'' for nearly 60 years.

''The Tonight Show'' host Conan O'Brien released a public statement saying that he would not participate in moving ''Tonight'' to 12:05 a.m., asserting that it would damage the highly respected franchise. Despite much support for O'Brien from both the public and media professionals alike NBC maintained its plan to move Leno to 11:35. On January 21, 2010, NBC reached a $45 million settlement with O'Brien in order to end his contract. Leno resumed his duties as host of ''Tonight'' on March 1, 2010. ''Leno'' ended on February 9, 2010 after being on the air for only four months, with ''Entertainment Weekly'' calling the program television's "Biggest Bomb of All Time."

History[link]

NBC announced in 2004 that Leno would leave ''Tonight'' in 2009, with Conan O'Brien as his replacement. Leno—who wanted to avoid an acrimonious transition like what he experienced when he inherited ''Tonight'' from Johnny Carson—said at the announcement, "You can do these things until they carry you out on a stretcher, or you can get out when you’re still doing good." He began to regret his decision to retire in 2007, and several networks and studios including ABC, Fox, Sony, and Tribune expressed interest in his services after leaving ''Tonight''.

[[File:Jeff Zucker, CEO of NBC Universal.jpg|thumb|left|150px |alt=Jeff Zucker in a windbreaker, looking to his right.|Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal (2007–2011).]] Jeff Zucker, then-President and CEO of NBC Universal, sought to keep Leno from defecting to a competitor. Leno rejected several NBC offers for free network daytime slots, or cable TV slots, a series of recurring specials, and a half-hour show at 8 pm five nights a week featuring Leno's ''Tonight'' monologue. The network had in 1981 considered moving ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' to 10 pm; Zucker, who in 2007 offered Oprah Winfrey an hour five nights a week at 8 pm, now offered Leno an hour five nights a week at 10 pm. ''Leno'' was announced on December 9, 2008.

At least one station, WHDH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, stated that it would not carry the program, claiming that ''Leno'' would be detrimental to the station's 11 pm news and that it would instead launch a local news program in the time slot. NBC said that such plans would amount to a flagrant violation of the network contract—a claim which WHDH disputed—and said that it would immediately remove its programming from WHDH if the station followed through with the plan. WHDH backed down on April 13, 2009, and announced that it would air ''Leno'' instead of the proposed program.

Though Leno was the first to move the entire five-day-a-week late night talk show to prime time, he was not the first ''Tonight'' alumnus to move from late night to a prime time talk show. Steve Allen hosted ''The Tonight Show'' from 1954 to 1957; while still hosting that show, he began hosting the prime-time ''The Steve Allen Show'' in 1956, and the latter show would run until 1960. Jack Paar, who hosted ''Tonight'' from 1957 to 1962, next hosted a weekly talk show known as ''The Jack Paar Program'' that ran until 1965.

In January 2010, several news outlets reported that ''The Jay Leno Show'' would be shortened to 30 minutes and begin airing weeknights at 11:35 pm ET, with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon's shows following it beginning at 12:05 am. The scheduling change would have been implemented on February 28 after the 2010 Winter Olympics (which preempted much of NBC's primetime and late-night lineup for its duration). Leno himself commented on the rumors during his January 7 monologue, joking that NBC stands for "Never Believe your Contract." According to ''Broadcasting & Cable'', "most [NBC affiliates] are hopeful Jay—and Conan—sticks with NBC, and most, if not all, desperately want to see a change in terms of the lead-in they're getting to their lucrative late news; the affiliates "remain fiercely loyal to Leno and were quick to say the rookie program's struggles don't reflect the funnyman's work ethic or comedic chops. 'This isn't about Jay's popularity,' says WJAR Providence VP/General Manager Lisa Churchville. 'This is about having that kind of show at 10 p.m.'"

NBC announced plans to move ''Leno'' to 11:35 pm and ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' to 12:05 am. O'Brien refused to participate in the move and, on January 21, 2010, reached an agreement with NBC allowing him to leave the network. ''Leno'''s final episode aired on February 9, 2010 and Leno returned to ''Tonight'' as host on March 1, 2010.

Content[link]

''The Jay Leno Show'' aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT (9:00 p.m. CT/MT) from Studio 11 of the NBC Studios in Burbank, California with the following format: After brief opening credits, a monologue of eight to 12 minutes. One celebrity guest, two at the most. The "car-themed" set adjusts to allow guests to get off the couch and participate in antics. Musical segments appear only twice a week, in the middle of the show, and sometimes feature multiple acts performing together. Comedy segments are reserved for the last 15 minutes of the show, the only portion of the show where Leno sometimes uses a desk. Toward the end of the four-month run certain comedy segments such as "Headlines" were moved up to airing right after Jay's monologue, as opposed to being reserved for the end of the show. They include:

* "Headlines" and "Jaywalking", both from ''Tonight''.

The "advertiser-friendly 'Green Car Challenge'". Two to three times each week, celebrities drive an electric Ford Focus and try to set records on a 1,100-foot dedicated outdoor track. The segment is based on the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment on the popular British automotive series ''Top Gear'', which Leno had previously appeared on.

"Ten at Ten", "in which celebs and other newsmakers . . . answer a rapid-fire series of ten 'ridiculous, celebrity-based questions.' The ten at ten guest would not be in the studio, but would instead appear via satellite from some other location. When the off-site location was in the Central or Mountain Time Zones, the skit would be changed to 9 at 9 (since these time zones have all programming one hour earlier in their local time than the coastal time zones), which was the same except would only be nine questions."

Comic "correspondents" such as D. L. Hughley, Dan Finnerty, Mikey Day, Rachael Harris, and Jim Norton do pretaped segments.

One planned segment, "Stories Not Good Enough for the NBC Nightly News" (which would have featured ''NBC Nightly News'' anchor Brian Williams), was dropped from the show before it made it to air.

In addition to reserving comedy segments for the end, the network aired no commercials after the show and "urged local affiliates to do the same" so local news could start immediately, retaining as many ''Leno'' viewers as possible.

Recurring segments[link]

"Headlines" (Monday): Humorous print items sent in by viewers. These real-life headlines are usually headlines with typographical errors, or unintentionally inappropriate items. The segment usually starts out with a fake, humorous headline during the introduction for the segment, such as ''Arabs Wish Bush "A Happy Shoe Year!"''.

"Jaywalking": A pre-taped segment, "Jaywalking" is a play on the host's name and the illegal practice of jaywalking. Leno asks people questions about current news and other topics in public areas around Los Angeles (usually Hollywood Boulevard, Melrose Avenue or Universal Studios). Most responses are outrageously incorrect; for example, one person believed that Abraham Lincoln was the first president, and another could not identify a picture of Hillary Clinton. Sometimes the questions are of the "What color is the White House?" level, such as asking in what country the Panama Canal is located. Up to 15 people are interviewed in an hour or less for each segment, with about nine interviews used on the air.

JMZ: A parody of TMZ, a segment in which they report on fake celebrity news with such guest stars as Chuck Liddell.

Ten@Ten: Jay interviews a celebrity via satellite by asking them 10 questions. Some editions have only used 9 questions, calling it the "Nine@Nine" as a reference to the central time zone.

Green Car Challenge: A segment in which celebrities go in a car and try to be the fastest in a track with obstacles. Tim Allen is in the lead; Rush Limbaugh has the record worst time (though he did so on purpose), and so far Leno hasn't tried yet.

Photo Booth: A pre-taped segment in which someone goes in a Photo Booth and something is amiss

Stuff We Found on eBay: Leno brings up some of the oddest stuff that he has supposedly found while searching on eBay, and the studio audience.

Ross the Intern: Ross Mathews, an intern for the show, is sent to participate in special events. As part of a running gag, Leno started introducing Ross as his illegitimate son.

First show[link]

Jerry Seinfeld was the celebrity guest on the debut episode. Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West performed "Run This Town", in which all three are featured. West sat down for a previously unplanned interview with Leno, discussing West's outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards the previous night. Dan Finnerty was the comic correspondent for the night, and the end of the show featured Headlines.

Reviews for the first show ranged from neutral to negative, with most critics stating that the show was, despite the changes, still very similar to ''Tonight''. Metacritic scores it at 48 out of 100 based on 23 TV critic reviews, and viewers scoring it at a 4.0 out of 10. ''Media Life'' described the show as "underwhelming" and felt that Leno "failed to rise to the occasion." ''The Buffalo News'' called the show "a mess." The Associated Press noted that "it's not a good sign when the Bud Light commercial is funnier than the comedy show it interrupts," and that "at least ''Rosie Live'' took some chances." Jonah Krakow of IGN gave it a 5.5/10 saying that "show felt like they just picked from where they left off three months ago, and I'm not sure that's a good thing".

Final show[link]

The final ''Jay Leno Show'' aired on February 9, 2010. The guests were Ashton Kutcher, Gabourey Sidibe and Bob Costas, with unannounced visits from Donald Trump and Kurt Warner. Following the monologue, there was a brief clip reel of highlights from the show's short tenure; otherwise, little mention was made about the fact that it was the final episode of the program. The last moments of the show featured the program's "10 at 10" segment, with its celebrity guest being Bob Costas. When Leno asked Costas how it felt to be the show's final guest, the sportscaster replied, "Kind of like being involved in the last game of a Clippers season, isn't it?" Directly following the interview with Costas, Leno thanked him, told the audience to stay tuned for their local news, and then abruptly went off-air.

Many media outlets criticized Leno's apparent lack of ceremony for the end of his program. ''Variety'' reported that the lack of fanfare was intentional, as NBC is attempting to rehab the reputation of Leno and ''The Tonight Show'' and did not desire to bring any further attention to Leno's transition back to ''Tonight''. ''The Associated Press'' noted that the last few weeks of the program, including the final episode, were pervaded by "bad vibes." The ''Boston Globe'' wrote that Leno said farewell to his short-lived show "with all the momentousness of a guy taking out the trash." The episode received negative reviews from ''Entertainment Weekly'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', and ''The Wall Street Journal''.

Impact[link]

Economics[link]

Leno had a contract for five years for the show. NBC reportedly had an option to cancel after two years, but had committed to at least one or two years regardless of ratings, although later chose to end the show after less than five months. He could have earned up to $30 million each year depending on ratings for ''Leno'', compared to a $20 million annual salary during his last years at ''Tonight''.

NBC originally expected to benefit by offering an inexpensive comedic alternative to the procedurals ("100% more comedy and 98% fewer murders!") and other one-hour dramas that typically air at 10 pm, and by offering new episodes 46 weeks each year versus 22. While ''Leno'' was not necessarily expected to be competitive with the higher-rated scripted shows on ABC and CBS in its time slot, its projected cost of production was far lower and thus it was expected to be profitable to the network, and product integration intended to make the show "as DVR-proof as you can be on television in this era". Each airing of ''Leno'' costs about $350,000 to $400,000 versus up to $3 million for an hour-long drama, saving NBC $13 million each week without the network needing the show to beat its competitors. Those costs include the services of 22 writers, whom Leno called the "top 5% of the highest-paid . . . in the Guild."

