The Barberini are a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban palace, the Palazzo Barberini, (completed in 1633 by Bernini), today houses Italy's Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica (National Gallery of Ancient Art).

Early history

The Barberini family were originally a family of minor nobility from the Tuscan town of Barberino Val d'Elsa, who settled in Florence during the early part of the 11th century.

Carlo Barberini (1488–1566) and his brother Antonio Barberini (1494–1559) were successful Florentine grain, wool and textile merchants. In 1530 Antonio participated in the defense of the Florentine Republic but after the capture of the city by Imperial troops, and the return to power of the Medici, Antonio grew weary of Medici rule and left Florence in 1537 to oversee Barberini business in Rome.

In 1552, Carlo's son Francesco followed his uncle to Rome and business flourished. Francesco became a very rich man and ''bought'' a number of high offices within government and the Catholic church. In 1559, his uncle Antonio was murdered by forces loyal to the Medici.

Francesco continued build his fortune and amass titles until his death in 1600. Ordinarily his estate would have been "fined" by the Camera Apostolica (for operating business while holding church office) but his relatives successfully appealed to the head of the organization Francesco had, himself, once directed. The continuation of Barberini business fell to his nephews (the sons of his brother, also Antonio Barberini, who had died in 1571) including Maffeo Barberini.

Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII

The Barberini acquired great wealth and influence when Cardinal Maffeo Barberini was elected to the papal throne in 1623, taking the name Pope Urban VIII. He elevated a brother Antonio Marcello Barberini (Antonio the Elder) and two nephews, Francesco Barberini and Antonio Barberini, to the cardinalate, made another brother Duke of Monterotondo, and gave a third nephew, Taddeo Barberini, the principality of Palestrina. Taddeo was also made leader of the papal army.

The ecclesiastical, diplomatic and cultural accomplishments of Urban's reign are sometimes overshadowed by modern shock at the extreme nepotism the pope practiced. Likewise, the disastrous War of Castro, a pyrrhic victory with which the pontificate concluded, sullied Urban's reputation and the popularity of those family members who survived him.

The often repeated criticism of the pope, for removing ancient bronze beams from the portico of the Pantheon to procure bronze for the Baldachin of St. Peter's Basilica and for the papal cannon foundry, is perhaps less fair than it is clever.

An anonymous critic punningly wrote:

which translates to "What the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did". The pope erected a tablet proudly proclaiming his re-use of these hidden beams for the glory and defense of the church.

Wars of Castro, exile and restoration

The Wars of Castro were fought alongside the equally entrenched Pamphili family. Pope Urban VIII died in 1644, only months after a peace accord was signed to end the First War of Castro.

Despite Urban's appointment of a number of relatives as cardinals, the College of Cardinals elected Pope Innocent X of the Pamphili family. Almost immediately, Innocent X launched an investigation into the conduct of various members of the Barberini family during the wars.

The three nephews who had risen to prominence under their uncle Pope Urban VIII, cardinals Antonio and Francesco and Prince Taddeo were forced into exile and fled to Paris under the protection of Cardinal Mazarin. Antonio left first while his brothers hung the French coat of arms above the door of the Palazzo Barberini then went to France by sea.

Taddeo's wife, Anna Colonna joined her husband and children in Paris but not before making a passionate appeal (in person) to the Pope, urging him not to strip the Barberini of their assets. The Pope agreed and, though he paid some debts out of the Barberini estate, left the Barberini alone.

In Paris they relied on the hospitality of Louis XIV, King of France, until 1653 when most of the family finally returned to Rome. Though Taddeo died in exile in 1647, his brothers eventually reconciled with the papacy through the marriage of Taddeo's younger son Maffeo with Olimpia Giustiniani, a niece of Pope Innocent. Maffeo was given his father's former title, that of Prince of Palestrina.

Taddeo's older son Carlo Barberini was made a cardinal by Pope Innocent X. Taddeo's daughter, Lucrezia Barberini, married Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena (who had previously sided with the Farnese during the First War of Castro), further stabilizing relations.

Modern history

The 1627 marriage of Taddeo Barberini and Anna Colonna, daughter of Filippo I Colonna began the century-long process which would eventually see the Barberini merge with the Colonna family.

In 1728, the Carbognano branch (Colonna di Sciarra) of the Colonna family added the name Barberini to its family name when Giulio Cesare Colonna di Sciarra married Cornelia Barberini, daughter of Urbano Barberini, the last legitimate male Barberini heir.

Though Urbano's wives bore him no legitimate male heirs, Urbano was born a son, Maffeo Callisto Barberini in 1688 prior to any one of his three marriages. The will of Urbano Barberini's last wife, Maria Teresa Boncompagni, makes mention of this Maffeo Callisto as the Marquis of Corese. A large portion of the Barberini estate was left for him in her will.

