Name	Glam metal
Color	white
Bgcolor	#BB0022
Stylistic origins	Glam rock, heavy metal, hard rock, punk rock, pop rock
Cultural origins	Late 1970s, early 1980s Los Angeles and New York City
Instruments	Bass – drums – electric guitar – keyboards
Popularity	Highest from 1983 - 1991Moderate revival since early 2000s
Regional scenes	Los Angeles and New York, United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Sweden, Finland
Other topics	}}

Glam metal (also known as hair metal and often used synonymously with pop metal) is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene. It was popular throughout the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, combining the flamboyant look of glam rock and playing a power-chord-based heavy metal musical style. The genre rapidly lost mainstream interest from 1991 to 1993 with the rise of grunge and the release of albums such as Nirvana's ''Nevermind'', but has enjoyed revivals since the beginning of the new millennium.

Characteristics

Musically, glam metal uses traditional hard rock and heavy metal songs, incorporating elements of punk rock, while adding pop-influenced catchy hooks and guitar riffs. Like other heavy metal songs of the 1980s, they often feature shred guitar solos. Aesthetically glam metal draws heavily on the glam rock or glitter rock of the 1970s, often with very long backcombed hair, use of make-up, gaudy clothing and accessories (chiefly consisting of tight denim or leather jeans, spandex, and headbands). The visual aspects of glam metal appealed to music television producers, particularly MTV, whose establishment coincided with the rise of the genre. Glam metal performers became infamous for their debauched lifestyles of late-night parties, which were widely covered in the tabloid press.

Terminology

The term ''pop metal'' is routinely used as a synonym to "glam metal" but sometimes refers to a related but separate movement, especially according to Canadian anthropologist Sam Dunn and website Allmusic. Allmusic refers to glam metal as "hair metal", whose characteristics are flashy clothing and heavy makeup (as embodied by Poison, Twisted Sister and Mötley Crüe), whereas pop metal refers to the whole pop-tinted hard rock and heavy metal scene of the 1980s (including Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Europe). In the "definitive metal family tree" of his documentary ''Metal: A Headbanger's Journey'', anthropologist Sam Dunn also differentiates glam and pop metal, with glam metal bands including Mötley Crüe, Poison, Twisted Sister and Hanoi Rocks, while pop metal bands include Def Leppard, Europe, Lita Ford and Whitesnake.

''Hair metal'' is a derogatory, derisive umbrella term encompassing the whole 1980s glam metal scene; use of the term started in the early 1990s, as grunge took over the popularity at the expense of 1980s metal. However, the term is used in a non- or semi-derogatory sense by Allmusic to refer to glam metal.

Origins

Stephen Davis claims the influences of the style can be traced back to acts like Aerosmith, Kiss, Boston, Cheap Trick, and The New York Dolls. Particularly Kiss, but also the shock rock style of such acts as Alice Cooper, served as a major influence on the genre. Finnish band Hanoi Rocks have been credited with setting a blueprint for the look of hair metal.

Van Halen has been seen as highly influential on the movement, emerging in 1978 from the Los Angeles music scene on Sunset Strip, with a sound based around the lead guitar skills of Eddie Van Halen. He popularized a playing technique of two‐handed hammer‐ons and pull‐offs called tapping, showcased on the song "Eruption" from the album ''Van Halen''. This sound, and lead singer David Lee Roth's stage antics, would be highly influential on glam metal, although Van Halen would never fully adopt a glam aesthetic.

Often categorised with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, in 1981 Def Leppard released their second album ''High 'n' Dry'', mixing glam-rock with heavy metal, and helping to define the sound of hard rock for the decade. The follow-up ''Pyromania'' (1983), reached number 2 on the American charts and the singles "Foolin'", "Photograph", and "Rock of Ages", helped by the emergence of MTV, reached the Top 40. It was widely emulated, particularly by the emerging Californian scene.

First wave (1981–84)

In the early 1980s a number of bands from across the US began to move towards what would become the glam metal sound, including Kix from Western Maryland, who released their eponymous debut in 1981. From San Francisco Night Ranger's first album ''Dawn Patrol'' (1982), reached the top 40 in the US, but their breakthrough album was 1983's ''Midnight Madness'', which included the top 5 single "Sister Christian". From New York Twisted Sister, originally formed as a glam rock band in 1972, released their first album, ''Under the Blade'' in 1982.

The most active scene was in the clubs on Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, including The Trip, the Red Velvet, the Whisky a Go Go, and Starwood, all of which began to avoid booking punk rock bands because of fears of violence, and were colonised by metal bands, usually on a "pay to play" basis, creating a vibrant scene for hard rock music. One of the first groups to emerge from this scene were Mötley Crüe, with their albums ''Too Fast for Love'' (1981) and ''Shout at the Devil'' (1983). Quiet Riot's US debut ''Metal Health'' (1983) was the first glam metal album, and arguably the first heavy metal album, to reach number 1 in the Billboard music charts and helped open the doors for mainstream success by subsequent bands.

Increasing numbers of L.A. bands were able to produce début albums in 1984, including Ratt with their breakthrough ''Out of the Cellar'' (1984), Dokken, with ''Tooth and Nail'', Great White with their eponymous album, Autograph with ''Sign in Please'' and W.A.S.P. with their eponymous album. In addition Black 'n Blue, formed in Portland, Oregon released their eponymous debut and New York-based Danish band White Lion produced ''Fight to Survive'' (1985). All of these bands played a prominent part in the developing the overall look and sound of glam metal.

Second wave (1985–90)

By the mid-1980s, glam metal had begun to be a major mainstream success. Los Angeles continued to foster the most important scene around the Sunset Strip, with groups like London, which had originally formed as a glam rock band in the 1970s, and had seen future members of Mötley Crüe, Cinderella and Guns N' Roses pass through its ranks, finally releasing their début album ''Non Stop Rock'' in 1985. Philadelphia also produced successful bands, with Poison and Cinderella releasing their multi-platinum début albums, respectively ''Look What the Cat Dragged In'' and ''Night Songs'' in 1986. Stryper, formed in 1983 in Orange County, California, made their mainstream breakthrough in 1986 with their platinum album ''To Hell with the Devil'' and brought Christian lyrics to their hard rock music style and glam metal looks. Van Halen released ''5150'' (1986), their first album with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, which was number 1 in the U.S. for three weeks and sold over 6 million copies. The anthemic ''The Final Countdown'' (1986) by Swedish group Europe reached the top ten in several countries, including the U.S. and while the title single hit number one in 26 countries.

The most commercially significant release of the era was Bon Jovi from New Jersey, with ''Slippery When Wet'' (1986), which mixed hard rock with a pop sensitivity, and spent a total of 8 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, selling over 12 million copies. It became the first hard rock album to spawn three top 10 singles, two of which reached number 1. The album has been credited with widening the audience for the genre, particularly by appealing to women as well as the traditional male dominated audience, and opening the door to MTV and commercial success for other bands at the end of the decade. During the mid-to-late 1980s, glam metal bands were in heavy rotation on the channel, often at the top of MTV's daily dial countdown, and some of the bands appeared on the channel's shows such as ''Headbanger's Ball'', which became one of the most popular programs with over 1.3 million views a week. The groups also received heavy rotation on radio stations such as KNAC in Los Angeles. By second half of the decade, despite mostly negative critical reviews and being shunned by certain sections of the music industry, glam metal had become the most reliable form of commercial popular music in the United States.

Mötley Crüe with ''Girls, Girls, Girls'' (1987) continued their run of commercial success, and Def Leppard with ''Hysteria'' (1987) hit their commercial peak, the latter producing a hard rock record of seven hit singles. L.A. band Faster Pussycat released their eponymous début, but the greatest success was Guns N' Roses, originally formed from a fusion of bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose, who released the best-selling début of all time, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). With a "grittier" and "rawer" sound than most glam metal, it produced three top 10 hits, including the number 1 "Sweet Child O' Mine". Such was the dominance of the style that Californian hardcore punk band TSOL moved towards a glam metal sound in this period.

In the last years of the decade the most notable successes were ''New Jersey'' (1988) by Bon Jovi, ''OU812'' (1988) by Van Halen, while ''Open Up and Say... Ahh!'' (1988) by Poison, spawned number 1 hit single "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", and eventually sold eight million copies worldwide. Britny Fox from Philadelphia and Winger from New York released their eponymous débuts in 1988. In 1989 Mötley Crüe's produced their most commercially successful album, the multi-platinum number 1 ''Dr. Feelgood''. In the same year eponymous débuts included Danger Danger from New York and Dangerous Toys from Austin, Texas, who provided more of a Southern rock tone to the genre. L.A. débuts included Warrant with ''Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich'' (1989), and Skid Row with their eponymous album (1989), which reached number 6 in the Billboard 200, but they were to be one of the last major bands that emerged in the glam metal era.