McDonald's became the first buying advertiser for the program, tying in their "Million Dollar Roll" nightly in October 2009 promoting that year's version of McDonald's Monopoly.

Ratings[link]

Leno did not expect his show to beat competing first-run episodes, but to do better than reruns, in part because topical jokes benefit from the "immediacy" of the time slot versus 11:30 pm. A television analyst predicted that ''Leno'' would finish in "a safe third place" every night. NBC research before the show's debut indicated that fans of Leno would watch ''Leno'' two to three times a week.

NBC saw a 1.5 rating for the show in the 18–49 demographic as "viable" and a 1.8 as a "home run". NBC told Leno that at a 1.5 rating, NBC makes $300 million a year. ''Tonight'' at 11:30 pm earned about a 1.3 to 1.5; the television audience at 10 pm is 40% larger than at 11:30 pm, and the network hoped ''Leno'''s audience would also grow. Industry observers have cited a range of ratings, from 1.7 to 2, as being necessary for the show to succeed at 10 pm. By comparison, 2.5 is generally necessary for a 10 pm drama to succeed; those that earned a 1.7 or less during the 2008–2009 season were generally cancelled. NBC's prime-time dramas averaged about 2 during 2008–2009.

The first episode of ''The Jay Leno Show'' earned "fast national" estimates of 17.7 million viewers, an 11 Nielsen rating (5.1 among persons 18–49) and an 18 share, significantly above both his ''Tonight'' finale and the debut of ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' in all categories. By the second week and competing against season premieres, the audience fell to six million viewers, still on par with or exceeding NBC projections. As of November 1, 2009, ''The Jay Leno Show'' has averaged a 1.98 in the adults 18–49 ratings and 6.594 million viewers. During the week before Christmas, the ratings dropped to 1.4 during the week. Prior to the controversy regarding the move of the ''Jay Leno Show'' to 11:35 p.m., viewership bottomed out at 4.799 million viewers, although there was a slight bump as word of the controversy broke.

Though the show had been meeting the network's projections for the show itself, it has been severely detrimental to the ratings of the late local news on NBC affiliates. Several stations across the country have seen what is known as the "Leno Effect", where the lower audience for Leno (as compared to NBC's scripted prime time offerings) translated directly into a domino effect of severe audience drops for late local news (on the order of 25–30%), effects that NBC had underestimated.

Dispute over timeslot[link]

In early January 2010, multiple media outlets reported that, following the 2010 Winter Olympics, ''The Jay Leno Show'' would be shortened to 30 minutes and begin airing weeknights at 11:35 pm ET, with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon's shows following it beginning at 12:05 am on March 1, 2010. On January 10, NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed that ''The Jay Leno Show'' would indeed move to 11:35.

Leno immediately accepted the return to 11:35 p.m., calling the move "all business." He had made it known in the press as recently as November 2009 that he wished to return to his old timeslot; behind the scenes, Leno had privately indicated that he did not believe the 10:00 experiment would work. On the other hand, O'Brien's contract stipulated that the network could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty, a loophole put in primarily to accommodate sports preemptions and specials such as ''New Year's Eve with Carson Daly''.

O'Brien did not seriously respond for several days after the announcement, then drafted a press release explaining why he felt it was unfair to him, his staff, Fallon, and the legacy of ''The Tonight Show'' to move the show past midnight. He concluded by saying that he "cannot participate in what I honestly believe is [''The Tonight Show'''s] destruction." O'Brien received an outpouring of celebrity and viewer support for rejecting the move, while Leno received heavy criticism. On January 21, O'Brien signed a $45 million deal allowing him to leave the network, and aired his final episode of ''Tonight'' on January 22; Leno returned as host of ''Tonight'' on March 1.

Settlement[link]

On January 19, multiple media outlets reported that O'Brien and NBC were close to signing a deal between $30 and $40 million for the host to walk away from network. One apparent sticking point in the negotiations was the amount his staff and crew will be paid for leaving the program. Reports also said that the contract could prohibit O'Brien from badmouthing NBC in any way, and that he may be able to return to television as early as September 2010. O'Brien eventually signed a deal with cable network TBS and his new show, simply titled ''Conan'' debuted on November 8.

On January 21, after two weeks of negotiations, it was announced that Conan O'Brien had signed a $45 million deal to leave NBC. ''The Wall Street Journal'' reports that O'Brien will receive about $32 million. it does not, however, contain the previously rumored "mitigation clause," in which NBC would be able to keep some of the severance pay after O'Brien finds a new program. It also stipulates that he could have returned to television as early as September 1, 2010. The network confirmed that Leno would officially resume as host of ''The Tonight Show'' on March 1. TMZ has reported that NBC will rerun episodes from O'Brien's time as host until the network begins airing the Olympics on February 12.

Industry impact[link]

NBC became the first large United States network to broadcast the same show every weekday during prime time since ABC's ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' marathons in 1999 and only the second since DuMont aired ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' from 1949 to 1955. More recently, the upstart MyNetwork TV had attempted, upon its launch in 2006, to air the same telenovelas every night of the week, a programming strategy that proved to be very unsuccessful. NBC's executives called the decision "a transformational moment in the history of broadcasting" and "in effect, launching five shows." An industry observer said that ''Leno'', "in all my years, is the biggest risk a network has ever taken." According to former NBC president Fred Silverman, "If the ''Leno Show'' works, it will be the most significant thing to happen in broadcast television in the last decade."

Although NBC has not developed a new hit show at 10 pm in years, industry executives criticized the network for abandoning a history of airing quality dramas at that hour such as ''Hill Street Blues'', ''St. Elsewhere'', and ''ER'', which made NBC "the gold standard for sophisticated programming . . . the No. 1 network for affluent and well-educated young viewers" during the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, critics predicted that the decision would hurt NBC by undermining a reputation built on successful scripted shows. Other networks believed NBC's decision created an opportunity, and planned their 2009–2010 schedules accordingly. For example, the show competed with ''The Mentalist'', ''CSI: Miami'', ''CSI: NY'', and ''Numb3rs'', four of television's most popular series, on CBS (the first of those four series was moved to 10:00 PM to directly compete with Leno's show, and significantly improved the ratings for that timeslot compared to its predecessor). ''Leno'' was also not easily sold overseas.

The January 29, 2010 issue of "Entertainment Weekly" listed the show at the top of a list of the 50 Biggest Bombs in television history. The comment made by the network executives about "launching five shows" was ultimately transformed into the joke that its removal was like "cancelling five shows". ''TV Guide'' similarly listed the show as the biggest blunder in television history in its November 1, 2010 edition.

Boycott by competing networks[link]

Rival networks ABC and CBS had discouraged "their stars" from appearing on ''The Jay Leno Show'' in its primetime slot. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (''The New Adventures of Old Christine'') was the first CBS actor to appear on the show, on September 29, 2009; on that episode, she said "there was a little pressure, because as you know you are now on prime time", but that "Obviously, I committed to doing your show and we’re friends". This boycott has not affected ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' nor is it industry-wide. Other TV networks, like Fox, The CW, and HBO, have been more encouraging. Hugh Laurie from the Fox TV show ''House'' was a guest on the September 25, 2009, telecast. ''House'' is produced by Universal Media Studios, a sister company to NBC through NBC Universal, and Fox does not offer any network programming in the 10 p.m. time slots, instead allowing most of its affiliates to go to local news.

In a ''Broadcasting & Cable'' interview published in early November 2009, Leno mentioned the boycott again, saying "I'm flattered; like ABC and CBS...none of their stars can appear on the show. What are you so afraid of if we're doing so terrible? It's all part of the game."

Labor union impact[link]

John Wells, the president of the Writers Guild of America, West, and executive producer of prominent NBC shows ''ER'' and ''The West Wing'', said, "I wish NBC and Jay Leno well; personally, he's a very nice guy, but I hope he falls flat on his face and we get five dramas back."

Website dispute[link]

In 2004, Guadalupe Zambrano, a Texas real estate agent, registered the domain name thejaylenoshow.com to redirect to his real estate business. After the ''Leno'' announcement, Leno accused Zambrano of cybersquatting. Zambrano contended that he had owned the domain for five years, well before the announcement, thus precluding recovery. The UDRP proceedings ruled in favor of Leno, however, stating that Zambrano profited from the value of the Jay Leno trademark in bad faith.

International broadcasting[link]

In Australia, The Comedy Channel on Pay TV aired the show on a same-day turn around Weeknights at 7.30pm AEST. Free-to-air channel 7Two also aired the program at 6.00pm usually on a 30-hour delay. It moved to middays on January 18, 2010 but ran until September 24, 2010 when 7TWO changed the format to a Best-of British oriented channel following the launch of sister HD channel 7mate. In Canada, Citytv simulcast ''Leno'' with NBC during the 2009–2010 season, requesting simultaneous substitution where applicable.

In Portugal, SIC Mulher aired the showy Monday and Tuesday at 00.30am.

In Israel, yes stars Comedy aired the show Sundays-Thursdays at 8.00pm. In Finland, The Jay Leno Show aired on MTV3 MAX on weeknights; because of subtitling, the episodes were shown three days after their US broadcast. In Sweden, The Jay Leno Show aired on Kanal 9 on weeknights. Episodes were broadcast one week after their original US airing. Westwood One provided audio of the monologue as a short-form feature, under the title ''Last Night on The Jay Leno Show'', to radio stations in the United States and Canada, replacing the discontinued ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' feature.

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:2000s American television series Category:2010s American television series Category:2009 American television series debuts Category:2010 American television series endings Category:American variety television series Category:American television talk shows Category:Burbank, California Category:NBC network shows Category:Jay Leno Category:English-language television series

fr:The Jay Leno Show fi:The Jay Leno Show sv:Jay Leno Show

Name	Jay Leno
Birth name	James Douglas Muir Leno
Birth date	April 28, 1950
Height
Birth place	New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
Medium	Television, Film, Stand up
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Emerson College
Active	1973–present
Genre	Observational comedy, Political satire
Subject	American culture, Everyday life
Influences	Johnny Carson, Robert Klein, Alan King, George Carlin, Don Rickles, Bob Newhart, Rodney Dangerfield
Influenced	Dennis Miller
Website	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Spouse	Mavis Leno (1980–present)
Signature	Jay Leno Autograph.svg
Notable work	''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' (host, 1992–2009, 2010–)''The Jay Leno Show''(host, 2009–2010)

}} James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno (born April 28, 1950) is an American stand-up comedian and television host.

From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled ''The Jay Leno Show'', which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, UTC-5), also on NBC. After ''The Jay Leno Show'' was canceled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' on March 1, 2010.