Later her progeny came into conflict with his over claims to the Barberini estate but the quarrel was settled with an agreement signed in Paris in 1811 which divided the estate between the two claimant branches of the family.

The Colonna line became extinct again on the death of Prince Enrico Barberini-Colonna and the name went to his daughter and heiress Maria and her husband Marquis Luigi Sacchetti, who received the title of Prince of Palestrina and permission to use the Barberini name.

On 21 June 2005, Augusto Barberini, the 13th Prince of Palestrina, died in Rome. The family is now represented byBenedetto Francesco Barberini, Prince of Palestrina (born 1961), whose heir is his eldest son.

Patrons of the arts

The fine Palazzo Barberini, the Barberini library (now a core section of the Vatican's Biblioteca Apostolica), and the many buildings, altars, and other projects spread across Rome (and marked with the heraldic three bees) give evidence of the family's wealth, taste and magnificence in the seventeenth century. The family commissioned many artists, such as Lorenzo Ottoni, to undertake various Baberini-centric projects. The family were also important early patrons of opera, maintaining "star" singers like Marc'Antonio Pasqualini on payroll, and building the private Teatro delle Quattro Fontane. Many objects from the Barberini art collections are scattered in museums around the world including:

The Barberini Faun and Barberini Apollo, sold to Ludwig I of Bavaria and now in the Munich Glyptothek

The Barberini Venus

The Barberini Hera, also seen in this head;

The Portland Vase (once known as the Barberini Vase), bought from the family by Sir William Hamilton and now in the British Museum

The Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power

A nucleus remains in the hands of the family, as well as in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, which occupies part of the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The cultural influence of the dynasty was considerable, and provided the subject for a major international conference in December 2004 (and subsequent publication), entitled ''I Barberini e la Cultura Europea''.

Barberini Family tree

Family tree of the 16th and 17th century Barberini (''hereditary patriarchy of the family is indicated by the colored squares'').

{{familytree | | | | | | | |RED |y| CAS | | ANT | | |ANT=Antonio Barberini
(born 1494)|RED=Carlo Barberini
(born 1488)|CAS=Cassandra del Branca |boxstyle_RED=background-color: #faa; }} {{familytree | | | | | | | |FR| |RED |y| DCB| | | | |FR=Francesco Barberini|RED= Antonio Barberini|DCB=Camilla Barbadori|boxstyle_RED=background-color: #faa; }}

See also

Piazza Barberini

Palazzo Barberini

The ''Codex Barberini'' or Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis

The Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power (Cortona)

Wars of Castro

Ferrante Pallavicino - satirical critic of the Barberini.

External links

Piazza Barberini Rome Italy

References

Category:Families of post-ancient Rome Category:Papal families Category:Italian noble families Category:Italian nobility

cs:Barberini de:Barberini es:Barberini it:Barberini la:Familia Barbarinorum nl:Barberini pl:Barberini pt:Família Barberini ru:Барберини sv:Barberini uk:Барберіні

:''For the 17th century Italian noble, see Urbano Barberini (1664-1722)''.

Coordinates	34°5′24″N74°47′24″N
name	Urbano Barberini
birth date	September 18, 1961
birth place	Rome, Lazio, Italy
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	1984 – present
spouse	}}

Urbano Barberini (18 September 1961) is an Italian actor fluent in Italian and French. His most recognized role in the English-speaking countries was in his work in Dario Argento's film ''Opera'' though in the English dubbing, his voice was replaced with a more masculine actor's voice. The only DVD that retains his original voice on the English dub is the UK release from Arrow Films.

Filmography

''Casino Royale'' (2006)

''The Fine Art of Love'' (2005)

''Adored: Diary of a Porn Star'' (2003)

''Come mi vuoi'' (1996)

''Moses'' (1996)

''The Black Cat'' (1989)

''Courage Mountain'' (1989)

''Torrents of Spring'' (1989)

''Outlaw of Gor'' (1989)

''Miss Arizona'' (1988)

''Until Death'' (1987) aka ''The Changeling 2''

''Opera'' (1987)

''Gor'' (1987)

''Otello'' (1986)

''La vita di scorta'' (1986)

''Dèmoni'' (1985)

''Il diavolo sulle colline'' (1985)

''Dario Argento's World of Horror'' (1985)

External links

Category:1961 births Category:Italian actors Category:Living people Category:People from Rome (city)

it:Urbano Barberini

Coordinates	34°5′24″N74°47′24″N
Name	Sir Henry Morton Stanley
Birth name	John Rowlands
Birth date	January 28, 1841
Birth place	Denbigh, Wales
Death date	May 10, 1904
Death place	London, England
Signature	Appletons' Stanley Henry Morton signature.png }}

Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands (28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904), was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Stanley is often remembered for the words uttered to Livingstone upon finding him: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?", although there is some question as to authenticity of this now famous greeting. His legacy of death and destruction in the Congo region is considered an inspiration for Joseph Conrad's ''Heart of Darkness'', detailing atrocities inflicted upon the natives.

