Groove metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is often used to describe Pantera and Exhorder. At its core, groove metal takes the intensity and sonic qualities of thrash metal and plays it at a mid-tempo, with most bands making only occasional forays into fast tempo.

Pantera's Cowboys from Hell album from 1990 was described as "groundbreaking" and "blueprint-defining" for the groove metal genre.Ian Christe credits Sepultura's Chaos A.D. and Pantera for creating the death metal-derived music of groove metal influencing later groups in the genre during the 1990s. Groove metal bands have incorporated thrash metal,hardcore punk, and industrial music.Tommy Victor of Prong claims that the attitude of groove metal came from Bad Brains.

The style has been associated with bands such as Pantera,Lamb of God,Sepultura,Soulfly,Gojira,Throwdown,Machine Head,Byzantine,Trivium,Anthrax,Korn and Spiritual Beggars. Some bands have gone to some lengths to avoid being labelled a groove metal band. Veteran thrash metal band Annihilator left Roadrunner Records in 1993 specifically to avoid being caught up in the groove metal trend being promoted by the label. Subsequently, the Canadian band did not play in North America until July 2011 when they returned to play a sold-out show in Quebec City and appear on the Main Stage at the Heavy MTL Festival in Montreal.

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

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