Sunday, September 26, 2021

Sunday Spotlight: Lady Gaga

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is Lady Gaga.

It's superstars month(s) as the final Sunday Spotlight is set for late November, we are two months out from the final edition. So tonight, it's a MASSIVE superstar, Lady Gaga. Gaga began performing as a teenager, singing at open mic nights, and acting in school plays. 

Germanotta studied at Collaborative Arts Project 21, through New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, before dropping out to pursue a career in music. 

After Def Jam Recordings canceled her contract, she worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, where she signed a joint deal with Interscope Records and Akon's label, KonLive Distribution, in 2007. 

Lady Gaga rose to prominence the following year with her debut studio album, The Fame, featuring singles, Just Dance & Poker Face. 

The album was later reissued to include the EP The Fame Monster in 2009. Featuring successful singles like Bad Romance, Telephone & Alejandro.

Gaga's five succeeding studio albums all debuted atop the US Billboard 200. 

Her second full-length album, Born This Way (in 2011), sold more than one million copies in its first week. The title track became the fastest-selling song on the iTunes Store, with over one million downloads in less than a week. 

Following her EDM-influenced third album, Artpop (in 2013), and its lead single "Applause", Gaga released the jazz album Cheek to Cheek (in 2014) with Tony Bennett.

In 2016 Gaga gave us Joanne. Following Joanne, Gaga ventured into acting, playing leading roles in the miniseries American Horror Story: Hotel. Germanotta received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and the critically acclaimed musical drama film A Star Is Born in 2018. 

Her contributions to the latter's soundtrack, which spawned the chart-topping single Shallow, made her the first woman to win an Academy, Grammy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Award in one year. 

Lady Gaga returned to her dance-pop roots with her sixth studio album, Chromatica in lockdown year, 2020. The album yielded the number-one single Rain on Me along with 911, Stupid Love and Sour Candy with BLACKPINK.

Gaga's accolades include 12 Grammy Awards, 18 MTV Video Music Awards, 16 Guinness World Records, awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and recognition as Billboard's Artist of the Year (2010) and Woman of the Year (2015). 

Lady Gaga's philanthropy and activism focus on mental health awareness and LGBT rights; in 2012, she founded the Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit organization aiming to empower youth, improve mental health, and prevent bullying.

So with her second Tony Bennett collaboration record out this Friday along with Dawn of Chromatica (the remix sister album to Chromatica) streaming now. Love for Sale lands ahead of the long weekend. So usually we rest the Sunday Spotlights for the long weekend, however next Sunday, I have another superstar or super group coming your way. Until then Ruby Fields will be your new feature record from tomorrow. See you then!


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