Early life

When Stanley was born in Denbigh, Wales, his mother, Elizabeth Parry, was just 19 years old. He never knew his father who died within a few weeks of his birth; there is some doubt as to his true parentage. His parents were unmarried, so his birth certificate refers to him as a bastard and the stigma of illegitimacy weighed heavily upon him all his life.

Originally taking his father's name of Rowlands, Stanley was brought up by his grandfather until the age of five. When his guardian died, Stanley stayed at first with cousins and nieces for a short time, but was eventually sent to St. Asaph Union Workhouse for the poor, where overcrowding and lack of supervision resulted in frequent abuse by the older boys. When he was ten, his mother and two siblings stayed for a short while in this workhouse, without Stanley realising who they were. He stayed until the age of 15. After completing an elementary education, he was employed as a pupil teacher in a National School.

New country, new name

In 1859, at the age of 18, he made his passage to the United States in search of a new life. Upon arriving in New Orleans, he absconded from his boat. According to his own declarations, he became friendly with a wealthy trader named Henry Hope Stanley, by accident: he saw Stanley sitting on a chair outside his store and asked him if he had any job opening for a person such as himself. However, he did so in the British style, "Do you want a boy, sir?" As it happened, the childless man had indeed been wishing he had a boy of his own, and the inquiry led not only to a job, but to a close relationship. The youth ended up taking Stanley's name. Later, he would write that his adoptive parent had died only two years after their meeting, but in fact the elder Stanley did not die until much later in 1878. In any case, young Stanley assumed a local accent and began to deny being a foreigner.

Stanley participated reluctantly in the American Civil War, first joining the Confederate Army participating in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. After being taken prisoner he promptly deserted and joined the Union. He served in the Navy but eventually deserted again.

Following the Civil War, Stanley began a career as a journalist. As part of this new career, Stanley organised an expedition to the Ottoman Empire that ended catastrophically when Stanley was imprisoned. He eventually talked his way out of jail and even received restitution for damaged expedition equipment. This early expedition may have formed the foundation for his eventual exploration of the Congo region of Africa.

thumb|left|Stanley's graffiti at Persepolis, IranIn 1867, Stanley was recruited by Colonel Samuel Forster Tappan (a one-time journalist) of the Indian Peace Commission, to serve as a correspondent to cover the work of the Commission for several newspapers. Stanley was soon retained exclusively by James Gordon Bennett (1795–1872), founder of the ''New York Herald'', who was impressed by Stanley's exploits and by his direct style of writing. This early period of his professional life is described in Volume I of his book ''My Early Travels and Adventures in America and Asia'' (1895). He became one of the ''Herald'''s overseas correspondents and, in 1869, was instructed by Bennett's son to find the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone, who was known to be in Africa but had not been heard from for some time. According to Stanley's account, he asked James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (1841–1918), who had succeeded to the paper's management after his father's retirement in 1867, how much he could spend. The reply was ''"Draw £1,000 now, and when you have gone through that, draw another £1,000, and when that is spent, draw another £1,000, and when you have finished that, draw another £1,000, and so on — BUT FIND LIVINGSTONE!"'' In actuality, Stanley had lobbied his employer for several years to mount this expedition that would presumably give him fame and fortune.

Finding Livingstone

Stanley travelled to Zanzibar in March 1871 and outfitted an expedition with the best of everything, requiring no fewer than 200 porters. This expedition through the tropical forest became a nightmare. His thoroughbred stallion died within a few days after a bite from a Tsetse fly, many of his carriers deserted and the rest were decimated by tropical diseases. To keep the expedition going, he had to take stern measures, including flogging deserters. Many missionaries of the day practiced tactics no less brutal than his, and Stanley's diaries show that he had in fact exaggerated the brutal treatment of his carriers in his books to pander to the taste of his Victorian public. Some recent authors suggest that Stanley's treatment of indigenous porters helps to refute his reputation as a brutal criminal. However, statements by contemporaries of Stanley like Sir Richard Francis Burton, who claimed "Stanley shoots negroes as if they were monkeys", paint a very different picture. Stanley found Livingstone on 10 November 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania, and may have greeted him with the now-famous, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" This famous phrase may be a fabrication, as Stanley tore out of his diary the pages relating to the encounter. Even Livingstone's account of the encounter fails to mention these words. However, a summary of Stanley's letters published by ''The New York Times'' on 2 July 1872, quotes the phrase. However, Tim Jeal argues in his biography that Stanley invented it afterwards because of his "insecurity about his background".