Glam metal entered the 1990s as one of the major commercial genres of popular music. In 1990 débuts for Slaughter, from Las Vegas with ''Stick It to Ya'' and Firehouse, from North Carolina, with their eponymous album reached number 18 and number 21 on the Billboard 100 respectively, but it would be the peak of their commercial achievement. Guns N' Roses' ''Use Your Illusion I'' and ''Use Your Illusion II'' (both in 1991) and Van Halen's ''For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge'' (1991) showcased the genre's popularity. In 1992, Def Leppard followed up 1987's ''Hysteria'' with ''Adrenalize'', which went multi-platinum, spawned four Top 40 singles and held the number 1 spot on the U.S. album chart for 5 weeks, the only hard rock album to reach that position that year.

Decline (1991–97)

The 1988 film ''The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years'' captured the L.A. scene of successful and aspiring bands. It also highlighted the excesses of glam metal, particularly the scene in which W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes was interviewed while drinking vodka on an inflatable raft in a swimming pool as his mother watched. As a result it has been seen as helping to create a backlash against the genre. In the early 1990s glam metal's popularity rapidly declined after nearly a decade of success. Several music writers and musicians began to deride glam metal acts as "hair farmers," hinting at the soon to be popularized term hair metal. Another reason for the decline in popularity of the style may have been the changing popularity of the power ballad, a slow, emotional song that gradually builds to a strong finale. While the use of the power ballad, especially after a hard-rocking anthem, was initially a successful formula, in the late 1980s and early 1990s audiences lost interest in this approach.

One significant factor in the decline was the rise of grunge music from Seattle, with bands including Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. This was particularly obvious after the success of Nirvana's ''Nevermind'' (1991), which combined elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal into a dirty sound that made use of heavy guitar distortion, fuzz and feedback, along with darker lyrical themes, a stripped-down aesthetic and a complete rejection of the glam metal visual style and performance. Many major labels felt they had been caught off-guard by the surprise success of grunge and had begun turning over their personnel in favor of younger staffers more versed in the new scene. As MTV shifted its attention to the new style, glam metal bands found themselves relegated more and more often to and late night airplay, and ''Headbanger's Ball'' was cancelled at the end of 1994, while KNAC went over to Spanish programming.

In the new commercial climate many glam metal bands like Europe, Ratt, White Lion, Britny Fox, Stryper, Skid Row and Cinderella broke up and while many of these bands would re-unite again in the late 1990s or early 2000s, they never reached the commercial success they saw in the 1980s or early 1990s. Other bands such as Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Slaughter saw personnel changes which impacted their commercial viability. In 1995 Van Halen released ''Balance'', a multi-platinum seller that would be the band's last with Sammy Hagar on vocals. In 1996 David Lee Roth returned briefly and his replacement, former Extreme singer Gary Cherone, was fired soon after the release of the commercially unsuccessful 1998 album ''Van Halen III'' and Van Halen would not tour or record again until 2004. Guns N' Roses' original lineup was whittled away throughout the decade. Drummer Steven Adler was fired in 1990, guitarist Izzy Stradlin left in late 1991 after recording ''Use Your Illusion I and II'' with the band. Tensions between the other band members and lead singer Axl Rose continued after the release of the 1993 covers album ''The Spaghetti Incident?''. Guitarist Slash left in 1996, followed by bassist Duff McKagan in 1997. Axl Rose, the only original member, worked with a constantly-changing lineup in recording an album that would take over ten years to complete.

Revival (1998–present)

During the late 1990s and the 2000s glam metal began to enjoy something of a revival, with some established acts managing to weather the storm, others reforming and new bands emerging to emulate the glam metal style. Bon Jovi were still able to achieve a commercial hit with "It's My Life" (2000). They branched into country music with a version of their 2005 song "Who Says You Can't Go Home", which reached number 1 on the Hot Country Singles chart in 2006 and the rock/country album ''Lost Highway'' which reached number 1 in 2007. In 2009, Bon Jovi released another number 1 album, ''The Circle'', which marked a return to their hard rock sound.

Mötley Crüe reunited with Vince Neil to record the 1997 album ''Generation Swine'' and Poison reunited with guitarist C.C. DeVille in 1999, producing the mostly live ''Power to the People'' (2000), both bands began to tour extensively. There were reunions and subsequent tours from Van Halen (with Hagar in 2004 and then Roth in 2007), The long awaited Guns N' Roses album ''Chinese Democracy'' was finally released in 2008, but only went platinum, produced no hit singles, and failed to come close to the success of the band's late 1980s and early 1990s material.

Europe's "Final Countdown" enjoyed a new lease of popularity as the millennium drew to a close and the band reformed. Other acts to reform included Ratt, White Lion, Britny Fox, Night Ranger, Stryper (annually), Skid Row and Cinderella. Beginning in 1999, ''Monster Ballads'', a series of compilation albums that feature popular power ballads, usually from the glam metal genre, capitalised on the nostalgia, with the first volume going platinum. The VH1 sponsored Rock Never Stops Tour, beginning in 1998, has seen many glam metal bands take to the stage again, including on the inaugural tour Warrant, Slaughter, Quiet Riot, Firehouse, and L.A. Guns. Slaughter also took part in the 1999 version with Ted Nugent, Night Ranger, and Quiet Riot. Poison and Cinderella toured together in 2000 and 2002 and in 2005 Cinderella headlined the Rock Never Stops Tour, with support from Ratt, Quiet Riot, and Firehouse. In 2007 the four day long Rocklahoma festival held in Oklahoma and included glam metal bands Poison, Ratt, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot and Britny Fox. Warrant and Cinderella co-headlined the festival in 2008. Nostalgia for the genre was evidenced in the production of glam metal themed musical ''Rock of Ages'', which ran for in Los Angeles in 2006 and in New York in 2008.

Glam metal experienced a partial resurgence around the turn of the century, due in part to increased interest on the internet, with the successful 'Glam Slam Metal Jam' music festival taking place in summer 2000. By the early 2000s, a handful of new bands began to revive glam metal in one form or another. The Darkness's ''Permission to Land'' (2003), described as an "eerily realistic simulation of '80s metal and '70s glam", topped the UK charts, going quintuple platinum. ''One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back'' (2005) reached number 11, before the band broke up in 2006. Los Angeles band Steel Panther managed to gain a following by playing 80s style glam metal. Another attempt to revive glam metal was made by bands of the sleaze metal movement in Sweden, including Vains of Jenna, Hardcore Superstar, H.E.A.T. and Crashdïet. Other new acts included Beautiful Creatures and Buckcherry, whose breakthrough album ''15'' (2006) went platinum and spawned the single "Sorry" (2007), which made the top 10 of the Billboard 100.

See also

List of glam metal bands

2009 in Hard Rock

2010 in Hard Rock

2011 in Hard Rock

References

Notes

External links

In Tune With '80S Greaties New York Post October 23, 2008

Category:Glam metal Category:Heavy metal fashion Category:Heavy metal subgenres

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Name	Lady Gaga
Alt	Portrait of Lady Gaga
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Birth date	March 28, 1986
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Pop, dance
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	}}

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (; born March 28, 1986), better 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 by the end of 2007, was signed with Streamline Records. Employed 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 Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro" and 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 that include "Born This Way", "Judas", "The Edge of Glory", and "Marry The Night". Beside her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by such acts as David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is well-recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through fashion, performance and music videos. She has sold an estimated 23 million albums and 64 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time and her singles some of the best-selling worldwide. Her achievements include four ''Guinness World Records'', five Grammy Awards and thirteen MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), is regularly placed on lists composed by ''Forbes'' magazine, and was named one of the most influential people in the world by ''Time'' magazine.

Biography

1986–2004: Early life

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986 in New York City to parents Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur. Descending from Italian and more distant French-Canadian roots, Gaga is the elder of two children. Her sister, Natali, a fashion student, was born in 1992. Despite her seemingly affluent upbringing in the family home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Gaga has stressed that she did not come from a wealthy background, stating that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything—my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."

From the age of 11, Gaga – who was raised Roman Catholic – attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure": "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak." Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1," recalled a former high school classmate.