Early life[link]

James "Jay" Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1950. His mother, Catherine (née Muir; 1911–1993), a homemaker, was born in Greenock, Scotland, and came to the United States at age 11. Her schooling was limited and as a result she prized her children's successes. Leno's father, Angelo (1910–1994), who worked as an insurance salesman, was born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, and although his high school guidance counselor recommended that he drop out of school, he later obtained a Bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Emerson College, where he started a comedy club in 1973. Leno's siblings include his late older brother, Patrick, who was a Vietnam veteran and a lawyer.

Career[link]

During the 1970s, Leno appeared in minor roles in several television series and films, first in the 1976 episode "J.J. in Trouble" of ''Good Times'' and the same year in the pilot of ''Holmes & Yo-Yo''. After an uncredited appearance in the 1977 film ''Fun with Dick and Jane'', he played more prominent parts in 1978 in ''American Hot Wax'' and ''Silver Bears''. Other films and television series from that period include ''Almost Heaven'' (1978), "Going Nowhere" (1979) from ''One Day at a Time'', ''Americathon'' (1979), ''Polyester'' (1981), "The Wild One" (1981) from ''Alice'', "Feminine Mistake" (1979) and "Do the Carmine" (1983) from ''Laverne & Shirley''.

''The Tonight Show''[link]

Starting in 1987, Leno was a regular substitute host for Johnny Carson on ''The Tonight Show''. In 1992, he replaced Carson as host amid controversy with David Letterman, who had been hosting ''Late Night with David Letterman'' since 1982 (aired after The Tonight Show), who many had expected to be Carson's successor. The story of this turbulent transition was later turned into a book and a movie. Leno continued to perform as a stand-up comedian throughout his tenure on ''The Tonight Show''.

In 2004, Leno signed a contract extension with NBC which would keep him as host of ''The Tonight Show'' until 2009. Later in 2004, Conan O'Brien signed a contract with NBC under which O'Brien would become the host of ''The Tonight Show'' in 2009, replacing Leno at that time.

During the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, Leno was accused of violating WGA guidelines by writing his own monologue for ''The Tonight Show''. While NBC and Leno claim there were private meetings with the WGA where there was a secret agreement allowing this, the WGA denied such a meeting. Leno answered questions in front of the Writers Guild of America, West trial committee in February 2009 and June 2009, and when the WGAW published its list of strike-breakers on 11 August 2009, Leno was not on the list.

In 1998, Leno competed in a tag-team match at the WCW's "Road Wild" pay-per-view . In 2001, he voiced The Crimson Chin, a superhero in the Nickelodeon animated series The Fairly OddParents and continues to do so today.

Leno said in 2008 that he was saving all of his income from ''The Tonight Show'' and living solely off his income from stand-up comedy.

On April 23, 2009, Leno checked himself into a hospital with an undisclosed illness. He was released the following day and returned to work on Monday, April 27. The two subsequently cancelled ''Tonight Show'' episodes for April 23 and April 24 were Leno's first in 17 years as host. Initially, the illness that caused the absence was not disclosed, but later Leno told People magazine that the ailment was exhaustion.

Michael Jackson trial[link]

In the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson over allegations of child molestation, Leno appeared as a defense witness (many celebrity defense witnesses had been expected, but Leno was one of the few whose testimony was actually needed). In his testimony regarding a call by the accuser, Leno testified that he never called the police, that no money was asked for, and there was no coaching — but that the calls seemed unusual and scripted.

As a result, Leno was initially not allowed to continue telling jokes about Jackson or the case, which had been a fixture of ''The Tonight Show'''s opening monologue in particular. But he and his show's writers used a legal loophole by having Leno briefly step aside while stand-in comedians took the stage and told jokes about the trial. Stand-ins included Roseanne Barr, Drew Carey, Brad Garrett, and Dennis Miller among others.

Succession by Conan O'Brien and ''The Jay Leno Show''[link]

Because Leno's show continued to lead all late-night programming in the Nielsen ratings, the pending expiration of Leno's contract led to speculation about whether he would become a late-night host for another network after his commitment to NBC expired. Leno left ''The Tonight Show'' on Friday May 29, 2009, and Conan O'Brien took over on June 1, 2009.

On December 8, 2008, it was reported that Leno would remain on NBC and move to a new hour-long show at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. Central Time) five nights a week. This show follows a similar format to ''The Tonight Show'', tapes at the same lot, and retains many of Leno's most popular segments. ''Late Night'' host Conan O'Brien was his successor on ''The Tonight Show''.

Jay Leno's new show, titled ''The Jay Leno Show'', debuted on September 14, 2009. It was announced at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that it would feature one or two celebrities, the occasional musical guest, and keep the popular "Headlines" segments, which would air near the end of the show. First guests included Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey (via satellite), and a short sit-down with Kanye West discussing his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Timeslot conflict and return to ''The Tonight Show''[link]

In their new roles, neither O'Brien nor Leno succeeded in delivering the viewing audiences the network anticipated. On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10pm weeknight time slot to 11:35pm, due to a combination of pressure from local affiliates whose newscasts were suffering, and both Leno's and O'Brien's poor ratings. Leno's show would be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes. All NBC late night programming would be preempted by the 2010 Winter Olympics between February 15 and February 26. This would move ''The Tonight Show'' to 12:05am, a post-midnight timeslot for the first time in its history. O'Brien's contract stipulated that NBC could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty (a clause put in primarily to accommodate sports preemptions).

On January 10, NBC confirmed that they would move Jay Leno out of primetime as of February 12 and intended to move him to late night as soon as possible. TMZ reported that O'Brien was given no advance notice of this change, and that NBC offered him two choices: an hour-long 12:05am time slot, or the option to leave the network. On January 12, O'Brien issued a press release that stated he would not continue with ''Tonight'' if it moved to a 12:05am time slot, saying, "I believe that delaying ''The Tonight Show'' into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. ''The Tonight Show'' at 12:05 simply isn’t ''The Tonight Show.''"

On January 21, it was announced that NBC had struck a deal with O'Brien. It was decided that O'Brien would leave ''The Tonight Show''. The deal was made that O'Brien would receive a $33 million payout and that his staff of almost 200 would receive $12 million in the departure. O'Brien's final episode aired on Friday, January 22. Leno returned as host of ''The Tonight Show'' following the 2010 Winter Olympics on March 1, 2010.

On July 1, 2010, ''Variety'' reported that total viewership for Jay Leno's ''Tonight Show'' had dropped from 5 million to 4 million for the second quarter of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009. Although this represented the lowest second-quarter ratings for the show since 1992, ''Tonight'' was still the most-watched late night program, ahead of ABC's ''Nightline'' (3.7 million) and David Letterman's ''Late Show'' (3.3 million). Ratings over the following summer, when compared to the same period in 2009 with O'Brien hosting ''The Tonight Show'' (including O'Brien's highly rated debut), showed that while total viewership was 12% higher for Leno, viewership in the important "adults aged 18–49" demographic was 23% lower. NBC ratings specialist Tom Bierbaum commented that due to the host being out of late night television for a period of time and the subsequent 2010 Tonight Show conflict, Leno's ratings fall was "not a surprise at all".

Public image[link]

Criticism of Leno[link]

Leno has faced heated criticism and some negative publicity for his perceived role in the 2010 ''Tonight Show'' timeslot conflict. Critics have pointed to a 2004 ''Tonight Show'' clip, wherein Leno claimed he would allow O'Brien to take over without incident. At the time, Leno stated he didn't want O'Brien to leave for a competing network, adding, "I'll be 59 when [the switch occurs], that's five years from now. There's really only one person who could have done this into his 60s, and that was Johnny Carson; I think it's fair to say I'm no Johnny Carson." Leno also described ''The Tonight Show'' as a dynasty, saying "you hold it and hand it off to the next person. And I don't want to see all the fighting..." At the end of the segment, he said, "Conan, it's yours! See you in five years, buddy!"

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt was among the first celebrities to openly voice disappointment with Leno, saying, "Comedians who don't like Jay Leno now, and I'm one of them, we're not like, 'Jay Leno sucks;' it's that we're so hurt and disappointed that one of the best comedians of our generation... willfully has shut the switch off." Rosie O'Donnell has been among O'Brien's most vocal and vehement supporters, calling Leno a "bully" and his recent actions "classless and kind of career-defining."

Bill Zehme, the co-author of Leno's autobiography ''Leading with My Chin'', told the ''Los Angeles Times'': "The thing Leno should do is walk, period. He's got everything to lose in terms of public popularity by going back. People will look at him differently. He'll be viewed as the bad guy."

Support for Leno[link]

NBC Sports head executive and former ''Saturday Night Live'' producer Dick Ebersol spoke out against all who had recently mocked Leno, calling them "chicken-hearted and gutless."

Jeff Gaspin also defended Leno: "This has definitely crossed the line. Jay Leno is the consummate professional and one of the hardest-working people in television. It's a shame that he's being pulled into this."

Paul Reiser and Jerry Seinfeld are two of the number of celebrities to have voiced support for Leno.

Responding to the mounting criticism, Leno claimed that NBC had assured him that O'Brien was willing to accept the proposed arrangement and then would not let either host out of his contract. Leno also said that the situation was "all business." He appeared on the January 28 episode of ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' in an attempt to repair some of the damage done to his public image.

Personal life[link]

Leno has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno; they have no children.

He is known for his prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibular prognathism. In the book ''Leading with My Chin'' he stated that he is aware of surgery that could reset his mandible, but does not wish to endure a prolonged healing period with his jaws wired shut.

Leno is dyslexic. He claims to sleep only four to five hours each night. Leno does not drink or smoke, nor does he gamble. He spends most of his free time visiting car collections or working in his private garage.

Leno reportedly earns $32 million each year; his total net worth is unknown, but has been estimated to be at least $150 million.

Charity[link]

In 2001, along with his wife, he donated $100,000 to the Feminist Majority's campaign to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan, to educate the public regarding the plight of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Mavis Leno is on the board of the Feminist Majority.

In 2009, he donated $100,000 to a scholarship fund at Salem State College in honor of Lennie Sogoloff. Mr. Sogoloff gave Leno his start at his jazz club, Lennie's-on-the-Turnpike.

Love Ride[link]

Since 1985 Jay Leno has been the grand marshal for the Love Ride, a motorcycle charity event which since its founding in 1984 has raised nearly $14 million dollars for charities benefiting muscular dystrophy research and, in 2011, Autism Speaks.

Vehicle collection[link]

Leno owns approximately 100 vehicles, not including about 90 motorcycles. He also has a website called "Jay Leno's Garage," which contains video clips and photos of his automobiles in detail.

