“Is Lady Gaga the future of pop?” asked The Times’ Hattie Collins in December 2008, who was offered the chance by Interscope to find out what it was all about recording the feeling of the moment. “Glory”, debut album Stephanie Joan Angelina Germanotta“This is the real name of the then 22-year-old American singer-songwriter, but of proud Italian descent, and was released less than two months ago and out of singles.”Just dance” AND “Poker Face“era an object still unidentified to specialists and the public When you think about it today, it feels like we’re talking about a different era of discography: but in 2008, five years before the boom of Spotify and streaming in general, the record was slowly opening up, and it could potentially be months before people started talking about it. .. on their own, being able to look forward to a significantly longer life than today.
Even communication was inevitably different: “This…a great mix of Bowie-style ballads, Queen-style drama and synth-driven dance numbers. who make fun of rich kids chasing fame. It’s funny, incredibly witty and, most importantly, exciting,” a British newspaper journalist wrote in his article, introducing readers to “Slava.”
The unidentified subject was also Lady Gaga (a stage name inspired by Queen’s “Radio GaGa”), who emerged from the hallways of the private Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan and arrived after passing through the worst clubs in the Lower East. The New York side and her experience as a writer for Fergie, the Pussycat Dolls and Britney Spears to earn a Grammy Award nomination – which would come a couple of months after this interview was published – for Best Dance Recording. , “Best Dance Recording”, an award later won by Daft Punk for “Stronger, Better, Faster, Stronger”. “I want to make sure that my music and my shows stimulate thought.– Lady Gaga told the media at the time, saying that the purpose of her songs is not only to entertain, but also provoke discussion. Re-reading these or other statements today, you understand that, in fact, fifteen years ago there was already everything that Lady Gaga would have represented for many years.
With “Glory”, which on the occasion fifteenth anniversary return to stores in vinyl two-tone translucent light blue (also contains an exclusive poster featuring never-before-seen images), pop-rock’s latest newcomer has entered the music business to revolutionize it in his own way. “My art is my whole life. Some artists work to build a villa or buy something to support their fame. I spend all the money I have on my shows. I don’t care about wealthsaid Stefani Germanotta, talking about her philosophy. His vision supported controversial songs accompanied by equally controversial video clips (they were still in the spotlight at that time, before the demise of MTV), had already gained their faith in the world of American show business.
Starting with “Poker Face”, the single was released shortly after the US release of “The Fame”. Gaga herself, in interviews, liked to mislead anyone who tried to interpret the meaning of the song (and the video, directed by Ray Kay and Anthony Mandler, in which in some scenes Gaga moved among futuristic mannequins: “In the face of confusion and madness emanating from Lady Gaga, the ticket inspectors retreated in front of her,” the directors would say): a song inspired by her addiction to gambling? A piece full of hints of oral sex? An anthem to his bisexuality? Everything and its opposite. .Perez Hilton. British fashion designer Henry Holland he declared himself a fan: “His pop music is pure, brilliant. And she looks iconic.”
On this side of the Atlantic, in the UK, Simon Cowell, with the help of his X Factor, tried to look for a new pop star of the future (and partially even managed to find one: in 2008, Leona Lewis conquered the charts with the song on his debut album “Spirit” and with such ballads as “Bleeding love” and “Better in time”), came out of the Californian offices of Interscope. a character destined to cause a sensation and fill a void. Scaring the divas of the pop establishment, who after a couple of hits (already) rested on their laurels, never releasing anything significant. How Christina Aguilerawho responded to journalists who asked her opinion about Lady Gaga: “
I don’t know who he is. I don’t even know if it’s a man or a woman” He found out a few months after the release of “The Fame” when Stefani Germanotta with this mixture of electropop, synthpop and dance music, well produced by the new RedOne, it would make everything that has existed since Madonna’s exploits suddenly seem outdateduntil his epiphany.
I want to make sure that my music and my shows stimulate thought.
Courage, transformation, the ability to communicate beyond music: the queen of pop who will say about her: “Imitation is the highest form of flattery.“, and even today it’s unclear whether it was a snarky remark or an endorsement—Lady Gaga took the characteristics and took them to another level. Conquering everything: television, video clips, advertising, radio, gyms and stadiums. “I’m filling a huge hole. There’s a big gap to be filled for women with big balls. I’m here to make great music and inspire people.– said the proud and self-confident Lady Gaga, who a year later with the “Monster of Fame” consolidates her empire from over 25 million records sold in just twelve months.
A physiological crisis would have overtaken her, who has a postmodern vision of the world.”Artpop“, in 2013, in the throes of a kind of delusion of omnipotence, she intellectually defied the public and experts, falling into an abyss from which she was to emerge again only by reinventing herself with A Star Is Born (more than a birth, it was her rebirth After all, he said it: “I want my music and my shows to stimulate thought.” But with Glory, his parable was just beginning: the record became album that stayed at number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Chart for the longest timewith over 175 weeks at the top.
“The Fame” is also the sixth longest-running album by a female artist on the Billboard 200 (more than 319 weeks). Over the course of her career, Lady Gaga has released five more consecutive number one albums in the US, becoming the first female artist to achieve such a milestone in more than a decade.