Left-handed Gaga began playing the piano at the age of 4, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13, and started to perform at open mike nights by the age of 14. Her passion for musical theatre brought her lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in ''Guys and Dolls'' and Philia in ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''. She also appeared in a very small role as a mischievous classmate in the television drama series ''The Sopranos'' in a 2001 episode titled "The Telltale Moozadell" in addition to unsuccessfully auditioning for parts in New York shows. When her time at the Convent of the Sacred Heart came to an end, her mother encouraged her to apply for the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a musical theatre training conservatory at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. After gaining early admission at 17, she eventually lived in an NYU dorm on 11th Street.

CAP21 prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity" where, in addition to sharpening her songwriting skills, she composed essays and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics, including a thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst. With CAP21, she also tried out for and won auditions, including the part of an unsuspecting diner customer where MTV's ''Boiling Points'', a prank reality television show, was being filmed. Notwithstanding these achievements, she felt that she was more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said. By the second semester of her sophomore year, she withdrew to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll at Tisch if unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she remembers.

2005–07: Career beginnings

Settled in a small apartment on Rivington Street towards the summer of 2005, Gaga recorded a couple of songs with hip-hop singer Grandmaster Melle Mel, for an audio book accompanying the children's book ''The Portal in the Park'', by Cricket Casey. She also began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand) with some friends from NYU – guitarist Calvin Pia, bassist Eli Silverman, drummer Alex Beckham and booking manager Frank Fredericks – in September of that year. The band played a mixture of songs: some self-penned alongside classic rock numbers like Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er". Playing in bars like the Greenwich Village's The Bitter End and the Lower East Side's the Mercury Lounge, the band developed a small fan base and caught the eye of music producer Joe Vulpis. Soon after arranging time in Vulpis' studio in the months that followed, SGBand were selling their extended plays ''Words'' and ''Red and Blue'' at gigs around New York while becoming a local fixture of the downtown Lower East Side club scene.

SGBand reached their career peak at the 2006 Songwriters Hall of Fame New Songwriters Showcase at The Cutting Room in June where Wendy Starland, a singer and model, appeared as a talent scout for music producer Rob Fusari. Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had written and compose new material with the music producer. While in collaboration, Fusari compared some of her vocal harmonies to those of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. It was Fusari who helped create the moniker Gaga after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". Gaga was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name when she received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga." He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga'. That was her entrance song" and that the text message was the result of a predictive text glitch that changed "radio" to "lady". She texted back, "That's it," and declared, "Don't ever call me Stefani again." ''The New York Post'', however, has reported that this story is incorrect, and that the name resulted from a marketing meeting.

Although the musical relationship between Fusari and Gaga was unsuccessful at first, the pair soon set up a company titled Team Lovechild in which they recorded and produced electropop tracks and sent them to music industry bosses. Joshua Sarubin, the head of A&R at Def Jam Recordings, responded positively and vied for the record company to take a chance on her "unusual and provocative" performance. After having his boss Antonio "L.A." Reid in agreement, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006 with the intention of having an album ready in nine months. However, she was dropped by the label after only three months – an unfortunate period of her life that would later inspire her treatment for the music video for her 2011 single "Marry the Night". Devastated, Gaga returned to the solace of the family home for Christmas and the nightlife culture of the Lower East Side.

She became increasingly experimental: fascinating herself with emerging neo-burlesque shows, go-go dancing at bars dressed in little more than a bikini in addition to experimenting with drugs. Her father, however, did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months. "I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to Black Sabbath and singing songs about oral sex. The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself." It was then when she became romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer in a relationship and break-up she likened to the musical film ''Grease'': "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of her later songs.

During this time, she met performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped mold her on-stage persona. Starlight explained that, upon their first meeting, Gaga wanted to perform with her to songs she had recorded with Fusari. Like SGBand, the pair soon began performing at many of the downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. Their live performance art piece was known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue" and, billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. Soon after, the two were invited to play at the 2007 Lollapalooza music festival in August that year. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde electronic dance music, Gaga had found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into her music.

While Gaga and Starlight were busy performing, producer Rob Fusari continued to work on the songs he had created with Gaga. Fusari sent these songs to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert. Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going." Having already served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV. As a result, she was hired to write songs for Britney Spears and labelmates New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls.

While Gaga was writing at Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. He then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live Distribution, making her his "franchise player." As 2007 came to a close, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a mash-up inspired by Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.". Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio for a week on her debut album; making the chart-topping singles "Just Dance", "Poker Face" and "LoveGame" together. Gaga also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "Christmas Tree" and "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the mainstream market. She responded, "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."

2008–10: ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster''

By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked extensively with her record label to complete her debut album in addition to setting up her own creative team – modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory – Haus of Gaga. Intensive work continued on the album, combining genres "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks" while drawing inspiration from 1980s synthpop and incorporating dance music with clear hooks. ''The Fame'', described as an exploration of her obsession with fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, was first released on August 19, 2008, preceded by lead single "Just Dance" four months earlier. Due to radio play being slow, Gaga supported the releases by performing in the backwaters of Malta and Vietnam in addition to small gay clubs around the United States. She was also billed as a supporting artist on the North American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour.

A sleeper hit, "Just Dance" hit the summit of the charts in six countries – Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States – in January 2009. The Grammy Award-nominated song provoked the instant success of ''The Fame''. Receiving positive reviews from contemporary critics who commended Gaga's ability to discover a melodious hook and compared her vocal abilities to those of Gwen Stefani, the album went to number-one in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland while appearing in the top-five in Australia, the United States and fifteen other countries. On ''Billboard'''s Dance/Electronic Albums chart, it stayed at the top spot 106 non-consecutive weeks. Since its release, ''The Fame'' has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Gaga achieved an even greater unexpected success when "Poker Face", another sleeper hit, reached number-one in almost all major music markets in the world including the United Kingdom and the United States in early 2009. The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, while ''The Fame'' was nominated for Album of the Year and won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album. Gaga was the recipient of many other honors in 2009 including the accumulation of 3 of 9 MTV Video Music Awards nominations – she won Best New Artist while the video for her single "Paparazzi" gained the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects – and ''Billboard'' magazine's Rising Star award. In addition to being an opening act on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination Tour during the first half of 2009 on their legs in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.

While she traveled the world on tour, she wrote ''The Fame Monster'', a collection of eight songs, which was released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Its first single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries, while reaching the top-two in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It made Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three singles (along with "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales and accrued the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance while its accompanying music video won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 53rd Grammy Awards The album's second single "Telephone", which features singer Beyoncé, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and became Gaga's fourth UK number-one single while its accompanying music video, although controversial, received a more positive reception from contemporary critics: praising her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna." Her following single "Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its ideas and dark nature but the Catholic League attacked Gaga for her alleged use of blasphemy. Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they made Gaga the first artist to gain over one billion viral views on video-sharing website YouTube. Musically, ''The Fame Monster'' has also received abundant success. Equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received, ''The Fame Monster'' garnered a total of six nominations; the album won for Best Pop Vocal Album and earned her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year at the 53rd annual awards ceremony.

The success of the album allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of ''The Fame Monster'' and months after having finished The Fame Ball Tour. Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially accomplished tour ran for over one and a half years and, according to ''Billboard'', grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist. Concerts performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a HBO television special titled ''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden''. The special accrued one of its five Emmy Award nominations and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray.

Gaga also performed songs from the album at international events such as the 2009 Royal Variety Performance where she sang "Speechless", a power ballad, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II; the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "Your Song" with Elton John; and the 2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend, Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony.

Other performances may have included her participation in Michael Jackson's This Is It concert series at London's O2 Arena. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she stated. "We were going to open for him at the O2 and we were working on making it happen. I believe there was some talk about us, lots of the openers, doing duets with Michael on stage." A realized collaboration with Polaroid started in January 2010. Excited about combining the company with the digital era, Gaga was named Chief Creative Officer for a line of imaging products for the international optic company with the intent of creating fashion, technology and photography products.

Despite a successful debut, Mermaid Music LLC – her production team – was sued in March 2010 by past producer Rob Fusari who claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of its earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment. Five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga. In addition to such strife, Gaga has been tested borderline positive for lupus, but claims not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused considerable dismay amongst her fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in an interview with Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

2011–present: ''Born This Way''

Gaga's second studio album and third major release ''Born This Way'' was released on May 23, 2011. Described as "a marriage of electronic music with major [...] metal or rock 'n' roll, pop, anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats" and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid", she stated. Gaga characterized her new music as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to the "next level". Its arrival followed the release of its eponymous lead single "Born This Way" on February 11, 2011, which was performed live for the first time at the 53rd Grammy Awards two days after its release. The song, dealing with self-acceptance regardless of race or sexual orientation, debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts, while selling more than 3 million digital copies in the United States by October 2011. A music video was released for the song, showing Gaga giving birth to a new race amidst surrealistic images; critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised its concept. Gaga lent her vocals elsewhere, pairing with Elton John to record an original duet for the animated feature film ''Gnomeo & Juliet''. The song, titled "Hello, Hello", was released on February 11, 2011, without Gaga's vocals. The duet version was only featured in the film.