He has a regular column in ''Popular Mechanics'' which showcases his car collection and gives advice about various automotive topics, including restoration and unique models, such as his jet-powered motorcycle and solar-powered hybrid. Leno also writes occasional "Motormouth" articles for ''The Sunday Times'', reviewing high-end sports cars and giving his humorous take on automotive matters.

References[link]

External links[link]

Official ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' web site

Jay Leno's Car Collection

Jay Leno's Columns at Octane magazine

''The New York Times'' on Leno's affiliation with McPherson College

Live performance videos from the Tonight Show

Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American voice actors Category:Actors from New York Category:American television actors Category:American film actors Category:Emerson College alumni Category:California Democrats Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Car collectors Category:Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Andover, Massachusetts Category:People from New Rochelle, New York Category:SEMA Members Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Scottish descent

am:ጀይ ለኖ ar:جاي لينو bg:Джей Лено cs:Jay Leno da:Jay Leno de:Jay Leno es:Jay Leno eo:Jay Leno fa:جی لنو fr:Jay Leno gl:Jay Leno id:Jay Leno is:Jay Leno it:Jay Leno he:ג'יי לנו hu:Jay Leno nl:Jay Leno ja:ジェイ・レノ no:Jay Leno pl:Jay Leno pt:Jay Leno ro:Jay Leno ru:Лено, Джей simple:Jay Leno fi:Jay Leno sv:Jay Leno th:เจย์ เลโน tr:Jay Leno zh:杰·雷诺

name	Jimmy Kimmel
birth name	James Christian Kimmel
birth date	November 13, 1967
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, USA
medium	Radio, Television, Film, Stand up
nationality	American
active	1989–present
genre	Observational comedy, Black comedy, Satire, Deadpan
subject	American politics, Celebrities, Everyday life, Sex
influences	David Letterman
spouse	Gina Kimmel (1988–2002; divorced; 2 children)
domesticpartner	Sarah Silverman (2002–2007; 2008–2009) Molly McNearney (2009–present)
notable work	Creator and Host of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' (ABC) Creator and Co-Host of ''The Man Show''co-host of ''Win Ben Stein's Money'' (Comedy Central)co-host of ''Crank Yankers''

}} James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American comedian, actor, voice artist and television host. He is the host of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's ''The Man Show'' and ''Win Ben Stein's Money''. Kimmel is also a television producer, having produced shows such as ''Crank Yankers'', ''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'', and ''The Andy Milonakis Show''.

Early life[link]

Kimmel was born in the Mill Basin neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the eldest of three children of Joann (née Iacono), a homemaker, and James Kimmel, an IBM executive. He is Roman Catholic and, as a child, served as an altar boy. Kimmel is of German and Irish descent on his father’s side and Italian descent on his mother’s side. His uncle, Frank Potenza, appeared on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' as a regular from 2003 until his death in 2011.

The family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was nine years old. He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School and then attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas for one year before attending Arizona State University for two years without completing a degree.

Career[link]

Radio career[link]

Kimmel began working in the radio industry while in high school, hosting a Sunday night interview show on UNLV's college station KUNV. While attending Arizona State University, he became a popular caller to the KZZP-FM afternoon show hosted by radio personalities Mike Elliott and Kent Voss in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1989, Kimmel landed his first paying job alongside Voss as morning drive co-host of ''The Me and Him Show'' at KZOK-FM in Seattle, Washington. Ten months later, Kimmel and Voss were fired by KZOK (for reasons unknown) and were fired again a year later at WRBQ-FM in Tampa, Florida. Kimmel went from Tampa to host his own show at KCMJ in Palm Springs, California, where Kimmel convinced a young Carson Daly to drop out of college and become his intern. After a morning stint at KRQQ In Tucson, Arizona, Kimmel landed at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. He spent five years as "Jimmy The Sports Guy" for the Kevin and Bean morning show. During this time he met and befriended a struggling comedian named Adam Carolla.

Comedy Central[link]

Kimmel began his television career as the comedic counterpart to Ben Stein on the game show ''Win Ben Stein's Money'', which began airing on Comedy Central in 1997. His quick wit and loutish everyman personality were counterpoints to Stein's monotone performing style and patrician demeanor. The combination earned the pair an Emmy award for Best Game Show Host.

In 1999, during his time with ''Win Ben Stein's Money'', Kimmel was also co-host with Adam Carolla and co-creator (with Daniel Kellison) of Comedy Central's ''The Man Show''. Kimmel permanently left ''Win Ben Stein's Money'' in 2001, replaced by comedian Nancy Pimental, who was eventually replaced by Kimmel's cousin Sal Iacono. ''The Man Show'''s success allowed Kimmel, Carolla and Kellison to create and produce, under the banner Jackhole Industries, ''Crank Yankers'' for Comedy Central (on which Kimmel plays the characters "Elmer Higgins", "Terrence Catheter", "The Nudge", "Karl Malone" and himself), and later ''The Andy Milonakis Show'' for MTV2. Kimmel also produced and co-wrote the feature film ''Windy City Heat'', which won the Comedia Award for Best Film at the Montreal Comedy Festival.

''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''[link]

In January 2003, Kimmel permanently left ''The Man Show'' to host his own late-night talk show, ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on ABC. ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' was briefly also broadcast on Irish digital TV channel 3e. In the April 2007 issue of Stuffmagazine.com, Kimmel was named the "biggest badass on TV". Kimmel said it was an honor but clearly a mistake.

Since the show's second season, it has not actually been broadcast live. This is due to an incident during the 2004 NBA Finals in Detroit, when Kimmel appeared on ABC's halftime show to make an on-air plug for his show. He suggested that if the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, "they're gonna burn the city of Detroit down ... and it's not worth it." Officials with Detroit's ABC affiliate, WXYZ-TV, immediately announced that night's show would not air on the station. Hours later, ABC officials pulled that night's show from the entire network. Kimmel later apologized. The incident led ABC officials to force Kimmel to tape his show an hour before it airs in most of the country to check for offending content.

Kimmel usually ends his show with, "My apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time." When Matt Damon did actually appear on the show to be interviewed, he walked in and sat down only to be told just a few seconds later by Kimmel, "Sorry, but once again we are completely out of time." Damon seemed to become angry.

In February 2008 Kimmel showed a mock music video with a panoply of stars called, "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck", as "revenge" after his then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon recorded a similar video, "I'm Fucking Matt Damon". Silverman's video originally aired on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', and became an "instant YouTube sensation." Kimmel's "revenge" video featured himself, Ben Affleck, and a large lineup of stars, particularly in scenes spoofing the 1985 "We Are the World" video: Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford, Dominic Monaghan, Benji Madden and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, Lance Bass, Macy Gray, Josh Groban, Huey Lewis, Perry Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Pete Wentz, Meat Loaf, Rebecca Romijn, Christina Applegate, Dom Joly, Mike Shinoda, Lauren Conrad, and Joan Jett, among others. After this Jimmy's sidekick, Guillermo, appeared in a spoof of The Bourne Ultimatum, which starred Damon. He was then chased down by Damon as Matt cursed about Kimmel being behind all this. Guillermo also stopped Damon on the red carpet one time and before he could finish the interview he said, "Sorry we are out of time." The most recent encounter was titled "The Handsome Men's Club" which featured Kimmel, along with the "Handsome Men", who were: Matthew McConaughey, Rob Lowe, Lenny Kravitz, Patrick Dempsey, Sting, Keith Urban, John Krasinski, Ethan Hawke, Josh Hartnett, Tony Romo, Ted Danson, Taye Diggs, Gilles Marini, and Ben Affleck, speaking about being handsome and all the jobs that come with it. At the end of the skit Kimmel has a door slammed in his face by none other than Matt Damon, stating that they had run out of time and then Damon continues with a sinister laugh. Jennifer Garner also makes a surprise appearance.

As a tradition, celebrities voted off ''Dancing with the Stars'' appear on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', causing Kimmel to describe himself as "the three-headed dog the stars must pass on their way to No-Dancing Hell". In the 2008 season of his show, Kimmel started another tradition of ceremonially burning the dancers' shoes after they were voted off ''DWTS''.

Other television work[link]

In Spring 1996, Kimmel appeared as "Jimmy the Fox Guy" in promos on the Fox network.

Kimmel's other television work included being the on-air football prognosticator for ''Fox NFL Sunday'' for four years. He has had numerous appearances on other talk shows including, but not limited to, ''Live with Regis and Kelly'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', and ''The Late Show with David Letterman''. Kimmel has appeared on ''The Late Show'' five times, most recently in 2010. Kimmel served as roastmaster for the New York Friars' Club Roast of Hugh Hefner and Comedy Central Roasts of ''Pamela Anderson''. He has appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, along with his parking lot security guard Guillermo.

In August 2006, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel would be the host of their new game show ''Set for Life''. The show debuted on July 20, 2007. On April 6, 2007, Kimmel filled in for Larry King on ''Larry King Live''. That particular show was about the paparazzi and Kimmel reproached Emily Gould, an editor from Gawker.com, about the web site's alleged stalking of celebrities. On July 8, 2007, Kimmel managed the National League in the 2007 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game in San Francisco. He played in the game in 2004 and 2006 (Houston and Pittsburgh). On July 11, 2007, Kimmel along with basketball player LeBron James, hosted the 2007 ''ESPY Awards''. The show aired on ESPN on July 15, 2007. Kimmel hosted the American Music Awards on ABC four times, in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Kimmel guest hosted ''Live with Regis and Kelly'' during the week of October 22, 2007 – October 26, 2007, commuting every day between New York and Los Angeles. In the process, he broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest distance () travelled in one work week.

Kimmel has performed in several animated films, often voicing dogs. His voice appeared in ''Garfield'' and ''Road Trip'', and he portrayed Death's Dog in the ''Family Guy'' episode "Mr. Saturday Knight"; ''Family Guy'' creator Seth McFarlane later presented Kimmel with a figurine of his character on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. Kimmel also did voice work for ''Robot Chicken''. Kimmel's cousin "Sal" (Sal Iacono) has accepted and won a wrestling match with WWE superstar Santino Marella. On January 14, 2010, in the midst of the 2010 Tonight Show host and time slot conflict, Kimmel was the special guest of Jay Leno on ''The Jay Leno Show'''s "10 at 10" segment. Kimmel derided Leno in front of a live studio audience for taking back the 11:35 pm time slot from Conan O'Brien, and repeatedly insulted Leno. He ended the segment with a plea that Leno "leave our shows alone," as Kimmel and O'Brien had "kids" while Leno only had "cars".

Kimmel also made a brief appearance in the TV commercial "There's A Soldier In All Of Us" promoting the 2010 video game ''Call of Duty: Black Ops'', along with Kobe Bryant. He is seen taking cover from bullets, then firing an RPG-7 with the words ''PROUD N00b'' on it, with the aftershock from the weapon sending him tumbling backwards.