The Herald's own first account of the meeting, published 2 July 1872, also includes the phrase: "Preserving a calmness of exterior before the Arabs which was hard to simulate as he reached the group, Mr. Stanley said: -- ''`Doctor Livingstone, I presume?''' A smile lit up the features of the hale white man as he answered: ''`Yes, that is my name' ..."''

Stanley joined Livingstone in exploring the region, establishing for certain that there was no connection between Lake Tanganyika and the River Nile. On his return, he wrote a book about his experiences : ''How I Found Livingstone; travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa''. This brought him into the public eye and gave him some financial success.

Researching the River Congo

In 1874, the ''New York Herald,'' in partnership with Britain's ''Daily Telegraph,'' financed Stanley on another expedition to the African continent. One of his missions was to solve a last great mystery of African exploration by tracing the course of the River Congo to the sea. The difficulty of this expedition is hard to overstate. Stanley used sectional boats to pass the great cataracts separating the Congo into distinct tracts. After 999 days, on 9 August 1877, Stanley reached a Portuguese outpost at the mouth of the River Congo. Starting with 356 people, only 114 had survived of which Stanley was the only European.

He wrote about his trials in his book ''Through the Dark Continent''.

Claiming the Congo for the Belgian king

Stanley was approached by the ambitious Belgian king Leopold II, who in 1876 had organised a private holding company disguised as an international scientific and philanthropic association, which he called the International African Society. The king spoke of his intentions to introduce Western civilization and bring religion to that part of Africa, but did not mention he wanted to claim the lands. Stanley returned to the Congo, negotiated with local leaders, and obtained fair concessions (that were later falsified to his advantage by the king). But Stanley refused to impose treaties that would cede sovereignty over their lands. He built new roads, but this also gave advantage to the slave traders. When Stanley discovered that the king had other plans, he remained on his payroll.

In later years, he spent much energy defending himself against charges that his African expeditions had been marked by callous violence and brutality. Stanley's opinion was that "the savage only respects force, power, boldness, and decision." Stanley would eventually be held responsible for a number of deaths and was indirectly responsible for helping establish the rule of Léopold II of Belgium over the Congo Free State. In addition, the spread of African trypanosomiasis across central Africa is attributed to the movements of Stanley's enormous baggage train and the Emin Pasha relief expedition.

In 1886, Stanley led the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition to "rescue" Emin Pasha, the governor of Equatoria in the southern Sudan. King Leopold II demanded that Stanley take the longer route, via the Congo river, hoping to acquire more territory and perhaps even Equatoria. After immense hardships and great loss of life, Stanley met Emin in 1888, charted the Ruwenzori Range and Lake Edward, and emerged from the interior with Emin and his surviving followers at the end of 1890. (Turnbull, 1983) But this expedition tarnished Stanley's name because of the conduct of the other Europeans: British gentlemen and army officers. An army major was shot by a carrier, after behaving with extreme cruelty. James Jameson, heir to an Irish whiskey manufacturer, bought an eleven-year old girl and offered her to cannibals in order to document and sketch how she was cooked and eaten. Stanley only found out when Jameson had died of fever. Previous expeditions had given Stanley satisfaction, but this one had only brought disaster.

On his return to Europe, he married Welsh artist Dorothy Tennant, and they adopted a child, Denzil, who in 1954, donated some 300 items to the Stanley archives at the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. Denzil died in 1959. Stanley entered Parliament as Liberal Unionist member for Lambeth North, serving from 1895 to 1900. He became ''Sir'' Henry Morton Stanley when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1899, in recognition of his service to the British Empire in Africa. He died in London on 10 May 1904; at his funeral, he was eulogised by Daniel P. Virmar. His grave, in the churchyard of St. Michael's Church in Pirbright, Surrey, is marked by a large piece of granite inscribed with the words "Henry Morton Stanley, Bula Matari, 1841–1904, Africa". Bula Matari, which translates as "Breaker of Rocks" or "Breakstones" in Kikongo, was Stanley's name among locals in Congo. It can be translated as a term of endearment: for as the leader of Leopold's expedition, he commonly worked with the labourers breaking rocks with which they built the first modern road along the Congo River. It can also be translated in far less flattering terms, and it was suggested by Adam Hochschild that while Stanley understood it as an heroic epithet, his Congolese companions understood it in a mocking and pejorative tone.

