Lady Gaga Popular Music in the 21st Essay

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Lady Gaga

Popular music in the 21st century is no longer just about the lyrics, the music, or the presence of the artist. It is about the combined "show" -- using media, lights, sound, special effects, costumes, make up and above all, an entertainment experience. One of the most visible and influence in the pop, dance and electronic fields is the artist Stefani Joanne Angelia Germanotta, more commonly known as Lady Gaga. Born in 1986, LG is not just a singer and performer, but also a producer, activist, fashion designer, actress and philanthropist. She was born and raised in New York City, did some brief music studies, but concentrated on her career in Manhattan's Lower East Side, then signed to Streamline Records when she was just 21 (Herbert). But this musical phenomenon is much more than a popular singer, with impressive philanthropic interests she is truly what one might call a modern Renaissance Artist.

Lady Gaga debuted with an album The Fame in 2008. It was an immediate critical and commercial success and was followed with The Fame Monster in 2009. The success of this release allowed her to take an 18-month long tour, called The Monster Ball Tour which became the highest grossing concert tour of all time. She continues to be successful with her singles, music videos, and commitment to the arts (Waddell).

Lady Gaga is hard to put into one style. She was heavily influenced by a host of performers, some popular before she was born: David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, and even Britney Spears. When one tries to define her style, we see that she is flamboyant, diverse through fashion, performance, and of music videos. This has made her extremely popular, selling 23 million albums and over 64 million singles; 5 Grammy Awards, and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Even such mainstream publications as Time Magazine have named her one of the most influential people in the world (Caufield).

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Gaga says that her parents exposed her to the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, and Elton John. Despite her flamboyance, what struck this writer was her duality: traditional family life and reverence for Indian physician Deepak Chopra. Regarding family, she said: "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. "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way" (Free). About spirituality and Chopra, she commented: "He's a true inspiration. He's always reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my vision and my destiny" (Time 100: Lady Gaga on Her Biggest Influence).

I was also impressed with the way that Lady Gaga continuously reinvents herself: in music, dance, fashion, and even creative productions. One can find influences of Andy Warhol in her stage productions, but she credits her Mother for giving her a sense of drama and fashion. "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" (Harris).

Stylistically, Lady Gaga continues to experiment with new musical ideas, images, and forms. She continually pushes the envelope in lyrics and form. To this writer, she is more of a contralto who refuses to lip sync. Her phrasing and ability to comfortably move through almost three octaves is more in line with a classically trained voice, particularly her power and style. She is just as comfortable crooning tunes from the 30s and 40s as.....

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