He has been asked to host the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards which will air on September 23, 2012, marking his first time hosting the event.

Kimmel hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2012.

Personal life[link]

Kimmel and his then girlfriend, Gina, married in June 1988. They have two children, Katie (born 1991) and Kevin (born 1993). The marriage ended in separation in early 2002. Kimmel then dated comedian Sarah Silverman for five years, splitting with her in March 2009. He started dating current girlfriend, Molly McNearney, in October 2009. McNearney is also a co-head writer for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live''.

Kimmel plays the bass clarinet. He got a chance to showcase his talent during a July 20, 2008, concert in Costa Mesa, California, featuring the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, when he took the stage and played bass clarinet on their hit song "The Impression That I Get."

Kimmel has spoken publicly of being a narcoleptic.

Kimmel co-founded the annual LA Feast of San Gennaro, which celebrates Italian culture through entertainment, music and cuisine. The festival also honors outstanding members of the Los Angeles community and raises funds to aid needy children and families in the city. He hosted Los Angeles' eighth annual feast of San Gennaro from September 28 to 30, 2009. Kimmel served as Master of Ceremonies for the National Italian American Foundation's 34th Anniversary Gala in Washington, D.C., on October 24, 2009.

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live website

JimmyKimmel.Net

Jimmy Kimmel appears on Michael Eisner's talkshow on CNBC

Jimmy Kimmel interview

Appearance on HGTV's ''Designer's Challenge''

Jimmy is Maxim's No. 2 Dudeliest Dude 2007

Category:1967 births Category:Actors from Nevada Category:Actors from New York City Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American game show hosts Category:American radio personalities Category:American television actors Category:American television producers Category:American television writers Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Radio personalities from the Las Vegas Valley Category:University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni

ar:جيمي كاميل de:Jimmy Kimmel fr:Jimmy Kimmel id:Jimmy Kimmel it:Jimmy Kimmel he:ג'ימי קימל no:Jimmy Kimmel pl:Jimmy Kimmel pt:Jimmy Kimmel ru:Киммел, Джимми simple:Jimmy Kimmel fi:Jimmy Kimmel sv:Jimmy Kimmel tl:Jimmy Kimmel th:จิมมี คิมเมล

name	Brian Williams
nickname	Briwi
birthname	Brian Douglas Williams
birth date	May 05, 1959
birth place	Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
age	51
education	Brookdale Community College George Washington University The Catholic University of America
occupation	News Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News
years active	1981–present
gender	Male
status	Married
spouse	Jane Gillan Stoddard Williams
salary	$10 million annually
credits	NBC News reporter(1993–2004)''NBC Nightly News'' weekend anchor (1993–1999)''NBC Nightly News'' anchor (2004–present)
url	http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/ }}

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the anchor and managing editor of ''NBC Nightly News'', the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004. Williams was listed among ''Time Magazine's'' 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007, and in 2010, a prominent media observer dubbed him "the Walter Cronkite of the 21st century."

Early life[link]

Williams was reared in a middle-class Irish Catholic home. His father, Gordon L. Williams, was an executive vice president of the National Retail Merchants Association, in New York. During childhood, his family moved from his birthplace, Ridgewood, New Jersey, to Elmira, New York. He lived in Elmira for ten years, before moving to Middletown, New Jersey, when he was in junior high school.

He was graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.

After high school, Wiliams attended Brookdale Community College, before transferring to George Washington University and then The Catholic University of America. He did not graduate, and instead interned with the administration of President Jimmy Carter. He now calls leaving college one of his "great regrets". Brian Williams completed a total of 18 college credits."

Early career[link]

After working in the lobbying arm of the National Association of Broadcasters, Williams began his broadcasting career at KOAM-TV in Joplin, Missouri in 1981. A year later he moved back to Washington, D.C. and worked at WTTG as general assignment reporter. Williams joined NBC News from WCBS-TV in New York in 1993 and became the network's chief White House correspondent in 1994. In 1996, Williams began anchoring ''The News with Brian Williams'' on MSNBC and rebroadcast on CNBC.

''Nightly News''[link]

Williams became anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' on December 2, 2004, and his first year in that post was marked by coverage of two disasters: the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. NBC personnel felt that the program became his program (rather than predecessor Tom Brokaw's) with his coverage of the tsunami, and his reporting on Katrina, including from inside the New Orleans Superdome, was given praise by industry observers. His work helped earn NBC a Peabody Award, the Peabody committee concluding that Williams and the ''Nightly News'' staff "exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence in reporting on Hurricane Katrina."

''Nightly News'' fell behind ABC's ''World News'' in the first half of 2007. ''Nightly News'' regained the lead later in the year and expanded it beginning in the fall of 2008. Williams was compared by Jon Friedman of Marketwatch to Walter Cronkite.

When Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'', his annual salary was reported to be $8 million, and by October 2006, it had reportedly increased to $10 million. He occasionally fills in for Lester Holt on weekends when needed.

On Sunday, May 1, 2011, Williams anchored a simulcast between all NBC affiliates and MSNBC covering the death of Osama bin Laden, going on air before 11:30 pm and continuing coverage until at least 2:00 am.

''Rock Center with Brian Williams''[link]

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, it was announced that Williams would be the host of ''Rock Center with Brian Williams'', a newsmagazine program premiering on Monday, October 31, 2011, at 10:00 pm Eastern, replacing the cancelled drama series ''The Playboy Club''. Named after the nickname of Rockefeller Center, the New York City landmark where NBC Radio City Studios are located, the program would become the first new NBC News program to launch in primetime in nearly two decades.

Appearances[link]

Williams frequently appears on ''The Daily Show'' as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart. He appeared on the ''Weekend Update'' segment of ''Saturday Night Live'' before hosting the program on November 3, 2007.

Brian regularly appears on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', where he slow jams the news of the previous week as Fallon sings and reiterates what Brian says, with The Roots providing the musical backing. He has also made numerous appearances on ''Late Show with David Letterman'' despite its being on CBS, a competing network. During an appearance on July 26, 2011, Williams demonstrated a skilled vocal impersonation of TV personality Regis Philbin. Williams has also appeared on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' where he took part in numerous skits and interviews.

Brian also frequently makes guest appearances on NBC's television comedy ''30 Rock'' as a caricatured version of himself. In the episode The Ones, he's seen at home receiving proposition calls meant for Tracy Jordan. In Audition Day, he auditions to be a new TGS cast member. He also is seen once on the show taunting a CNBC news host. In April 2012, on the West Coast installment of the 30 Rock season 6 live show, Williams portrayed a news anchor covering the Apollo 13 story.

In May 2012, Williams will be speaking at The George Washington University commencement on the national mall.

Personal life[link]

He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Gillan Stoddard Williams, two children, Allison and Douglas Williams, and two dogs.

NASCAR[link]

Williams is an avid fan of NASCAR in both the local and national levels. He was first exposed to auto racing as a child attending races on dirt tracks all over upstate New York. In 1999, Williams was the studio host of the first NASCAR race ever shown on NBC, the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Two years later, at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City, he introduced a videotaped tribute to Dale Earnhardt, who had died at the Daytona 500 some months earlier. Earnhardt and Williams had become close friends.

A 2012 promo for ''Rock Center with Brian Williams'' features a baseball motif, with the journalists' jerseys. Williams' jersey, similar to Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost, in honour of his Earnhardt friendship, carried #3.

Career timeline[link]

1981: KOAM-TV

1982–1984: WTTG-TV correspondent

1985: Panorama Host

1985–1987: WCAU-TV New Jersey correspondent

1987–1993: WCBS-TV Anchor of weekday noon and weekend night newscasts; reporter

1993–1994: NBC News correspondent

1994–1996: NBC News White House correspondent

1996–2004: ''The News with Brian Williams'' anchor

2004–present: ''NBC Nightly News'' anchor

2011–present: ''Rock Center with Brian Williams'' host

References[link]

External links[link]

NBC News Bio

The Daily Nightly - Brian Williams's blog

Bio and photo of Brian Williams — Crain's New York Business 40 under 40 — 1998

Video of talk to journalists group - from SAJAforum.org

''Men's Vogue'' profile of Brian Williams

Chmiel, David, "His Heart Belongs to Jersey", ''New Jersey Monthly'', June 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-19.

C-SPAN ''Q&A;'' interview with Williams, December 26, 2004

Category:American television news anchors Category:Washington, D.C. television anchors Category:New York City television anchors Category:War correspondents Category:Peabody Award winners Category:American bloggers Category:The Catholic University of America alumni Category:People from Middletown Township, New Jersey Category:American people of Irish descent Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:NBC News Category:American journalists Category:American television reporters and correspondents

ar:برايان ويليامز de:Brian Williams (Fernsehjournalist) fa:برایان ویلیامز fr:Brian Williams (journaliste) id:Brian Williams nl:Brian Williams (nieuwslezer) pt:Brian Williams ru:Уильямс, Брайан simple:Brian Williams fi:Brian Williams tr:Brian Williams

Name	Lady Gaga
Alt	Portrait of a young, pale-skinned Caucasian female with blond hair
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Birth date	March 28, 1986
Birth place	New York, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Pop, dance, electronic
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	100pxLady Gaga's signature }}

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and was signed with Streamline Records by the end of 2007. During her employment as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.

Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". After embarking on the The Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro". The album's success allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her most recent album ''Born This Way'' (2011) topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles, including "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Besides her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through her fashion, performances and music videos. She has sold an estimated 23 million albums and 64 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time and her singles are some of the best selling worldwide. Her achievements include five Grammy Awards and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), ranked fourth in VH1's list of 100 Greatest Women in Music, is regularly placed on lists composed by ''Forbes'' magazine and was named one of the most influential people in the world by ''Time'' magazine. In 2012, Gaga was ranked at number four on ''Billboard'''s list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing more than $25 million.

Biography [link]

1986–2004: Early life [link]

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986 in New York City to parents Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an Internet entrepreneur. Descending from Italian and more distant French-Canadian roots, Gaga is the elder of two children. Her sister, Natali, a fashion student, was born in 1992. Despite her seemingly affluent upbringing in the family home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Gaga has stressed that she did not come from a wealthy background, stating that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything—my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."

From the age of 11, Gaga – who was raised Roman Catholic – attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure": "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak." Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1," recalled a former high school classmate. Gaga began playing the piano at the age of 4, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13, and started to perform at open mike nights by the age of 14. Her passion for musical theatre brought her lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in ''Guys and Dolls'' and Philia in ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''. She also appeared in a very small role as a mischievous classmate in the television drama series ''The Sopranos'' in a 2001 episode titled "The Telltale Moozadell" in addition to unsuccessfully auditioning for parts in New York shows.