Modern culture

In 1939, a popular film called ''Stanley and Livingstone'' was released, with Spencer Tracy as Stanley and Cedric Hardwicke as Livingstone.

Stanley appears as a character in Simon Gray's 1978 play ''The Rear Column'', which tells the story of the men left behind to wait for Tippu Tib while Stanley went on to relieve Emin Pasha.

An NES game based on his life was released in 1992 called "Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston".

In 1997, a made-for-television film, ''Forbidden Territory: Stanley's Search for Livingstone'', was produced by National Geographic. Stanley was portrayed by Aidan Quinn and Livingstone was portrayed by Nigel Hawthorne.

Stanley Electric Co., Ltd. of Japan, uses Stanley's family name in honour of his discoveries "that have brought light into many spots of the world undiscovered and hitherto unknown to mankind". The company produces light emitting diodes, liquid crystal displays, and lamps.

His great grandson, Richard Stanley, is a South African filmmaker and directs documentaries.

There is a hospital in St. Asaph, North Wales named after Stanley in honour of his birth in the area. It was the former workhouse in which he spent much of his early life. memorials to H M Stanley have recently been erected in St Asaph (which has caused local controversy for being phalic shaped) and in Denbigh (a statue of H M Stanley with an outstretched hand).

The 2009 History Channel series, Expedition Africa, documents a group of explorers attempting to traverse the route of Stanley's expedition in search of Livingstone.

''Search for the Nile'' BBC 1971. A 5 hour series, much shot on location, which included H.M. Stanley and David Livingstone. (Although very highly regarded this has never been shown or released again by the BBC, but VHS copies can, with a little effort, be found.)

Taxa named in honor

Taxa named in honor of Henry Morton Stanley include: freshwater snail ''Gabbiella stanleyi'' (E. A. Smith, 1877) freshwater snail genus ''Stanleya'' Bourguignat, 1885

See also

Edmund Musgrave Barttelot

Notes

References

Richard Hall (1974) ''Stanley. An Adventurer Explored'', London.

Stanley, Henry M. (ed. Dorothy Stanley) (1909, 1969) ''The Autobiography of Henry M. Stanley'', New York.

Further reading

Bierman, John: ''Dark Safari: The Life behind the Legend of Henry Morton Stanley''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. ISBN 0-394-58342-6

Dugard, Martin: ''Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone'', 2003. ISBN 0-385-50451-9

Hochschild, Adam: ''King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa.'' New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1998; Mariner Books, 1999 (pb). ISBN 0-618-00190-5 (pb)

Hughes, Nathaniel, Jr. ''Sir Henry Morton Stanley, Confederate'' ISBN 0-8071-2587-3 reprint with introduction copyright 2000, from original, ''The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley'' (1909)

Liebowitz, Daniel; Pearson, Charles: ''The Last Expedition: Stanley's Mad Journey Through the Congo'', 2005. ISBN 0-393-05903-0

Pakenham, Thomas: ''The Scramble for Africa''. Abacus History, 1991. ISBN 0-349-10449-2

Petringa, Maria: ''Brazza, A Life for Africa'', 2006. ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0

The British Medical Journal 1870-1871 editions have numerous reports of Stanley's progress in attempting to track down David Livingston. Several medical schools in the USA (e.g. Johns Hopkins, UW Madison) have these volumes still in the stack and readers can read for themselves the accounts of this famous expedition.

Simpson, J. 2007. ''Not Quite World's End A Traveller's Tales.'' pp. 291–293; 294 - 296. Pan Books. ISBN 978-0-330-43560-4

External links

Stanley and Livingstone Original reports from The Times

''How I Found Livingstone'', illustrated. From Internet Archive.

''In darkest Africa; or, The quest, rescue, and retreat of Emin, governor of Equatoria. Volume 1'' (1890), illustrated. From Internet Archive.

''In darkest Africa; or, The quest, rescue, and retreat of Emin, governor of Equatoria. Volume 2'' (1890), illustrated. From Internet Archive.

Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), Explorer and journalist Sitter associated with 27 portraits

Letters and maps associated with HM Stanley from Gathering the Jewels

HM Stanley and Knife Crime

Category:Welsh journalists Category:British journalists Category:Explorers of Africa Category:Welsh explorers Category:Union Army soldiers Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs Category:UK MPs 1895–1900 Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:People from Denbighshire Category:Welsh emigrants to the United States Category:1841 births Category:1904 deaths Category:Confederate States Army soldiers