Two other singles, "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory", as well as a promotional single, "Hair", were eventually released before the album. The music video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are also featured, was criticized for its religious references; the video, nonetheless, received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who claimed that there was nothing offensive about it. "Judas" additionally peaked within the top ten in several major musical markets. "The Edge of Glory" was intended as a promotional single; nevertheless, due to commercial success in digital outlets, the song was released as a single to critical appreciation, accompanied by a music video. Gaga also undertook a job as a fashion columnist for ''V'', where she wrote about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme. Upon release, ''Born This Way'' sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the United States, debuting atop the ''Billboard'' 200, and topping the charts in more than 20 other countries. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its range of different styles as well as her vocals. Later, Lady Gaga went to Sydney to promote ''Born This Way'' with a one-of-a-kind concert at the Sydney Town Hall on July 13, 2011.

She continued her musical endeavors, releasing "You and I" and "Marry the Night" as succeeding singles from ''Born This Way'', as well as recording songs with veteran artists like Cher and Tony Bennett. The song recorded with Bennett is a jazz version of "The Lady Is a Tramp", while Gaga described her duet with Cher as a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which she "wrote a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason." On August 28, at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won two awards out of four nominations, and attended the event dressed as Jo Calderone, her male alter-ego. For the 2012 edition of the ''Guinness World Records'', Gaga was listed for Most Followers on Twitter, with over 13 million followers, and "Poker Face" was listed for Most Weeks on US Digital Hot Songs, with 83 weeks. Gaga continued her live appearances, and performed at the celebration of former US president Bill Clinton's 65th Birthday alongside Bono, Stevie Wonder and Usher, among others. She wore a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy and changed the lyrics to her song "You and I" specifically for the performance. Later on, Gaga won four awards out of six nominations in the main categories at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards in November, for Best Female, Biggest Fans, Best Song and Best Video; the latter two with "Born This Way". On November 14, 2011, Gaga and her choreographer and creative director Laurieann Gibson parted ways, after working together for four years. Gibson's assistant Richard Jackson replaced her as Lady Gaga's choreographer.

Gaga released her fourth extended play ''A Very Gaga Holiday'' on November 22, and followed an appearance in her Thanksgiving Day television special entitled ''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving''. The television special was critically acclaimed and attained 5.749 million American viewers upon original airing. The accompanying tour for ''Born This Way'' was materializing, and at the same time Gaga started writing songs for a new record. She further explained to MTV News that she and Garibay were working on the follow-up album to ''Born This Way'' and stated that it was "beginning to flourish".

Artistry

Influences

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Elton John, had significant influence on her childhood and, presently, still do. "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," she insists. "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way." According to Gaga, Joanne Germanotta – her aunt who died of lupus aged 19 – lives on through her and inspires all of her music and art. Joanne's date of death is tattooed on Gaga's body and, despite dying 12 years before her birth, Gaga commented, "I really believe I have two hearts. I think I actually carry two souls in my body, and that I'm living out the rest of her life and her goodness – she died a virgin, she died never having experienced all these things that we all get to love and experience in our lives." Another spiritual influence on Gaga has been the Indian physician, public speaker and writer Deepak Chopra. Labeling him a "true inspiration", she stated that "he's always reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my vision and my destiny" in addition to thinking about Chopra when it comes to her work as a musician: "I want so much for it to go beyond the music for my fans."

Musically, Gaga takes influence from numerous musicians from dance-pop singers like Madonna and Michael Jackson to glam rock artists like David Bowie and Queen whilst employing the theatrics of artists like Andy Warhol and of her musical theatre roots in performance. The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name: "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name [...] Freddie was unique—one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music," she commented. Gaga receives regular comparisons to recording artist Madonna who admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga. In response to the comparisons, Gaga stated, "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally." Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the years of her career, has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of artists including Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson and Yoko Ono.

Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence and has been stylistically compared to English eccentrics Leigh Bowery and Isabella Blow and to American recording artist Cher. She commented that "as a child, she somehow absorbed Cher's out-there fashion sense and made it her own." She has considered Donatella Versace her muse and the late British fashion designer and close friend Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that "I miss Lee every time I get dressed" while channeling him in some of her work. Modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory, Gaga has her own creative production team, which she handles personally, called the Haus of Gaga, who create many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos. Her adoration of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful." "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." The Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third. ''Entertainment Weekly'' put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream."

Musical and performance style

Continually experimenting with new musical ideas and images, Gaga's musical and performance style is the subject of much analysis and scrutiny from critics. She professes that she is "liberating" herself by constantly reinventing her sound and image, insisting that she has been drawn to such a practice since her childhood. Vocally, Gaga possesses the range of a contralto and exhibits "overwhelming expression, instinctive vocal phrasing, '80s rock reminiscent chest belts and animalistic vocal ticks" while being able to move through 2.4 octaves. Refusing to lip sync, Gaga – whose range is frequently compared to those of Madonna and Gwen Stefani – has manipulated her vocal style over the course of her career yet considers ''Born This Way'' (2011) "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of." In summation of her voice, ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "There's an immense emotional intelligence behind the way she uses her voice. Almost never does she overwhelm a song with her vocal ability, recognizing instead that artistry is to be found in nuance rather than lung power."

Although her early lyrics have been criticized for lacking intellectual stimulation, "[Gaga] does manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace." She admits that her songwriting has been misinterpreted; her friend and blogger Perez Hilton articulated her message in a clearer way: "you write really deep intelligent lyrics with shallow concepts." Gaga opined, "Perez is very intelligent and clearly listened to my record from beginning to end, and he is correct." "I love songwriting. It's so funny – I will just jam around in my underwear or I could be washing my dishes. I wrote several songs just at the piano," she confesses. Gaga believes that "all good music can be played at a piano and still sound like a hit." She has covered a wide variety of topics in her songs: while ''The Fame'' (2008) meditates on the lust for stardom, ''The Fame Monster'' (2009) expresses fame's dark side through monster metaphors. ''Born This Way'' (2011) is sung in English, French, German and Spanish and includes common themes in Gaga's controversial songwriting like love, sex, religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality, freedom and individualism.

The structure of her music is said to echo classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop. Her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008) provoked ''The Sunday Times'' to assert "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, [Gaga] evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa 'Hollaback Girl', Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now" and a critic from ''The Boston Globe'' to comment that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen Stefani... in [her] girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats." Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune and undergirded with R&B-ish beats." The follow-up ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), saw Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky ABBA disco and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q" while ''Born This Way'' (2011) also draws on the records of her childhood and still has the "electro-sleaze beats and Eurodisco chorus chants" of its predecessor but includes genres as diverse as opera, heavy metal, disco, and rock and roll. "There isn't a subtle moment on the album, but even at its nuttiest, the music is full of wide-awake emotional details," wrote ''Rolling Stone'', who concluded: "The more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds."

Her performances are described as "highly entertaining and innovative"; the blood-spurting performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was described as "eye-popping" by MTV. She continued the "blood soaked" theme in The Monster Ball Tour, in which she wore a revealing leather corset and is "attacked" by a performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene on tour in England triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi driver had murdered 12 people. "What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence. Her unconventionality continued at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards when she performed in drag as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, and delivered a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "Yoü and I". Chris Rock has defended her flamboyant and provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," he said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?"

Public image

While ''Rolling Stone'' named Gaga the "Queen of Pop" in 2011, public reception of Gaga's music, fashion sense and persona are mixed. Her status as a role model, self-esteem booster for her fans, trailblazer and fashion icon who breathes new life into the industry is by turns affirmed and denied. Gaga's albums have received mostly positive reviews and critics have pointed out her unique place in pop music, the need for new movements in popular culture, the attention Gaga brings to modern social issues, and the inherently subjective nature of her art. In view of her influence on modern culture and her rise to global fame, sociologist Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina has organized a course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" since the spring of 2011 with the objective of unravelling "some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga."

