2008–present: The Fame
Gaga performing at the New Kids on the Block: Live tour.By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles, working closely with her record label to finalize her debut album The Fame.[13] Gaga said that she combined a lot of different genres on the album, "from Def Leppard drums and handclaps to metal drums on urban tracks."[11] She began to work with a collective called the Haus of Gaga, who collaborate with Gaga on her clothing, stage sets, and sounds.[6] The Fame received mostly positive reviews from critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it has received an average score of 71/100.[23] Times Online described the album as "a fantastic mix of Bowie-esque ballads, dramatic, Queen-inspired midtempo numbers and synth-based dance tracks that poke fun at celebrity-chasing rich kids."[6] The Fame peaked at number one in Austria, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland, and at number four in Australia and the United States;[24][25] worldwide sales as of July 2009 stand at 3 million copies.[26] The album's lead single, "Just Dance," was released on April 8, 2008, and has topped the charts in six countries - Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[27] It received a Grammy nomination for the Best Dance Recording, but lost to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."[28] The second single, "Poker Face", was released on September 23, 2008, and has reached number one in nearly twenty countries, including almost all major music markets in the world. "Poker Face" became Gaga's second consecutive number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2009.[29]
Afterward, the Haus of Gaga turned its focus further upon the American market with Gaga going on her first ever concert tour with fellow Interscope pop group, the reformed New Kids on the Block. Gaga started her stint with them in Los Angeles on October 8, 2008, and continued through the end of November.[30] She appeared as a guest artist on the song "Big Girl Now" from their new album, The Block.[31] Gaga's first headlining North American tour, The Fame Ball Tour, began on March 12, 2009, and has received critical acclaim.[32][33] In May, Gaga opened for the Pussycat Dolls in Australia. Her performance there was well-received, with a reviewer claiming that she upstaged the Dolls.[34][35] Around the same time, the music video for her international third single, "LoveGame," was banned by the Australian channel Network Ten, who refused to play the video reasoning that it contained sexually explicit imagery.[joozone.com]
Gaga appeared semi-nude, wearing only plastic bubbles, on the cover of the annual 'Hot 100' issue of Rolling Stone in May 2009.[37][38] In the issue she discussed that while she was making her beginnings in the New York club scene, Gaga was romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer. Gaga described their relationship and break-up, saying of it, "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny [of Grease], and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of the songs on her debut album The Fame.[39] Gaga also stated that she is bisexual and is inspired by beautiful women, which she says makes her boyfriends "uncomfortable."[39] She later regretted disclosing her orientation, saying, "I don't like to be seen as somebody who is using the gay community to look edgy. I'm a free sexual woman and I like what I like. I don't want people to write that about me because I feel like it looks like I'm saying it because I'm trying to be edgy or underground."[40] She had previously told a crowd at one of her concerts that her song "Poker Face" lyrically discusses fantasizing about a woman while being in bed with a man.[41] Gaga appeared on rapper Wale's single "Chillin."[42]
Gaga was nominated for a total of nine awards at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video for "Poker Face" and Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Special Effects, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction for "Paparazzi.[43] "Poker Face" managed to win the award for "Best New Artist" while "Paparazzi" won two awards for "Best Art Direction" and "Best Special Effects."[44]
On September 15, 2009, Gaga announced dates for a co-headlining North American tour with Kanye West entitled, "Fame Kills Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga."[45]
Musical style and influences
Lady Gaga "Just Dance"
A 30-second sample of Gaga's "Just Dance" featuring the chorus sung by Gaga and Colby O'Donis in the range of B3 to C♯ backed by a synth marching beat. The song became Gaga's first international hit single.
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