af:Henry Morton Stanley ar:هنري مورتون ستانلي bg:Хенри Мортън Стенли ca:Henry Morton Stanley cs:Henry Morton Stanley cy:Henry Morton Stanley da:Henry Morton Stanley de:Henry Morton Stanley es:Henry Morton Stanley eo:Henry Morton Stanley eu:Henry Morton Stanley fr:Henry Morton Stanley fy:Henry Morton Stanley ga:Henry Morton Stanley gl:Henry Morton Stanley ko:헨리 모턴 스탠리 io:Henry Morton Stanley is:Henry Morton Stanley it:Henry Morton Stanley he:הנרי מורטון סטנלי sw:Henry Morton Stanley la:Henricus Morton Stanley lb:Henry Morton Stanley lt:Henry Morton Stanley hu:Henry Morton Stanley mk:Хенри Мортон Стенли my:စတနန်လေ အိပ်၊အမ် nl:Henry Morton Stanley ja:ヘンリー・モートン・スタンリー no:Henry Morton Stanley nn:Henry Morton Stanley pl:Henry Morton Stanley pt:Henry Morton Stanley ro:Henry Morton Stanley ru:Генри Мортон Стэнли sl:Henry Morton Stanley sr:Хенри Мортон Стенли fi:Henry Morton Stanley sv:Henry Morton Stanley tr:Henry Morton Stanley uk:Генрі Мортон Стенлі zh:亨利·莫頓·史丹利

In 1874-1877 Henry Morton Stanley traveled Africa, exploring Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lualaba/Congo river. He traveled from Zanzibar in the east to Boma in the mouth of the Congo in the west. He thereby solved many questions that were still open on the central Africa geography, including those on the source of the Nile. He proved that the Lualala river continued as the Congo river – not as Nile.

In 1871-1872 Stanley had searched for Livingstone in central Africa, finding him and greeting with the famous (but probably made up afterwards) words: “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”. Livingstone, with whom he had traveled afterwards, had died in 1873, leaving the questions unresolved.

Stanley started with about 225 people from Zanzibar near the east coast. He was the only European of four to reach the west coast. Apart from being accused in the press of being a murderer, his fame rose extremely high. He proposed to open Africa by trade, so as to remove the slave trade on the continent. Afterward he would be working (traveling) in Africa to advance many political interests of European states.

Topics to explore

His researching aims were multiple. First he had to explore the lakes as possible sources of the Nile. He had to describe each lake and check incoming and outgoing rivers. Especially: check if the inlet or outlet is connected to other lakes or to the Nile. Then he had to answer where the Lualaba river, already known in Central Africa, ended. For example: Burton thought that Lake Victoria could have a southern inlet, possibly from Lake Albert, meaning that the source of the Nile was not Lake Victoria. Baker had stated a possibility that Lake Albert had an inlet from Lake Tanganyika. Livingstone thought that Lualala ended up in the Nile. The todo-list for Stanley:
# Explore Lake Victoria: incoming and outflowing rivers # Explore Lake Albert: incoming and outflowing rivers # Explore Lake Tanganyika, check the direction of the river in the North: incoming or outfloewing? # Explore the Lualaba river downstream: towards the Nile or elsewhere? # Write dispatches for the newspapers and a book

Preparations

In New York the editor of then New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett Jr., would sponsor the trip, albeit less generous then the earlier trip to find Livingstone. The English paper The Daily Telegraph would also join in.

Stanley had engaged Alice Pike, and promised to return after two years, while knowing that his trip would take three years. He named his boat after her: ''Lady Alice'', and would name an island in Lake Victoria: 'Alice Island'.

On September 21, 1874 he left for Zanzibar. From England he took with him Frederick Barker and the brothers Francis Pocock, Edward Pocock and Kalulu, an African he had taken to England on his earlier trip and who was educated briefly in England. He also took 60 pound of cloth, copper wire and beads (Sami Sami) for trading. Instruments: barometer, watches, chronometers (carefully packed), sextant, compasses, photography, Snider rifles elephant gun(s) and automatic rifles. In Zanzibar he completed his troupe to the total 224 people, including 16 women and 5 to 10 boys. He recruited mainly from the Wangwara, given their trustworthiness and endurance in earlier travels.

Stage 1: Onto Lake Victoria

On November 12, 1874 he left Zanzibar for the mainland. Five days later he left from Bagamoyo. After fighting with Warimi, they reached Lake Victoria (Lake Nyasa) on 27 February, having traveled in 103 days. He had lost 62 lives, including Edward Pocock.

Stage 2: Circumnavigate Lake Victoria

On March 8, 1875, Stanley and ten Wangana left the camping site near Kageghi in ''Lady Alice'', their 24 ft boat with single sail, transported to this site in parts. They explored and named the Speke Bay, after John Speke, the first European to see the Lake. They also discovered the main river Simiyu inlet in the South. Reaching the island Ukerewe he discovered that Mse Saba and Tarib Sungoro were trading slaves from here, capturing people from the Gaya, assisted by the Gaya chief himself. Sailing past the island he was attacked by Wavuma people in canoes, from which he saved the group by shooting, killing a small number of people.