When her time at the Convent of the Sacred Heart came to an end, her mother encouraged her to apply for the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a musical theatre training conservatory at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. After becoming one of twenty students to gain early admission, she eventually lived in an NYU dorm on 11th Street by the age of 17. CAP21 prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity" where, in addition to sharpening her songwriting skills, she composed essays and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics, including a thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst. With CAP21, she also tried out for and won auditions, including the part of an unsuspecting diner customer for MTV's ''Boiling Points'', a prank reality television show. But Gaga felt more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said.

2005–07: Career beginnings [link]

Gaga withdrew from CAP21 at 19, in the second semester of her sophomore year, deciding to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll at Tisch if unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she remembers. Settled in a small apartment on Rivington Street towards the summer of 2005, Gaga recorded a couple of songs with hip-hop singer Grandmaster Melle Mel, for an audio book accompanying the children's book ''The Portal in the Park'', by Cricket Casey. She also began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand) with some friends from NYU – guitarist Calvin Pia, bassist Eli Silverman, drummer Alex Beckham and booking manager Frank Fredericks – in September of that year. The band played a mixture of songs: some self-penned alongside classic rock numbers like Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er". Playing in bars like the Greenwich Village's The Bitter End and the Lower East Side's the Mercury Lounge, the band developed a small fan base and caught the eye of music producer Joe Vulpis. Soon after arranging time in Vulpis' studio in the months that followed, SGBand were selling their extended plays ''Words'' and ''Red and Blue'' (both 2005) at gigs around New York while becoming a local fixture of the downtown Lower East Side club scene.

SGBand reached their career peak at the 2006 Songwriters Hall of Fame New Songwriters Showcase at The Cutting Room in June where Wendy Starland, a musician, appeared as a talent scout for music producer Rob Fusari. Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had written and compose new material with the music producer. While in collaboration, Fusari compared some of her vocal harmonies to those of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. It was Fusari who helped create the moniker Gaga after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". Gaga was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name when she received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga." He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga'. That was her entrance song" and that the text message was the result of a predictive text glitch that changed "radio" to "lady". She texted back, "That's it," and declared, "Don't ever call me Stefani again." ''The New York Post'', however, has reported that this story is incorrect, and that the name resulted from a marketing meeting.

Although the musical relationship between Fusari and Gaga was unsuccessful at first, the pair soon set up a company titled Team Lovechild in which they recorded and produced electropop tracks and sent them to music industry bosses. Joshua Sarubin, the head of A&R; at Def Jam Recordings, responded positively and vied for the record company to take a chance on her "unusual and provocative" performance. After having his boss Antonio "L.A." Reid in agreement, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006 with the intention of having an album ready in nine months. However, she was dropped by the label after only three months – an unfortunate period of her life that would later inspire her treatment for the music video for her 2011 single "Marry the Night". Devastated, Gaga returned to the solace of the family home for Christmas and the nightlife culture of the Lower East Side.

She became increasingly experimental: fascinating herself with emerging neo-burlesque shows, go-go dancing at bars dressed in little more than a bikini in addition to experimenting with drugs. Her father, however, did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months. "I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to Black Sabbath and singing songs about oral sex. The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself." It was then when she became romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer in a relationship and break-up she likened to the musical film ''Grease'': "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of her later songs.

During this time, she met performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped mold her on-stage persona. Starlight explained that, upon their first meeting, Gaga wanted to perform with her to songs she had recorded with Fusari. Like SGBand, the pair soon began performing at many of the downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. Their live performance art piece was known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue" and, billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. Soon after, the two were invited to play at the 2007 Lollapalooza music festival in August that year. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde electronic dance music, Gaga had found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into her music.

While Gaga and Starlight were busy performing, producer Rob Fusari continued to work on the songs he had created with Gaga. Fusari sent these songs to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert. Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going." Having served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV. As a result, she was hired to write songs for Britney Spears and labelmates New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls. At Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. Akon then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M; Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live, making her his "franchise player."

As 2007 came to a close, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a mash-up inspired by Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.". Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio for a week on her debut album and also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "Christmas Tree" and "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the mainstream market. Her response: "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."

2008–10: ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster'' [link]

By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles in order to work extensively with her record label to complete her debut album and set up her own creative team Haus of Gaga, modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory. ''The Fame'' was first released on August 19, 2008 to slow radio play. Gaga supported it by performing around Europe and in small gay clubs around the US in addition to being billed as a supporting artist on the North American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour. A sleeper hit, lead single "Just Dance" had preceded the album's release by four months but only hit the summit of the international charts in January 2009, provoking the instant success of the album, earning her first Grammy Award nomination (for Best Dance Recording) and becoming one of the best-selling singles worldwide. Gaga achieved a greater unexpected success when "Poker Face", another sleeper hit, reached number one in most major music markets worldwide in early 2009, selling 9.8 million singles worldwide. The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

''The Fame'' itself was nominated for Album of the Year while winning Best Dance/Electronica Album at the same ceremony. Contemporary critics lauded the album, describing it as an exploration of her obsession with fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, noting its combination of genres "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks", the inspiration drawn from 1980s synthpop and incorporation of dance music with clear hooks. ''The Fame'' went to number one in Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK and appeared in the top five in Australia, the US and 15 other countries. It also stayed atop the Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 106 non-consecutive weeks and, since its release, has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. The album's success spawned many 2009 honors including ''Billboard'' magazine's Rising Star award and the accumulation of 3 of 9 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, winning Best New Artist with the video for her single "Paparazzi" gaining Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects. In addition to being an opening act on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination Tour during the first half of 2009 in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.

While she traveled the globe, she wrote ''The Fame Monster'', an EP of eight songs released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Making Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three singles (alongside "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales, its lead single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries and reached the top two in the US, Australia and New Zealand while accruing the Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video. The second single "Telephone", which features singer Beyoncé, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and became Gaga's fourth UK number one single; its accompanying music video, although controversial, received positive reception from contemporary critics who praised her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna." Her following single "Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its ideas and dark nature but the Catholic League attacked Gaga for her alleged use of blasphemy. Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they made Gaga the first artist to gain over one billion viral views on video-sharing website YouTube. At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won 8 of her 13 nominations, including Video of the Year for "Bad Romance" (with "Telephone" also nominated), which made her the first female artist to be nominated twice for the award. In addition, ''The Fame Monster'' garnered a total of six nominations at the 53rd Grammy Awards – equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received – winning Best Pop Vocal Album and earning her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year.

The success of the album allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of ''The Fame Monster'' and months after having finished The Fame Ball Tour. Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially accomplished tour ran for over one and a half years and grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist. Concerts performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a HBO television special titled ''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden''. The special accrued one of its five Emmy Award nominations and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray. Gaga also performed songs from the album at international events such as the 2009 Royal Variety Performance where she sang "Speechless", a power ballad, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II; the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "Your Song" with Elton John; and the 2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend, Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony. Other performances may have included her participation in Michael Jackson's This Is It concert series at London's O2 Arena. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she stated. "We were going to open for him at the O2 and we were working on making it happen. I believe there was some talk about us, lots of the openers, doing duets with Michael on stage."

In 2009 she collaborated with consumer electronic company Monster Cable Products to create a pair of in-ear jewel-encrusted headphones titled Heartbeats. "They are designed to be the first ever fashion accessories that double as the absolute best sonically sounding headphones in the world," she commented. Gaga also partnered with Polaroid in January 2010 as their Creative Director. Excited about "blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film with the digital era," Gaga unveiled the first trio of new products called Grey Label: a pair of picture-taking sunglasses, a paperback-sized mobile printing unit and an updated version of the traditional Polaroid camera at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. But her collaboration with past producer Rob Fusari led to her production team, Mermaid Music LLC, being sued in March 2010 when he claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of the company's earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment, but five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga. In addition to such strife, Gaga was tested borderline positive for lupus, but claimed not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused considerable dismay among fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in an interview with Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

2011–present: ''Born This Way'' [link]

Gaga released her second studio album and third major release, ''Born This Way'', on May 23, 2011. Described as a marriage of electronic music with metal, rock 'n' roll, pop and anthemic style melodies with sledge-hammering dance beats and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid," Gaga characterized it as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and, upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to the "next level." Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its range of different styles and her vocals. ''Born This Way'' sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the US, debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200, and topped the charts in more than 20 other countries. In addition to exceeding 8 million copies in worldwide sales, ''Born This Way'' received 3 Grammy Award nominations, including her third consecutive for Album of the Year.

In the months prior to its unveiling, Gaga released the singles "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory" alongside promotional single "Hair". The eponymous lead single, first sung live at the 53rd Grammy Awards in a performance that saw Gaga emerge from an egg-like vessel, deals with self-acceptance regardless of race or sexual orientation. The single debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts. It sold more than 3 million digital copies in the US by October 2011, becoming her eighth consecutive single to exceed sales of 2 million and, with worldwide sales of 8.2 million copies by November 2011, one of her five best-selling singles worldwide. Critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised the concept of the song's accompanying music video, in which Gaga gives birth to a new race amidst surrealistic images. The video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are also featured, was criticized for its religious references but received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who claimed that there was nothing offensive about it. "Judas" also peaked within the top ten in several major musical markets, while "The Edge of Glory", first a commercial success in digital outlets, was later released as a single to critical appreciation, accompanied by a video which was notably stripped down from her usually "extravagant" efforts. She released "You and I" and "Marry the Night" as the following singles from ''Born This Way''. Although their "crazy and ambitious" videos were praised for their audacity, both songs failed to match the similar international success that their predecessors achieved.

Gaga continued her musical endeavors by pairing with veteran artists like Tony Bennett to record a jazz version of "The Lady Is a Tramp". She also recorded a duet with Cher on a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which Gaga "wrote a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason." Gaga also lent her vocals to an original duet with Elton John for the animated feature film ''Gnomeo & Juliet''. The song, "Hello, Hello", was released without Gaga's vocals but the duet version features in the film. She also continued her live appearances throughout 2011, performing a one-of-a-kind concert at the Sydney Town Hall on July 13 in promotion of ''Born This Way'' and at the celebration of former US president Bill Clinton's 65th birthday, wearing a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy and changing the lyrics to "You and I" specifically for the performance. Televised appearances comprised her own Thanksgiving Day television special entitled ''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' which was critically lauded, attained 5.749 million American viewers, and spawned the release of her fourth extended play ''A Very Gaga Holiday''. Her second performance on ''Saturday Night Live'' saw her singing a selection of ''Born This Way'' songs alongside appearing in number of sketches with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg. In March 2012, Gaga was ranked at number four on ''Billboard'''s list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing $25,353,039 dollars, which includes sales from ''Born This Way'' and her ''Monster Ball Tour''.

