‘Lady Gaga is literally carrying the music industry on her back’, tweeted a fan, following the mixed reaction to her recent Grammy performance. The reference was, obviously to Lady Gaga’s psychedelic performance at the event. Later in the month, at the Oscars, she proved, yet again, why she is one of the most talked-about performers in the industry. With surprise, rather a shock elements are woven into her every public sighting, the most predictable aspect about her is her unpredictability on the stage.
While her ‘Shallow’ performance at the Grammy’s is best described as hyperbole, many in the media have likened it to a monstrous spider with wild gyrations that took the song to another level. She even got called a weirdo pop star. But come Oscars, and she did a volte-face by imbuing the song with romance and weaving intimacy with Bradley Cooper, who accompanied her on to the stage. Although she lost the Best Actress Award for her role in ‘A Star is Born’, she won the Best Original Song for Shallow.
From a rhinestone-crusted white jumpsuit at the Grammy’s to a classy black gown at Oscar’s, she presented her diva status in full glory. She showed how a hit song like Shallow can be converted into a pop anthem, a weirdo dance number or a classy romantic duet – as a section of media reported. That she can, time and again, demonstrate her quirkiness while belting out musical hits is what has endeared her to the legion of fans across the world. Her idiosyncratic renditions have, in effect, become her trademark; it is what keeps all the gaga about her alive and bursting forth.
Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986, Gaga is known for her unconventionality and provocative work, as well as visual experimentation. She was still a teenager when she began singing at open mic nights and acting in school plays. It was during her stint as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, that Akon helped her sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and his own label KonLive Distribution in 2007.
Gaga savoured success the very next year with her debut album ‘The Fame’ and its chart-topping singles ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Poker Face’; a follow-up EP, ‘The Fame Monster’, also proved successful. Her second full-length album ‘Born This Way’ peaked the US Billboard 200 and her success story continued with ‘Artpop’. ‘Cheek to Cheek’, ‘Joanne’… She went on to prove she can also act, with her leading roles in the miniseries ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ winning her a Golden Globe Award.
She is, indeed, on a winning streak. As she’d said “I had this dream, and I really wanted to be a star. And I was almost a monster in the way that I was really fearless with my ambitions.”