Contrary to her outré style, the ''New York Post'' described her early look as like "a refugee from ''Jersey Shore''" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Lady Gaga is a natural brunette; she bleached her hair blonde because she was often mistaken for Amy Winehouse. She has nine tattoos on the left side of her body (her father has banned etchings on her right): a unicorn head with a ribbon wrapped around its horn that says "Born This Way"; a small heart with "dad" written inside it; several white roses; a treble clef; three daises; "Tokyo Love" with a little heart; "Little Monsters" written in cursive; a peace symbol, which was inspired by John Lennon, who she stated was her hero; and a curling German script on her left arm quoting the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her favorite writer, commenting that his "philosophy of solitude" spoke to her. Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Lady Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera stated that she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman." Lady Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons due to the attention providing useful publicity, saying, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way."

When interviewed by Barbara Walters for her annual ABC News special ''10 Most Fascinating People'' in 2009, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is intersex as an urban legend. Responding to a question on this issue, she stated, "At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny." In addition to Aguilera's statement, comparisons continued into 2010, when Aguilera released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Lady Gaga's video for "Bad Romance". There have also been similar comparisons made between Lady Gaga's style and that of fashion icon Dale Bozzio from the band Missing Persons. Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look more than thirty years earlier. Nonetheless, Gaga was named one of Vogue.com UK's Best Dressed people of 2010 while her stylist, Dazed & Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti, won the Fashion Creator of the Year Award at the British Fashion Awards.

Part of the reasoning for Gaga's Best Dressed achievement was her attire worn to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards: a dress supplemented by boots, a purse and a hat – each fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal. The dress, named ''Time'' magazine's Fashion Statement of 2010 and more widely known as the "meat dress", received divided opinions – evoking the attention of worldwide media but invoking the fury of animal rights organization PETA. Lady Gaga denied any intention of causing disrespect to any person or organization and wished for the dress to be interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community. In addition to this unconventionality, in a question posed about the necessary procedure to attach the prosthetics to give the appearance of recent horn-like ridges on her cheekbones, temples, and shoulders, Gaga responded, "They're not prosthetics, they're my bones." She also clarified that they were not the result of plastic surgery, believing such surgery to only be the modern byproduct of fame-induced insecurity to which she does not subscribe. The interviewer's further probing brought Gaga to the conclusion that they are an artistic representation of her inner inspirational light and part of the "performance piece" that is her musical persona: an inevitability of her becoming who she now is. When Gaga briefly met with US president Barack Obama at a Human Rights Campaign fundraiser, he described the interaction as "intimidating" as she was dressed in 16-inch heels making her undoubtedly the tallest woman in the room.

Gaga often refers to her fans as "Little Monsters" and in dedication, has had that inscription tattooed on "the arm that holds my mic." Her treatment of her "Little Monsters" has inspired criticism, due to the highly commercial nature of her music and image. To some, this dichotomy contravenes the concept of outsider culture. Camille Paglia in her 2010 cover story "Lady Gaga and the death of sex" in ''The Sunday Times'' asserts thatGaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of those." Writing for ''The Guardian'', Kitty Empire opined that the dichotomy "...allows the viewer to have a 'transgressive' experience without being required to think. At [her performance's] core, though, is the idea that Gaga is at one with the freaks and outcasts. The Monster Ball is where we can all be free. This is arrant nonsense, as the scads of people buying Gaga's cunningly commercial music are not limited to the niche worlds of drag queens and hip night creatures from which she draws her inspiration. But Gaga seems sincere."

Philanthropy

Besides her career in music, Gaga has also contributed to various charities and humanitarian works. In 2011, she launched her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on youth empowerment and issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring, and career development. "My mother and I have initiated a passion project. We call it the Born This Way Foundation," Gaga said in a statement about the foundation, which takes its name from the eponymous 2011 single and album. "Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment." The foundation will work with a number of partners, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

For natural disasters, Gaga has also helped various relief efforts. Although declining an invitation to appear on the single "We Are the World 25" to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she donated the proceeds of her January 24, 2010 concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to the country's reconstruction relief fund. All profits from her official online store on that day were also donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of $500,000 was collected for the fund. Hours after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, Gaga tweeted a message and a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to relief efforts. As of March 29, 2011, the bracelets raised $1.5 million. However, attorney Alyson Oliver filed a lawsuit against Gaga in Detroit in June 2011, noting that the bracelet was subject to a sales tax and an extra $3.99 shipping charge was added to the price. She also believed that not all proceeds from the bracelets would go to the relief efforts, demanding a public accounting of the campaign and refunds for people who had bought the bracelet. Lady Gaga's spokesperson called the lawsuit "meritless" and "misleading". On June 25, 2011, Gaga performed at MTV Japan's charity show in Makuhari Messe, which benefited the Japanese Red Cross.

Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS with the focus upon educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. Titled Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi for each contributor respectively, all net proceeds of the lipstick line were donated to the cosmetic company's campaign to prevent HIV and AIDS worldwide. In a press release, Gaga declared, "I don't want Viva Glam to be just a lipstick you buy to help a cause. I want it to be a reminder when you go out at night to put a condom in your purse right next to your lipstick." The sales of Gaga-endorsed Viva Glam lipstick and lipgloss have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.

With the performance of the bilingual song "Americano" from her second studio album ''Born This Way'' (2011), Gaga jumped into the debate surrounding SB 1070, Arizona's immigration law. She premiered the tune for the first time on the Guadalajara, Mexico stop of her Monster Ball tour telling the local press that she could not "stand by many of the unjust immigration laws" in the United States.

LGBT advocacy

Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of ''The Fame'', saying, "I love you so much. You were the first heartbeat in this project, and your support and brilliance means the world to me. I will always fight for the gay community hand in hand with this incredible team." One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo, where she sang her song "Just Dance". In June of the same year, she performed the song again at the San Francisco Pride event.

After ''The Fame'' was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her bisexuality. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality, saying "The fact that I'm into women, they're all intimidated by it. It makes them uncomfortable. They're like, 'I don't need to have a threesome. I'm happy with just you'." When she appeared as a guest on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in May 2009, she praised DeGeneres for being "an inspiration for women and for the gay community". She proclaimed that the October 11, 2009 National Equality March rally on the National Mall was "the single most important event of her career." As she exited, she left with an exultant "Bless God and bless the gays," similar to her 2009 MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech for Best New Artist a month earlier. At the Human Rights Campaign Dinner, held the same weekend as the rally, she performed a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" declaring that "I'm not going to [play] one of my songs tonight because tonight is not about me, it's about you." She changed the original lyrics of the song to reflect the death of Matthew Shepard, a college student murdered because of his sexuality.

Gaga attended the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards accompanied by four service members of the United States Armed Forces (Mike Almy, David Hall, Katie Miller and Stacy Vasquez), all of whom, under the United States military's "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, had been prohibited from serving openly because of their sexuality. In addition, Gaga wore a dress fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal to the awards ceremony. Gaga wished that the dress, more widely known as the "meat dress", was interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community adding that "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones." She later released three videos on YouTube videos urging her fans to contact their Senators in an effort to overturn the policy. In late September 2010 she spoke at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's "4the14K" Rally in Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine. The name of the rally signified the number – an estimated 14,000 – of service members discharged under the DADT policy at the time. During her remarks, she urged members of the U.S. Senate (and in particular, moderate Republican Senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) to vote in favor of legislation that would repeal the DADT policy. Following this event, editors of ''The Advocate'' commented that she had become "the real fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians, one that Barack Obama had promised to be.

Gaga appeared at Europride, a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, held in Rome in June 2011. In a nearly twenty-minute speech, she criticized the intolerant state of gay rights in many European countries and described homosexuals as "revolutionaries of love" before performing acoustic renderings of "Born This Way" and "The Edge of Glory" in front of thousands at the Circus Maximus. She stated that "Today and every day we fight for freedom. We fight for justice. We beckon for compassion, understanding and above all we want full equality now". Gaga revealed that she is often questioned why she dedicates herself to "gayspeak" and "how gay" she is, to which, she told the audience: "Why is this question, why is this issue so important? My answer is: I am a child of diversity, I am one with my generation, I feel a moral obligation as a woman, or a man, to exercise my revolutionary potential and make the world a better place." She then joked: "On a gay scale from 1 to 10, I'm a Judy Garland fucking 42."