In early 2012, Gaga stated that songs for a new album were "beginning to flourish" as she worked with producer Fernando Garibay, while the accompanying tour for ''Born This Way'' was materializing. Gaga's manager, Vincent Herbert, revealed that Gaga is working on her upcoming album during the tour, stating that the material is "insane, great records." The Born This Way Ball Tour began on April 27, 2012, at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. The tour was met with protests from several religious groups who denounced the tour as satanic and against religious values, resulting in protests mainly from the Islamic Defenders Front, causing a cancellation in the Indonesian city of Jakarta, where Gaga was denied a license to perform. The concert however was still in question as concert promoters were optimistic that the performance will in fact go on. However, due to threats of violence from Muslim hardliners, Gaga decided to cancel the concert although 52,000 tickets have sold out in just a few days. On May 20, 2012, Gaga guest-starred on the 23rd season finale of ''The Simpsons'' entitled "Lisa Goes Gaga".

Artistry [link]

Influences [link]

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and Elton John had significant influence on her childhood and, presently, still do. "I am a real family girl. When it comes to love and loyalty, I am very old-fashioned. And I am quite down-to-earth for such an eccentric person," she insists. "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way." According to Gaga, Joanne Germanotta – her aunt who died of lupus aged 19 – lives on through her and inspires all of her music and art. Joanne's date of death is tattooed on Gaga's body and, despite dying 12 years before her birth, Gaga commented, "I really believe I have two hearts. I think I actually carry two souls in my body, and that I'm living out the rest of her life and her goodness – she died a virgin, she died never having experienced all these things that we all get to love and experience in our lives." Another spiritual influence on Gaga has been the Indian physician, public speaker and writer Deepak Chopra. Labeling him a "true inspiration", she stated that "he's always reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my vision and my destiny" in addition to thinking about Chopra when it comes to her work as a musician: "I want so much for it to go beyond the music for my fans."

Musically, Gaga takes influence from numerous musicians from dance-pop singers like Madonna and Michael Jackson to glam rock artists like David Bowie and Queen whilst employing the theatrics of artists like Andy Warhol and of her musical theatre roots in performance. The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name: "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name [...] Freddie was unique—one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music," she commented. Gaga receives regular comparisons to recording artist Madonna who admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga. In response to the comparisons, Gaga stated, "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally." Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the years of her career, has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of artists including Whitney Houston, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson, Yoko Ono, and Britney Spears. Gaga has mentioned Spears in several interviews, and revealed, "Britney certainly doesn’t need any freakin’ tips from me! Britney Spears is the queen of pop. I was learning from her." Gaga also paid tribute to Spears during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards with the MTV Video Vanguard Award, adding that the pop singer "taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her."

Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence and has been stylistically compared to English eccentrics Leigh Bowery and Isabella Blow and to American recording artist Cher. She commented that "as a child, she somehow absorbed Cher's out-there fashion sense and made it her own." She has considered Donatella Versace her muse and the late British fashion designer and close friend Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that "I miss Lee every time I get dressed" while channeling him in some of her work. Modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory, Gaga has her own creative production team, which she handles personally, called the Haus of Gaga, who create many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos. Her adoration of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful." "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether—performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us." The Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third. ''Entertainment Weekly'' put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream." Gaga made her runway debut at Thierry Mugler's Paris fashion show in March 2011 where she wore items from Nicola Formichetti's debut women's wear collection. In June of the same year, she won the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award for Fashion Icon. ''Time Magazine'' placed Gaga on their "All-Time 100 Fashion Icons List" amongst some of Gaga's inspirations such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and the The Beatles, stating: "Lady Gaga is just as notorious for her outrageous style as she is for her pop hits. After all, Gaga, born Stefani Germanotta, has sported outfits made from plastic bubbles, Kermit the Frog dolls, and raw meat." She has since devoted her time as a fashion columnist for ''V'' magazine, where she has written about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme.

After she tweeted a quote from the book "Creativity" by Osho, she was asked about her connection to him. Gaga said she was influenced by his work and that for her, "the creativity is the greatest way of rebellion": "Equality", she concluded, "is one of the most important things in my life".

Musical style [link]

Continually experimenting with new musical ideas and images, Gaga's musical and performance style is the subject of much analysis and scrutiny from critics. She professes that she is "liberating" herself by constantly reinventing her sound and image, insisting that she has been drawn to such a practice since her childhood. Vocally, Gaga possesses the range of a contralto and exhibits "overwhelming expression, instinctive vocal phrasing, '80s rock reminiscent chest belts and animalistic vocal ticks" while being able to move through 2.4 octaves. Refusing to lip sync, Gaga – whose range is frequently compared to those of Madonna and Gwen Stefani – has manipulated her vocal style over the course of her career yet considers ''Born This Way'' (2011) "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of." In summation of her voice, ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "There's an immense emotional intelligence behind the way she uses her voice. Almost never does she overwhelm a song with her vocal ability, recognizing instead that artistry is to be found in nuance rather than lung power." Although her early lyrics have been criticized for lacking intellectual stimulation, "[Gaga] does manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace." She admits that her songwriting has been misinterpreted; her friend and blogger Perez Hilton articulated her message in a clearer way: "you write really deep intelligent lyrics with shallow concepts." Gaga opined, "Perez is very intelligent and clearly listened to my record from beginning to end, and he is correct." "I love songwriting. It's so funny – I will just jam around in my underwear or I could be washing my dishes. I wrote several songs just at the piano," she confesses. Gaga believes that "all good music can be played at a piano and still sound like a hit." She has covered a wide variety of topics in her songs: while ''The Fame'' (2008) meditates on the lust for stardom, ''The Fame Monster'' (2009) expresses fame's dark side through monster metaphors. ''Born This Way'' (2011) is sung in English, French, German and Spanish and includes common themes in Gaga's controversial songwriting like love, sex, religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality, freedom and individualism.

The structure of her music is said to echo classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop. Her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008) provoked ''The Sunday Times'' to assert "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, [Gaga] evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa 'Hollaback Girl', Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now" and a critic from ''The Boston Globe'' to comment that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen Stefani... in [her] girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats." Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune and undergirded with R&B;-ish beats." The follow-up ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), saw Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky ABBA disco and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q" while ''Born This Way'' (2011) also draws on the records of her childhood and still has the "electro-sleaze beats and Eurodisco chorus chants" of its predecessor but includes genres as diverse as opera, heavy metal, disco, and rock and roll. "There isn't a subtle moment on the album, but even at its nuttiest, the music is full of wide-awake emotional details," wrote ''Rolling Stone'', who concluded: "The more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds."

Music videos and performances[link]

With constant costume changes, backup dancers, and provocative visuals, Gaga's music videos are often described as short films. "Being provocative is not just about getting people's attention. It's about saying something that really affects people in a real way, in a positive way," she professes. Exploring bondage and sadomasochism in addition to highlighting prevalent feminist themes, "the three central themes that shape Lady Gaga's music videos are sex, violence, and power." "Vaudevillian and carnal, Lady Gaga has got the knack of sending rape-like fantasies—in songs and videos that double as catch club hits—to the top of the charts," wrote one critic. "Whether it is physical violence or sexual exploitation, these videos offer vivid depictions of male power over women's bodies," wrote another. While she labels herself "a little bit of a feminist" (she rejects man-hating feminism) and asserts that she is "sexually empowering women," Gaga strives to empower young women to stand up for what they believe in. She also attempts to liberate her fans so they can feel "less alone." "She not only reiterates her assertion of total originality," professed pop critic Ann Powers, "but also finesses it until it's both a philosophical stance about how constructing a persona from pop-cultural sources can be an expression of a person's truth—a la those drag queens Gaga sincerely admires—and a bit of a feminist act." In summation of her videos, ''Rolling Stone'' used the rhetoric: "does anyone look to a Lady Gaga video for restraint?"

Her performances are described as "highly entertaining and innovative"; the blood-spurting performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was described as "eye-popping" by MTV. She continued the "blood soaked" theme during The Monster Ball Tour, in which she wore a revealing leather corset and was "attacked" by a performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene in England triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi driver had murdered 12 people. "What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence. Her unconventionality continued at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards: performing in drag as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, and delivering a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "You and I". Some have defended her flamboyant and provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," Chris Rock said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?" As Gaga's choreographer and creative director, Laurieann Gibson provided material for her shows and videos for four years. However, the pair parted in November 2011; Gaga replacing her with Gibson's assistant Richard Jackson. Gaga admits to being a perfectionist when it comes to her elaborate shows. "I'm very bossy. I can scream my head off if I see one light fixture out. I'm very detailed – every minute of the show has got to be perfect."

Public image [link]

While ''Rolling Stone'' named Gaga the "Queen of Pop" in 2011, public reception of Gaga's music, fashion sense and persona are mixed. Her status as a role model, self-esteem booster for her fans, trailblazer and fashion icon who breathes new life into the industry is by turns affirmed and denied. Gaga's albums have received mostly positive reviews and critics have pointed out her unique place in pop music, the need for new movements in popular culture, the attention Gaga brings to modern social issues, and the inherently subjective nature of her art. In view of her influence on modern culture and her rise to global fame, sociologist Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina has organized a course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" since spring 2011 with the objective of unravelling "some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga." When Gaga briefly met with US president Barack Obama at a Human Rights Campaign fundraiser, he described the interaction as "intimidating" as she was dressed in 16-inch heels making her undoubtedly the tallest woman in the room.

Contrary to her outré style, the ''New York Post'' described her early look as like "a refugee from ''Jersey Shore''" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Gaga is a natural brunette; she bleached her hair blonde because she was often mistaken for Amy Winehouse. She has nine tattoos on the left side of her body (her father has banned etchings on her right): a unicorn head with a ribbon wrapped around its horn that says "Born This Way"; a small heart with "dad" written inside it; several white roses; a treble clef; three daises; "Tokyo Love" with a little heart; "Little Monsters" written in cursive; a peace symbol, which was inspired by John Lennon, whom she stated was her hero; and a curling German script on her left arm quoting the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her favorite writer, commenting that his "philosophy of solitude" spoke to her. In a question posed about the necessary procedure to attach the prosthetics to give the unconventional appearance of recent horn-like ridges on her cheekbones, temples, and shoulders, Gaga responded, "They're not prosthetics, they're my bones." She also clarified that they were not the result of plastic surgery, believing such surgery to only be the modern byproduct of fame-induced insecurity to which she does not subscribe. The interviewer's further probing brought Gaga to the conclusion that they are an artistic representation of her inner inspirational light and part of the "performance piece" that is her musical persona: an inevitability of her becoming who she now is.

Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera stated that she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman." Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons due to the attention providing useful publicity, saying, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way." When interviewed by Barbara Walters for her annual ABC News special ''10 Most Fascinating People'' in 2009, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is intersex as an urban legend. Responding to a question on this issue, she stated, "At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny." In addition to Aguilera's statement, comparisons continued into 2010, when Aguilera released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Gaga's video for "Bad Romance". There have also been similar comparisons made between Gaga's style and that of fashion icon Dale Bozzio from the band Missing Persons. Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look more than thirty years earlier.