On April 4 he landed on the northern bank, near the Ripon Falls. The Ripon Falls, the only outlet of the lake, were already named as source of the Nile by Speke. He was received as a royal guest by Mutesa, king of the Kabaka in Buganda. The king wanted to build good relations with Stanley and his country, so as to obtain weapons to improve his slave trade. Stanley thought (and wrote) that this would be an ideal country to establish missions, and to trade regular goods. Mutesa promised Stanley twenty canoes, which Stanley received only months later when he was reaching a war with the island Bumbireh.

They left on April 21 southward, rowing against the wind and with little food. First they reached and checked the inlet of the Kagera river, which they would later explore on their way to Lake Albert.

In need of food they had to land on the island Bumbireh. The locals alternated peace talks with thefts and threats, and had stolen their peddles. Ultimately the crew escaped, killing some warriors in the process. Later Stanley would write he killed 10 (and elsewhere 14) in his dispatches to newspapers. This exaggeration would later cost him dearly, because while he was in the continent, others judged him being a killer. As to why he exaggerated the number of deaths, is not clear; his biographer Tim Jeal has tried to clarify.

On May 5, they arrived back in Kageghi and met their camping group. In the meantime Frederic Barker had died of disease, as had Mabuku Speke (who was on earlier travels with Livingstone, Speke, Grant and Burton), Gardner and Ulimengo (both were on earlier travels).

He had explored Lake Victoria in 57 days. His 37 measurements on longitude/latitude and descriptions of its coast led to a major revision of its geography. He could conclude: Makongothe Kagera River is the main inflowing river. The lake was determined to be above sea level, at a maximum depth of .

Stage 3: Onto Lake Albert

After many months on and near Lake Victoria, he set of for Lake Albert. On September 17, 1875 they sailed to Makongo with 155 souls and 23 canoes. Main goal was to check whether this lake would feed Lake Victoria, thus being a main source for the Nile, or even being fed from another inflow from the south.

He had to pass the trouble-island Bumbiri again, since the canoes were not capable of crossing the lake far from the coast. The Bumbiri-people had received reinforcements from the mainland, and were apparently coordinating actions with the mainland. Now the promised canoes from Buganda arrived with 150 men. When negotiations turned out negative, and capturing a chief by Stanley did not work, they stayed from a safe spear-distance and killed about 33 people by firearm. This fight would afterward be used to prove that Stanley shot without reason. This was a second action, preemptive now, that would bring Stanley into problems by the press at home.

On August 12 they went on land at the western bank, and went for Lake Albert. But they were too few to continue, since there were fiendish tribes. So exploring Lake Albert had to be skipped, denying Stanley the opportunity of reaching of the true source of the Nile: Lake Albert, and its southern feeder Lake Edward.

Stage 4 Lake Tanganyika

May 27, 1876 they arrived in Ujiji on the border of Lake Tanganyika, the Arab slave village where Stanley had famously met Livingstone a few years before. They were to research the Lake, checking the hypothesis of Livingstone that the outlet in the south would feed the Lualaba and then the Nile.

On July 31 the lake was charted. The main outlet was located in the west, called Lukaga river. The depth was measured .

Stage 5: Follow the Lualaba

The final quest was to follow the Lualaba river, to see whether it feeds the Nile (as Livingstone thought), or that it feeds the Congo river. Even ending up in the Niger River could not be ruled out.

On August 25, 1876 132 souls left Ujiji. They crossed the lake westward to Manyema, to disembark and enter the very heart of Africa, from any ocean. After 43 days and , on October 17, they reached the Lualaba. Overland they reached Nyangwe, where Tippu Tip had his center of slave trade. Tippu Tip was warlord and master of the area, where tribes were ferociously fighting any intruder, for fear of enslavement or for dinner: in this area cannibalism thrived. Livingstone had not succeeded getting through (neither had Vernon Cameron in 1874, as Stanley had heard in Ujiji), so they both had turned south into lesser relevant researches. But Stanley could convince Tippu Tip, and hired from him a force to guard him for the next 100 or so miles (150 km). The deal was to have protection for 90 days, for 4 hours each day.

The big group left Nyangwe overland through dense Matimba forest. On November 19 they reached the Lualaba again. Since the route through the forest was so heavy to go, Tip reduced the deal and turned around with his party on December 28. Now Stanley was on his own, with 143 people, including 8 children and 16 women. They had 23 canoes.