Discography

''The Fame'' (2008)

''The Fame Monster'' (2009)

''Born This Way'' (2011)

Filmography

''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden'' (2011)

''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' (2011)

Concert tours

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (2009–10) (canceled)

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lady Gaga

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

Further reading

Monster Anthems (2011) by Robert Christgau

External links

Slide show ''Vanity Fair''

Category:1986 births Category:American contraltos Category:American dance musicians Category:American electronic musicians Category:American female pop singers Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American performance artists Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Androgyny Category:Bisexual musicians Category:Brit Award winners Category:Echo winners Category:English-language singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Keytarists Category:LGBT Christians Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists Category:Living people Category:People from Manhattan Category:Pseudonymous musicians Category:Singers from New York City Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:Synthpop musicians Category:Tisch School of the Arts alumni Category:Wonky Pop acts

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bgcolour	orange
name	Nicola Formichetti
birth date	May 31, 1977
birth place	Tokyo, Japan
field	fashion direction, editing, design,creative direction, art direction
awards	2010 Isabella Blow Award
website	}}

Nicola Formichetti (; born 31 May 1977) is an internationally prolific fashion director and fashion editor of mixed Italian and Japanese heritage. He is most widely known as the new creative director for the French fashion house MUGLER, and for being a frequent collaborator with singer-songwriter and performance artist Lady Gaga. Formichetti is also known as fashion director of ''Vogue Hommes Japan'', is a contributing editor of several other fashion magazines, and is fashion director for the clothing company Uniqlo. In November 2010 he was named one of the "most influential creative forces working in fashion today." The following month he was awarded the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator at the 2010 British Fashion Awards.

Early life

The son of a Japanese stewardess and an Italian pilot, Formichetti was born in Japan and grew up in Rome and Tokyo, attempting to assimilate in both cultures. As a child he trained as a classical pianist (and still plays for relaxation). But moving to London became his great desire and he used the excuse of attending an architecture school to which he was accepted in order to get there. Formichetti has explained that instead of attending he "literally walked in the front door of the architecture school and then ran out of the back one to go clubbing for three years." He became a student of the nightlife and street fashions, and began working at a fashionable boutique called 'The Pineal Eye' where he would become art director and head buyer for two years.

Career

While working at 'The Pineal Eye' Formichetti was spotted by fashion editor Katy England and she offered him a monthly page at ''Dazed & Confused'' called "Eye Spy," and after being named the magazine's fashion director in 2005 would eventually be promoted to become its creative director 2008. His work at ''Dazed & Confused'' led to other fashion magazines, including ''V'', ''Another Magazine'', ''Arena Homme +'', and ''Harper's Bazaar USA''. Among fashion designers he has worked with Kim Jones, collaborating with him on his collections and shows, and has worked with fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen, Gareth Pugh, Carri "Cassette Playa" Mundane, Prada, Missoni, Iceberg, and brands such as Nike, Umbro, Puma, Stussy, Topman, H&M, and Edwin. Among fashion photographers Formichetti has worked with Nick Knight, Hedi Slimane, Terry Richardson, Steven Klein, and Oliviero Toscani, as well as others.

Lady Gaga

2009-2010

His collaboration with Lady Gaga as her stylist, or more appropriately fashion director, began in early May 2009 at a shoot with photographer Sebastian Faena for the July 2009 issue of ''V Magazine'' (''V60''), Formichetti saying that "It was an instant love." This was soon followed by a cover shoot for ''V61'' (September issue) with Mario Testino. The following June he was fashion director for her performance at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, and following that for the majority of Lady Gaga's important performances and appearances in the second half of 2009, including at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards in September, where she appeared in four dresses by Jean-Paul Gaultier and one by Alexander McQueen, then on ''Saturday Night Live'' in October, where she appeared in a metal orb structure designed by Nazir Mazhar, and later at the Royal Variety Performance in December, where she appeared in a latex dress, by Atsuko Kudo, designed to resemble those worn by Elizabeth I of England, for Gaga's introduction to her namesake Elizabeth II. In the fall she also appeared in the third volume of ''Vogue Hommes Japan'', the editorial titled "Lady Gaga & Araki's Tokyo Love" shot by Nobuyoshi Araki, with the fashion direction naturally by Formichetti. Their first collaboration in a music video together, the immensely successful Bad Romance, directed by Francis Lawrence, would later be voted Video of the Year and then win the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. In this Gaga appears in several outfits and footwear by Alexander McQueen, reappears in the orb by Nazir Mazhar, as well as in a "diamond crown" outfit by Franc Fernandez, and one by her creative team, the "Haus of Gaga" itself, among other pieces. Formichetti is also credited as stylist for her album ''The Fame Monster'' (shot by Hedi Slimane), and has been fashion director for her sold-out The Monster Ball Tour.

2010

In late January 2010 he was stylist/fashion director for Lady Gaga's music video Telephone, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, which was later released in March. Immediately after this video was filmed came her appearance at the 52nd Grammy Awards (where Gaga performed with Elton John), for which Formichetti was also fashion director. In February he was again for her appearance at the 2010 BRIT Awards, where she dedicated her performance to their friend Alexander McQueen, who had committed suicide only five days earlier. Following their collaboration for several more appearances and performances over the next months came Formichetti's styling for her video Alejandro, directed by his collaborator in the past Steven Klein, and for the associated cover shoot by Terry Richardson for the mid-July issue of ''Rolling Stone''. Her ''American Idol'' performance of "Alejandro" in early May was also styled by Formichetti. Among other projects, next came the styling for Richardson's shoot of Gaga (in a meat bikini) and Nick Knight's shoot of model Jo Calderone (Gaga in "drag") for the fifth volume of ''Vogue Hommes Japan''. Around the same time Richardson shot Gaga as styled by Formichetti for the company Supreme NYC, but the shoot would wait until 2011 to be released both in the Supreme ad campaign and in the French magazine ''Purple''. Knight then photographed her again, styled by Formichetti, for the upcoming September issue of ''Vanity Fair''. In August the three would appear yet again in collaboration for the 30th birthday issue of the magazine ''i-D'' (the shoot itself actually dating from 2009), Formichetti also giving a short interview for the Gaga piece following hers. Then in September came her celebrated appearance, for which he did the styling, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, where she wore (among other outfits) the famous "meat dress" by Franc Fernandez. Also in September the Fall issue of ''V Magazine'' (''V67'') appeared on newsstands, with Gaga, styled by Formichetti and shot by Mario Testino, on the cover with Marc Jacobs.

At the end of 2010 she was named Best-Dressed of the Year by ''Vogue''.

2011

After several months largely out of the spotlight (except on tour) Gaga returned in January 2011 to begin the serious promotion for her upcoming album ''Born This Way'' and Formichetti has been fashion director for the project. The music video for the title track "Born This Way" was directed later in January by Nick Knight, with Formichetti responsible for the styling. In February came her performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards where they collaborated with designer Hussein Chalayan on her appearance and performance. Gaga, interested in the concept of rebirth, sent Formichetti a picture of a human embryo, and he was first inspired to create, as he told her, "egg [shaped] shoes—like you were born that way, with eggs as feet." She took the idea further, resulting in the egg or "vessel" (designed by Chalayan) in which she was carried down the red carpet and later onto the stage, hatching out in a yolk-coloured latex outfit to perform her new single "Born This Way". She was wearing, as he tweeted, "Mugler by Nicola Formichetti." A "Born This Way"-associated shoot called "Alien Excess" done in January by photographer Mariano Vivanco for the Spring 2011 (March) issue of ''i-D'' features Gaga in a latex coat from the new Mugler menswear collection, with Formichetti responsible for the styling. A shot from the same session with Vivanco, but with different styling, also by Formichetti, appeared on the cover of ''Billboard'' in February.

He has also done Gaga's styling (shot by Nick Knight) for her as spokesperson for the MAC VIVA GLAM Campaign of the MAC AIDS Fund. A new project called "The Masterpiece" has been announced in which Formichetti will collaborate with her for MAC to create a "wearable piece of art" composed of the profile photos of fans who join the campaign.

MUGLER

After months of rumours, in September 2010 Formichetti was announced as the new creative director for the Parisian fashion house founded by the celebrated designer Thierry Mugler (who has largely retired from the business), which he has renamed to MUGLER. He has said that it was in fact Lady Gaga who persuaded him to go for the job, when they were looking through pieces from the Mugler archive when shooting the video for "Telephone". At MUGLER Formichetti oversees designers Sébastien Peigné for womenswear and Romain Kremer for menswear. Joël Palix, director general of the company, said "We were looking for a young talent who could really bring energy to the brand... Nicola is a multiculural, techno-savvy expert involved in fashion, communication, image and entertainment. He and the appointed talented designers will represent a new direction for French fashion."