While devout followers call Gaga "Mother Monster", Gaga often refers to her fans as "Little Monsters" which has been tattooed on "the arm that holds my mic" in dedication. Her treatment of her "Little Monsters" has inspired criticism, due to the highly commercial nature of her music and image. To some, this dichotomy contravenes the concept of outsider culture. Camille Paglia in her 2010 cover story "Lady Gaga and the death of sex" in ''The Sunday Times'' asserts that Gaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of those." Writing for ''The Guardian'', Kitty Empire opined that the dichotomy "...allows the viewer to have a 'transgressive' experience without being required to think. At [her performance's] core, though, is the idea that Gaga is at one with the freaks and outcasts. The Monster Ball is where we can all be free. This is arrant nonsense, as the scads of people buying Gaga's cunningly commercial music are not limited to the niche worlds of drag queens and hip night creatures from which she draws her inspiration. But Gaga seems sincere."

Philanthropy [link]

Besides her career in music, Gaga has also contributed to various charities. For natural disasters, Gaga has helped various relief efforts. Although declining an invitation to appear on the single "We Are the World 25" to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she donated the proceeds of her January 24, 2010 concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to the country's reconstruction relief fund. All profits from her official online store on that day were also donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of US$500,000 was collected for the fund. Hours after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, Gaga tweeted a message and a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to relief efforts. As of March 29, 2011, the bracelets raised $1.5 million. However, attorney Alyson Oliver filed a lawsuit against Gaga in Detroit in June 2011, noting that the bracelet was subject to a sales tax and an extra $3.99 shipping charge was added to the price. She also believed that not all proceeds from the bracelets would go to the relief efforts, demanding a public accounting of the campaign and refunds for people who had bought the bracelet. Gaga's spokesperson called the lawsuit "meritless" and "misleading". On June 25, 2011, Gaga performed at MTV Japan's charity show in Makuhari Messe, which benefited the Japanese Red Cross.

HIV and AIDS[link]

Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS, focusing on educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. Titled Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi for each contributor respectively, all net proceeds of the lipstick line were donated to the cosmetic company's campaign to prevent HIV and AIDS worldwide. In a press release, Gaga declared, "I don't want Viva Glam to be just a lipstick you buy to help a cause. I want it to be a reminder when you go out at night to put a condom in your purse right next to your lipstick." The sales of Gaga-endorsed Viva Glam lipstick and lipgloss have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.

Born This Way Foundation[link]

As a humanitarian, she has launched her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on youth empowerment and issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring, and career development. "My mother and I have initiated a passion project. We call it the Born This Way Foundation," Gaga said in a statement about the foundation, which takes its name from the 2011 single and album. "Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment." The foundation will work with a number of partners, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She also jumped into the debate surrounding SB 1070, Arizona's recently-enacted anti-immigration law, after premiering her ''Born This Way'' song "Americano" on the Guadalajara stop of The Monster Ball Tour in Mexico, telling the local press that she could not "stand by many of the unjust immigration laws" in the US. A devoted advocate for the LGBT community, Gaga is also an outspoken activist for LGBT rights worldwide. On February 29, 2012, Gaga and Oprah Winfrey visited Harvard University to launch her Born This Way Foundation.

LGBT advocacy [link]

Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of ''The Fame'', saying, "I love you so much. You were the first heartbeat in this project, and your support and brilliance means the world to me. I will always fight for the gay community hand in hand with this incredible team." One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo, where she sang her song "Just Dance". In June of the same year, she performed the song again at the San Francisco Pride event.

After ''The Fame'' was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her bisexuality. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality, saying "The fact that I'm into women, they're all intimidated by it. It makes them uncomfortable. They're like, 'I don't need to have a threesome. I'm happy with just you'." When she appeared as a guest on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in May 2009, she praised DeGeneres for being "an inspiration for women and for the gay community". She proclaimed that the October 11, 2009 National Equality March rally on the National Mall was "the single most important event of her career." As she exited, she left with an exultant "Bless God and bless the gays," similar to her 2009 MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech for Best New Artist a month earlier. At the Human Rights Campaign Dinner, held the same weekend as the rally, she performed a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" declaring that "I'm not going to [play] one of my songs tonight because tonight is not about me, it's about you." She changed the original lyrics of the song to reflect the death of Matthew Shepard, a college student murdered because of his sexuality.

Gaga attended the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards accompanied by four service members of the United States Armed Forces (Mike Almy, David Hall, Katie Miller and Stacy Vasquez), all of whom, under the United States military's "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, had been prohibited from serving openly because of their sexuality. In addition, Gaga wore a meat dress to the ceremony which was supplemented by boots, a purse and a hat that were all fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal. Partly awarded in recognition of the dress, Vogue.com UK named her one of the Best Dressed people of 2010 while ''Time'' magazine's named the dress the Fashion Statement of 2010, it received divided opinions – evoking the attention of worldwide media but invoking the fury of animal rights organization PETA. She denied any intention of causing disrespect to any person or organization and wished for the dress to be interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community, adding that "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones."

She later released three videos on YouTube urging her fans to contact their Senators in an effort to overturn the policy. In late September 2010 she spoke at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's "4the14K" Rally in Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine. The name of the rally signified the number – an estimated 14,000 – of service members discharged under the DADT policy at the time. During her remarks, she urged members of the U.S. Senate (and in particular, moderate Republican Senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) to vote in favor of legislation that would repeal the DADT policy. Following this event, editors of ''The Advocate'' commented that she had become "the real fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians, one that Barack Obama had promised to be.

Gaga appeared at Europride, a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, held in Rome in June 2011. In a nearly twenty-minute speech, she criticized the intolerant state of gay rights in many European countries and described homosexuals as "revolutionaries of love" before performing acoustic renderings of "Born This Way" and "The Edge of Glory" in front of thousands at the Circus Maximus. She stated that "Today and every day we fight for freedom. We fight for justice. We beckon for compassion, understanding and above all we want full equality now". Gaga revealed that she is often questioned why she dedicates herself to "gayspeak" and "how gay" she is, to which, she told the audience: "Why is this question, why is this issue so important? My answer is: I am a child of diversity, I am one with my generation, I feel a moral obligation as a woman, or a man, to exercise my revolutionary potential and make the world a better place." She then joked: "On a gay scale from 1 to 10, I'm a Judy Garland fucking 42."

Discography [link]

''The Fame'' (2008)

''The Fame Monster'' (2009)

''Born This Way'' (2011)

Filmography[link]

''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden'' (2011)

''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' (2011)

"Lisa Goes Gaga" (''The Simpsons'' episode) (2012)

''Men in Black 3'' (Plays the role of an alien.) (2012)

Concert tours [link]

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (2009–10) (cancelled)

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

The Born This Way Ball Tour (2012–13)

See also [link]

List of awards and nominations received by Lady Gaga

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References [link]

Further reading [link]

Monster Anthems (2011) by Robert Christgau

External links [link]

Slide show ''Vanity Fair''

Category:1986 births Category:American contraltos Category:American dance musicians Category:American electronic musicians Category:American female pop singers Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American performance artists Category:American people of French-Canadian descent Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Androgyny Category:Bisexual musicians Category:Brit Award winners Category:Echo winners Category:Feminist musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Keytarists Category:LGBT Christians Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists Category:Living people Category:NME Awards winners Category:American dancers Category:People from Manhattan Category:Pseudonymous musicians Category:Singers from New York City Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:Synthpop musicians Category:Tisch School of the Arts alumni Category:Wonky Pop acts

af:Lady Gaga als:Lady Gaga ar:ليدي غاغا an:Lady Gaga frp:Lady Gaga ast:Lady Gaga az:Ledi Qaqa zh-min-nan:Lady Gaga ba:Леди Гага be:Lady Gaga be-x-old:Lady Gaga bg:Лейди Гага bs:Lady Gaga br:Lady Gaga ca:Lady Gaga cv:Леди Гага ceb:Lady Gaga cs:Lady Gaga co:Lady Gaga cy:Lady Gaga da:Lady Gaga de:Lady Gaga dz:Lady Gaga et:Lady Gaga el:Lady Gaga es:Lady Gaga eo:Lady Gaga eu:Lady Gaga fa:لیدی گاگا fo:Lady Gaga fr:Lady Gaga fy:Lady Gaga ga:Lady Gaga gd:Lady Gaga gl:Lady Gaga gan:蕾蒂嘉嘉 glk:لیدی گاگا ko:레이디 가가 hy:Լեդի Գագա hi:लेडी गागा hr:Lady Gaga io:Lady Gaga ig:Lady Gaga ilo:Lady Gaga id:Lady Gaga ik:Lady Gaga is:Lady Gaga it:Lady Gaga he:ליידי גאגא jv:Lady Gaga kn:ಲೇಡಿ ಗಾಗಾ ka:ლედი გაგა csb:Lady GaGa kk:Леди Гага sw:Lady Gaga ku:Lady Gaga ky:Lady Gaga mrj:Lady Gaga lez:Леди Гага la:Lady Gaga lv:Lady Gaga lb:Lady Gaga lt:Lady Gaga li:Lady GaGa hu:Lady Gaga mk:Лејди Гага mg:Lady Gaga mt:Lady Gaga mi:Lady Gaga ml:ലേഡി ഗാഗ mr:लेडी गागा xmf:ლედი გაგა arz:ليدى جاجا mzn:لیدی گاگا ms:Lady Gaga mwl:Lady Gaga mn:Лэди Гага my:လေဒီဂါဂါ nah:Lady Gaga na:Lady GaGa nl:Lady Gaga ne:लेडी गागा new:लद्य् गग ja:レディー・ガガ nap:Lady Gaga no:Lady Gaga nn:Lady Gaga nrm:Lady Gaga nov:Lady Gaga oc:Lady Gaga mhr:Lady Gaga uz:Lady Gaga pap:Lady Gaga nds:Lady Gaga pl:Lady Gaga pt:Lady Gaga ro:Lady Gaga ru:Леди Гага sah:Леди Гага se:Lady Gaga sq:Lady Gaga si:ලේඩි ගාගා simple:Lady Gaga sk:Lady Gaga sl:Lady Gaga szl:Lady GaGa sr:Леди Гага sh:Lady Gaga su:Lady Gaga fi:Lady Gaga sv:Lady Gaga tl:Lady Gaga ta:லேடி காகா tt:Леди Гага th:เลดี้ กาก้า tg:Лейди Гага tr:Lady Gaga tw:Lady GaGa uk:Леді ҐаҐа vi:Lady Gaga vo:Lady Gaga vls:Lady Gaga yi:ליידי גאגא yo:Lady Gaga zh-yue:Lady Gaga bat-smg:Lady Gaga zh:女神卡卡