His first encounter with local tribe was with the Wenya, cannibals. In total Stanley would report 32 unfriendly meetings on the river, sometimes including shootings and killings. He preferred trading and negotiating a peaceful thoroughfare, but the tribes were wary of slave traders. The fact that he did not come to steal people, but was just traveling the river, was difficult to explain. Also, trading and dealing for peace and food would take several days, and would cost him trading goods. So speeding along, with the flow, was preferable.

On January 6, 1877, after , they reached Boyoma Falls (called Stanley Falls for some time after), which they had to pass overland. There are seven cataracts some miles long each. Altogether they span . It took them to February 7 to reach the end of the Falls. Here Stanley learned that the river was called Ikuta Yacongo: he had reached the Congo river, and thereby proven that the Lualala did not feed the Nile. He was now crossing the land of the Bemberi people, leaving cannibals behind. Also, starting here the tribes had firearms, apparently the furthest reach of western (Portuguese) influence from the sea. He also discovered that his trade goods, valuable in eastern Africa, were worth nearly nothing here.

Only some 4 weeks later he reached Stanley Pool (now Pool Malebo). Nowadays there are the capitals Kinshasa and Brazzaville. Further downstream begin the Livingstone Falls (though Livingstone has never been on the Congo River): a series of falls and rapids with a difference of over . They had traveled the wide bend, , in about four weeks. On March 15 they started the descent of the falls, 32 separate falls altogether (though they did not know that then). It took them five months, multiple people and canoes to pass them. Among the men lost were Frank Pocock and Kalulu, his England-educated servant. From the Isangile Falls, with five falls to go, they pulled the canoes and ''Lady Alice'' ashore for good and left the river, aiming for the city of Boma via land. On August 3 they reached the hamlet Nsada. From there Stanley sent forward four trusted men to Boma with letters in English, French and Spanish, explaining his trip and asking them to send food for his starving people. On August 7 the relief came, being sent by representatives from the Liverpool trading firm Hatton & Cookson. August 9 they reached Boma. It was 1001 days since leaving Zanzibar on November 12, 1874.

Going home

In Boma he mailed his editor Bennett in New York to send money for his party: wages and an arrangement to return home to Zanzibar. Ultimately the group went to Luanda (Angola) first, and from there to Zanzibar by HMS ''Industry'', arriving November 26. He also wrote his newspaper messages about his discoveries, encouraging the powers to start trade in Africa, aiming at the effect of reducing slave trade in the interior, true to his experiences and belief, and as inspired by Livingstone.

Stanley brought home 108 people, including three children born during the trip. Most probably (the figures alter in between Stanley's own publications), he lost 132 people through disease, hunger, drowning, killing and desertion. Some 18 deserted, which is an extreme low figure given the fiendish and dangerous land they had passed, making it inviting to return instead of going into the unknown. He also learned through his publisher that his fiance Alice had married Mr Barney, owner of America's biggest rolling stock producer.

Stanley left on ''Pachumba'' for London via Paris. When Stanley left Zanzibar, his men heaved him on the shoulders and brought him to the floating longboat. Aboard the ''Pachumba'' his leading personnel, some of whom had already served in the find-Livingstone-journey, acclaimed and vowed to wait on Zanzibar until his safe arrival in London was confirmed.

References

;Bibliography ;Notes

Category:Lake Victoria Category:Lake Tanganyika Category:Lualaba River Category:Congo River Category:New York Herald Category:1870s in Africa Category:Exploration of Africa

Coordinates	34°5′24″N74°47′24″N
Name	Lady Gaga
Alt	Portrait of Lady Gaga
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
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	}}

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (; born March 28, 1986), better 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 2011 album ''Born This Way'' topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles, including "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Beside her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by such acts as David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through fashion, performance 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 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.

Biography

1986–2004: Early life

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986 in New York, NY 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

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. He 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 Distribution, 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''

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. 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, receiving 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."

Nevertheless, she realized a collaboration with consumer electronic company Beats by Dr. Dre 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 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''

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 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 its predececors 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 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. The Born This Way Ball Tour is set to begin on April 27, 2012, at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.

Artistry

Influences

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, 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, Britney Spears, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson and Yoko Ono.

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. 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.

Musical style

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

With constant costume changes, backup dancers, and provoctative 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

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

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. Lady 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.

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.

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.

LGBT advocacy

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 videos 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

''The Fame'' (2008)

''The Fame Monster'' (2009)

''Born This Way'' (2011)

Filmography

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

''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' (2011)

Concert tours

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

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

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

The Born This Way Ball Tour (2012–13)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lady Gaga

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

Further reading

Monster Anthems (2011) by Robert Christgau

External links

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 pop singer-songwriters Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Androgyny Category:Bisexual musicians Category:Brit Award winners Category:Echo winners Category:English-language singers 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: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

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