Menswear

The menswear, a collaboration with Romain Kremer, of Formichetti's debut (Fall/Winter) collection "Anatomy of Change" premiered during the Men's Paris fashion week on 19 January 2011. This was accompanied by a video shot by Mariano Vivanco, featuring Formichetti's new muse, the full-body tattooed Canadian model Rick Genest, and by a remix by Lady Gaga, as musical director for the menswear project, of a new track ("Scheiße") from her upcoming album ''Born This Way''. The clothes, worn by Rico Genest and other models on the runway, recall those by Mugler himself from earlier decades, in such ways as the use of the colours navy blue and bright orange, or "hyper-modern"-style jackets lacking lapels. The collection also features some not-so-conventional latex pieces such as biker jackets, gloves, and even latex trousers. On the overall vision, Cathy Horyn of ''The New York Times'' describes Formichetti creating a "mechanical man" in the tradition of Mugler's fantastical woman, yet Adam Tschorn of the ''Los Angeles Times'' found plenty of the pieces surprisingly wearable. Formichetti himself says on the collection "I want to say something that has the past and the future, but what is really important to me is the present." Returning to Rico Genest, it was his discovery by Formichetti and then Gaga's urging which actually resulted in the menswear show, something not originally planned. Genest's discovery also influenced the collection itself. The show was streamed live from Paris on the Internet.

Genest can be seen styled in MUGLER by Formichetti and shot by Mariano Vivanco in the sixth volume of ''Vogue Hommes Japan'', the editorial being titled "Hard To Be Passive". In the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of ''GQ Style'' (UK) Formichetti is interviewed on the future of the brand, with Genest (also interviewed) shot in MUGLER by Karim Sadli for the editorial.

Womenswear

On March 2 the womenswear, a collaboration with Sébastien Peigné, premiered. Lady Gaga was again musical director, previewing the track "Government Hooker" from her upcoming album as well as including the already released title track "Born This Way" in the soundtrack. But this time she actually performed on the runway in person for Formichetti's show, modelling pieces from his collection, called "Anatomy of Change Femme – Mode Sans Frontiers." Additionally, Rick Genest from the menswear collection made a reappearance on the runway among the models. The reaction of critics to the clothes was generally similar to their reaction to the menswear two months previously. Formichetti offers a silhouette in the Mugler tradition, "minimally rendered" as described by Cathy Horyn, and with sculptured shoulders (for the appropriate pieces), Alex Fury of SHOWstudio.com describing them as "architectonic". For the show Formichetti employed Rein Vollenga to contribute sculptural elements to the silhouette, Atsuko Kudo skin-like items of torn-up latex, and Franc Fernandez for Gaga's two hats. She herself gave input for the collection, associated with her ''Born This Way'' projects and performances, but is not financially involved with Formichetti's MUGLER. As he says, "It's just friends helping each other... I think when you start talking about money, it stops the whole creative process for me."

Although there was worry it might, Gaga's appearance did not prevent Formichetti's audience from noticing the clothes, variously described as "shiny and sexy", and "taut and futuristic", or like the menswear "surprisingly wearable", in particular the jackets and dresses. He chose to go mainly with the colours black, white, electric/royal blue, and beige. The set he designed for the show was composed of clustered columns from which rose arches to form a structure resembling the long central interior of a Gothic Cathedral, the nave and its flanking aisles, through which the models, Genest and finally Gaga strutted. While it was found by critics among Formichetti's audience who were physically present at the show that both the architecture and lighting made it difficult to properly see the collection, the performance was as much or more for the millions around the world watching it streamed live on the Internet, like the menswear collection, but this time on the brand's Facebook page, and featuring forty five minutes live behind the scenes preshow. In fact he believes the future of the brand is a digital one, Formichetti saying "I design digitally, I communicate digitally, and I live digitally, and I wanted to incorporate that into the brand." For him Gaga's performance fits in the "new Mugler world", a "fantasy world" fusion of high fashion and pop with an existence both real and digital. The performance continued with her wearing a leopard print see-through catsuit from his collection out on a Paris street and into the celebrated restaurant Maxim's for the afterparty.

Vogue Hommes Japan

Uniqlo

MAC

In addition to his collaboration with Lady Gaga for the MAC VIVA GLAM Campaign, Formichetti has styled Irina Lazareanu, shot by Miles Aldridge, for MAC's ''Quite Cute'' collection.

Philosophy and influence

In the fifth volume of ''Vogue Hommes Japan'', Lady Gaga had the following to say about what she and Formichetti desire for the future of fashion:

Formichetti has repeatedly declared he is "not an elitist" in fashion, instead wanting to share what he does with everyone, using the Internet for this purpose. Like Gaga, who has inspired him to do so, he also interacts with and is inspired by his followers, and usually works in collaboration with others. He sees himself not as a "stylist", which term he rejects, but rather as an art director "whose job it is to create moods, oversee an overall image." As he further told ''Vice'':

His influence is varied. Before his MUGLER collections even premiered he was ranked the most influential stylist in the world (even if he dislikes the term), in no small part because of the enormous volume of his fashion magazine work, including making ''Vogue Hommes Japan'' "the most powerful Japanese-language publication in the global fashion industry", and because of his consulting for a number of fashion houses and other brands. It is with and through Lady Gaga as her fashion director, however, that Formichetti's influence on culture is greatest. Previously the role and influence of stylists was more limited, and while others have become designers, he is the first to take control of a major fashion house, interpreted as the most prominent example of a stylist becoming a power broker within the industry. Formichetti's eclectic selection for the avant-garde Gaga of pieces from designers ranging vastly from the great, such as Giorgio Armani, to the obscure, has influenced what has been described as a "cultural phenomenon" of imitation, extending even into "provincial backwaters".

He frequently meets and is very hopeful for many younger talents who are interested in fashion today.

References

External links

Official Website

Blog (for fashion credits)

MUGLER

Vogue Hommes Japan

Uniqlo

VivaGlam

Models.com

Gaga Fashionland (in-depth fashion credits and interviews)

Category:1977 births Category:People of Italian descent Category:People of Japanese descent Category:Magazine editors Category:People in fashion Category:Costume designers Category:Lady Gaga Category:Living people

id:Nicola Formichetti it:Nicola Formichetti mk:Никола Формичети

Lorraine Pascale is a British former model, classically trained chef, and Pâtissier. She has authored a best selling cookery book and presented a television series. She has opened her own retail outlet in London selling baked goods.

Family

Pascale was born on 17 November 1972 to West Indian parents but she was adopted when 18 months old and brought up in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire by a white family. When her adoptive parents divorced when she was three years old, Pascale remained with her mother, who subsequently became ill. At this point, at age 7, she was fostered to more than one family, with differing degrees of "fit". Eventually she returned to her mother. She won a full Scholarship given by the Buttle Trust and so was educated at a boarding school in Devon.

Pascale has an elder adoptive brother and a half-sister (that is, her adoptive father had a daughter after the divorce). She is aware of her birth parents' identity and their four other children, but she does not wish to re-establish contact.

She married in her "early twenties" and the couple had a daughter. The couple subsequently divorced.

Career

Pascale was spotted, when 16, as a potential model by the same agent who had found Naomi Campbell. Based in New York, she worked for a number of prestigious brands, including Versace and Donna Karan and achieved recognition as the first black British model to appear on the cover of American ''Elle''. She appeared in the 1998 ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit issue.

Despite her success, Pascale recognised the need to ensure her future after modelling and embarked on a series of career "try-outs", including hypnotherapy and car mechanics. She took a Prue Leith diploma cookery course in 2005 and finally found that cookery fitted her "like a pair of old jeans". After gaining her diploma, she did a series of 'stages' in some London restaurants but, realising that restaurant hours would not suit her, Pascale established herself as a specialist cakemaker, with an exclusive contract with Selfridges. Her introduction to Selfridges was at the suggestion of noted chef Marco Pierre White and in 2008 and 2010 she supplied the London store with over 1000 Christmas cakes. She has opened her own shop, Ella's Bakehouse, in Covent Garden. She also studied at Thames Valley University in Culinary Arts and is hoping to finish her dissertation later in 2011.

In January 2011 Pascale presented her own hit television bakery programme, ''Baking Made Easy'', on BBC television and published an eponymous bakery book.

References

External links

Supermodel Superchef in ''Vogue''

Ella's Bakehouse

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:People from Oxfordshire Category:English female models Category:English chefs

Name	Roy Wood
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Roy Adrian Wood
Born	November 08, 1946Kitts Green, Birmingham, England
Genre	Progressive rock, pop rock, jazz fusion, symphonic rock, art rock, pop, glam rock
Occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, composer, producer, arranger
Years active	1964–present
Instrument	Multi-instrumentalist
Label	United Artists, Deram, Regal Zonophone, Fly, Cube, Harvest, EMI, Warner Bros., Jet, Cheapskate, Speed, Legacy
Associated acts	Mike Sheridan and The NightridersThe NightridersThe MoveElectric Light Orchestra WizzardWizzo BandRoy Wood's HelicoptersThe RockersThe Roy Wood Big Band The Wombles with Roy WoodRoy Wood Rock & Roll Band
Website	Roywood.co.uk }}

Roy Adrian Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of these bands.

Career

Wood's first group in Birmingham in the early 1960s was The Falcons, which he left in 1963 to join Gerry Levene and the Avengers. He then moved to Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders (the band later became The Idle Race). During this period, Wood attended the Moseley College of Art, from which he was expelled in 1964.

From this basis, and other Birmingham-based groups, was formed The Move, and they quickly entered the UK Singles Chart. Their single, "Night of Fear", climbed to #2 in early 1967. Their third hit, "Flowers in the Rain", was the first song played at the launch of BBC Radio 1 in 1967, and the band evolved over a three year period. After the departure of The Move's lead singer Carl Wayne, Wood's influence became more prominent. In 1967 Wood supplied backing vocals on the track, "You Got Me Floatin'", on The Jimi Hendrix Experience's album, ''Axis: Bold as Love''.

Wood was keen on musical experimentation and was in this respect one of the most progressive musicians of his time, taking the 'pop group' into new areas. He was an early proponent of combining rock and roll and pop music with other styles, such as classical music, or the big band sound, and introduced classically-styled string and brass sections into the pop record. in 1972, Wood's composition ''Songs Of Praise'' was shortlisted by the BBC as one of six possible choices for the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972. When performed by The New Seekers on the Cliff Richard vehicle ''It's Cliff Richard!'', the song finished in last place with 3,842 votes. The group included the track on their album ''We'd Like To Teach The World To Sing''. Wood recorded his own version of ''Songs of Praise'', releasing it on the B-Side of his 1973 single, ''Dear Elaine''.

When The Move was still on tour, he founded, together with his band colleagues Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan, the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was later to gain major commercial success. The original intention was to continue with both The Move and ELO, but the former soon ceased to exist.

ELO's early live performances were chaotic, and after increasing tensions, Wood left in July 1972 and formed a new group, Wizzard, which assembled cellists, brass players and a bigger rhythm section, with several drummers and percussionists. Wood emulated the wall of sound production style of Phil Spector while successfully and affectionately pastiching the rock and roll style of the early 1960s. Meanwhile, he released several solo albums, exploring further musical directions. His 1973 album, ''Boulders'', was an almost entirely solo effort, right down to the sleeve artwork, with Wood playing a wide variety of musical instruments. A second solo album ''Mustard'' (1975), including contributions by Phil Everly and Annie Haslam, was less successful.

Wood was mentioned as singer as well as player of guitars, bass guitar, cello, flute, sitar, saxophones, clarinet, recorders, oboe, bassoon, drums, Double Bass and keyboards.

Earlier, in July 1972, Wood played bass guitar on all the tracks for Bo Diddley's Chess Records album ''The London Bo Diddley Sessions''.

By the late 1970s, Wood was appearing less in public; commercial success faded away, and his musical experiments did not always match popular taste, but he remained productive in the studio as musician, producer and songwriter. He was a fan of Elvis Presley, but never succeeded in getting him to adopt one of his compositions. However, he was untiring as a producer for other acts, most successfully doo-wop revivalists Darts. In 1976, Wood recorded The Beatles songs "Lovely Rita" and "Polythene Pam" for the ill-fated musical documentary, ''All This and World War II''.

In 1977 he formed the Wizzo Band, a jazz-rock ensemble, whose only live performance was a BBC simultaneous television and radio broadcast in stereo. The Wizzo Band split early the following year after cancelling a nationwide tour.

Between 1980 and 1982 Wood released a few singles under his own name and also as Roy Wood's Helicopters, and played some live dates under this name, with a band comprising Robin George (guitar), Terry Rowley (keyboards), Jon Camp (bass), and Tom Farnell (drums). The release of what would have been the last of these singles, "Aerial Pictures", backed with "Airborne", was cancelled owing to the lack of chart success for its predecessors, but both sides appeared for the first time in 2006 on a compilation CD, ''Roy Wood - The Wizzard!''. "Aerial Pictures", using the original backing track, subsequently became a solo single for former Move vocalist, Carl Wayne.

Wood also made a one-off rock and roll medley single with Phil Lynott, Chas Hodges and John Coghlan, credited to The Rockers, "We Are The Boys" (1983), and played a leading role in the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986, on 15 March 1986, which was later televised in part by the BBC. As well as designing the logo, Wood performed in a line-up which also included the Electric Light Orchestra and the Moody Blues.

After a period away from the limelight, following the release of the album ''Starting Up'' (1987), a cover version of the Len Barry hit "1-2-3", and a guest vocal appearance on one track on Rick Wakeman's ''The Time Machine'', he went on the road with 'Roy Wood's Army'. He also recorded two tracks with Lynne around this time ("If You Can't Get What You Want" and "Me and You"), which were never released.

Collectively, hit records by The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, Wizzard, and Wood's own solo singles demonstrated an impressive chart run for an individual, both as composer and performer. Altogether he had more than 20 singles in the UK Singles Chart under various guises, including three UK #1 hits. His most regularly broadcast song is the seasonal Wizzard single "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". In 1995 he released a new live version as the 'Roy Wood Big Band', which charted at #59, and in 2000 he joined forces with Mike Batt and The Wombles, for a re-working of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" and of the Wombles' hit "Wombling Merry Christmas", together in one song which reached #22.

Most recently, he has formed the Roy Wood Rock & Roll Band for occasional live dates and television performances in the UK. They were confirmed as the support act for Status Quo at several UK dates in November and December 2011.

Discography

Albums

''Boulders'' (1973) - UK #15; US Billboard 200 #176

''The London Bo Diddley Sessions'' (1973) - with Wood playing bass

''Mustard'' (1975)

''Super Active Wizzo'' (1977)

''On The Road Again'' (1979) - not released in the UK

''The Singles'' (1982) - UK #37

''Starting Up'' (1987)

Solo singles

"When Gran'ma Plays the Banjo" (1972)

"Dear Elaine" (1973) - UK #18

"Forever" (1973) - UK #8

"Goin' Down the Road" (1974) - UK #13

"Oh What a Shame" (1975) - UK #13

"Look Thru' the Eyes of a Fool" (1975)

"Any Old Time Will Do" (1976)

"Keep Your Hands on the Wheel" (1978)

"(We're) On the Road Again" (1979)

"Rock City" - Helicopters (1980)

"Sing Out the Old — Bring In the New" (1980)

"Green Glass Windows" - Roy Wood's Helicopters (1981)

"Down to Zero" (1981)

"It's Not Easy" (1982)

"O.T.T." (1982)

"We are the Boys (Who Make All the Noise)" - The Rockers (1983)

"Under Fire" (1985)

"Sing Out the Old — Bring In the New" - new recording (1985)

"Raining in the City" (1986)

"1-2-3" (1987)

''All the above titles recorded by Carl Wayne were as a solo artist, after he left The Move in 1969.''

Chronological album discography

''For the complete Move discography see The Move Discography'' ''For the complete ELO discography see Electric Light Orchestra discography'' ''For the complete Wizzard discography see Wizzard Discography''

''The Move'' (1968) - The Move

''Shazam'' (1970) - The Move

''Looking On'' (1970) - The Move

''Message from the Country'' (1971) - The Move

''The Electric Light Orchestra'' (1971) - ELO

''ELO 2'' (1973) - ELO (Although uncredited at the time, Wood played cello and bass on "In Old England Town" and "From the Sun to the World").

''Wizzard Brew'' (1973) - Wizzard

''Boulders'' (1973) - Solo

''Introducing Eddy & The Falcons'' (1974) - Wizzard

''Mustard'' (1975) - Solo

''Super Active Wizzo'' (1977) - Wizzo Band

''On The Road Again'' (1979) - Solo

''Starting Up'' (1987) - Solo

''Main Street'' (2000) - Wizzard

References

External links

Roy Wood's website

[ Biography page at the Allmusic website]

The Move Information Station

Roy Wood honorary doctorate photographs (University of Derby)

Roy Wood memorabilia and interviews

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:English songwriters Category:English rock guitarists Category:English male singers Category:English record producers Category:British rock cellists Category:The Move members Category:Electric Light Orchestra members Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands

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