In July, Kaiser discussed how Lady Gaga was still reeling from the commercial failure of ARTPOP. So she reinvented herself a a classy jazz singer. No one really bought it. Except for Tony Bennett, who is part of the grand plan. They’ve recorded an album together called Cheek to Cheek. The record comes out tomorrow, so Gaga is promoting like crazy. She covers Parade in a giant Cher wig. Oh Gaga, so much drama.
Gaga sat down with the AP to talk about how the music industry did her wrong. It’s a pretty amusing read. Gaga insists that she’s more sober than ever and so happy. She’s fine with the criticism but wants the media to start, “making the distinction between the celebrity and the artist.” She’s tired of those celebs who are “famous for no reason.” This is rich coming from an artist who wrote a few albums about chasing fame. Gaga insists that music is simply her “gift to the world,” and she’s weary of celebrity. Let’s do some Parade excerpts (with bonus Gaga tears):
The changing face of celebrity: “It’s just so different now. Celebrity and the singer was held in such a beautiful way by the media, by the press, by the audience. Now we’ve sort of arrived in this modern culture of humiliation with celebrities. I suppose some people can’t see through my clothes, but people like Tony can.”
On filling stadiums: “I didn’t have to, but I feel fortunate that my first album [2008’s The Fame] sold 17 million. Who knows why? [laughs] Yes, we filled stadiums, but that doesn’t mean it will last a lifetime. I want it to. I have to make music; I love it. The other day, Tony said, ‘I’ve never once in my career not wanted to do this.’ It stung. Six months ago I didn’t feel that way. I tell Tony every day that he saved my life.”
The biz is so cruel: “I’m not going to say any names, but people get irrational when it comes to money–with how they treat you, with what they expect from you. … But if you help an artist, it doesn’t give you the right, once the artist is big, to take advantage of them. … I was so sad. I couldn’t sleep. I felt dead. And then I spent a lot of time with Tony. He wanted nothing but my friendship and my voice.” [She begins to cry. Tony says, “I understand” and holds her hand.] “It meant a lot to me, Tony. I don’t have many people I can relate to.”
What she’s learned from Tony: “That it’s important to stay true to yourself. When I came into this with Tony, he didn’t say, ‘You’ve got to take off all the crazy outfits and just sing.’ He said, ‘Be yourself.’ … You know, people wrote a lot of things about my last album, Artpop, which was very controversial. If it didn’t grab the whole world the way The Fame Monster did, that’s okay, because I know it’s good. That’s what Tony has taught me, that my intuition is right. When he talks about the 66 albums he’s put out, the peaks and valleys, and how it’s not about having a hit record-it’s the most inspiring thing.”
[From Parade]
ARTPOP was controversial? I must have missed that memo. I have no problem believing that Gaga came to an impass after her album flopped. It hit her hard, and she wasn’t prepared for a lack of Little Monster fawning. It still seems like a put-on for Gaga to start crying in the middle of this interview. She’s always been about embracing artifice, so it’s hard to believe her public behavior is ever genuine. Maybe she’s changed.
FYI, this is how Gaga dressed in Athens this weekend. Toga toga toga.
Photos courtesy of Parade & WENN
She *is* a good singer; it’s a shame she’s so caught up in trying to be Madonna 2.0 that she can’t see how her (dull) gimmickry is obscuring the part of her act that would ensure her the greatest longevity and legacy, her voice.
ITA, she has a great voice. It really is a shame that she can’t just stick with what really could keep her a star, instead of all of this crud.
I loved Fame Monster – and put up with the second album. She had to cancel her tour and still hasn’t been back to Nashville. This little monster tired of her drama a few years ago.
I love the Gaga that sits at the piano and belts her songs. I just cannot tolerate anymore overproduced garbage…
I love her ballads like You and I. If she did more of that and less BS I m all for supporting her. She has a great voice and writes well. I would take her over Katy, Riri or Swifty any day. She needs to realize she is her own worst enemy.
This! Unfortunately her head is so far up in her own butt that she’ll probably never be able to self-reflect and learn that she was her own downfall, not the media. It’s too bad too, because I don’t see her coming back from this without changing her behaviour and having that huge superstar career that she did at the beginning of her fame.
@littlestar
The chick sold millions of her last album, just not the same as BTW or Monster. She is working with an ICON honey. She isn’t going anywhere. She just said that level of success can’t last. She learned that from Tony. If I remember Michael Jackson’s sales weren’t huge throughout his life. Get over it! Don’t hate the talent, but go work on trying to become a talent kid.
Sozual – I think it speaks volumes that people do not like Gaga even close to what they used to. You can defend her all you want, but her poor attitude and being out of touch with reality/drug use is what definitely affected her sales and tour, and not the natural ebb and flow of fame. As for Tony Bennett, Gaga is just finding someone to latch herself onto to try and increase her sales/generate new interest. As other posters have said, and I agree with, her words ring hollow. She is a phoney.
I guess I should add, I used to be a fan of her at one time, but meh, whatever.
Littlestar
If Gaga went back to making hits she had in the beginning she’d be alright. She got too caught up in her image and ART.
And damnit Tony! I can’t be mad at you, but still. Celebs that are legends in their own right are always telling the lesser celebs on their last leg to be true to yourself and don’t bother with what criticism you get.
On a side note I heard from relatives in Greece a group of widows took to guarding themselves from Gaga thinking she’d weild the evil eye and bad intentions. That’s no joke there.
Same group of widows make some amazingly strong moonshine.
so much this, i love the piano only versions of her hits
71 million plays for Applause is a downfall? Just because this album wasn’t her best doesn’t mean she is going anywhere. She still has a lot of great hits ahead of her! Let the girl live why all the hate?
Yup
Plays was said to be tampered with. This was covered from Billboard. That people were clicking on it from Gaga’s instructions multiple times. Billboard caught on and began to change their awards for this since it isn’t won from genuine interest.
That was only proven more from poor sales. 1 person can click all day on soemthing, but when it comes to buying it that 1 person will only buy a few copies at most.
The Fame Monster was and still is a good album, but after she’s lost it, and do you remember what Elton John said last year around this time ??
“. When your persona begins to take over your music and becomes more important, you enter a dangerous place. Once you have people around you who don’t question you, you’re in a dangerous place”
And he knows what he’s talking about. Elton has seen all corners of the industry.
Despite all the crazy she puts on she is undeniably one of the most talent people in pop today.
She is a great singer and piano player. She should focus more on that. She is talented and that is more than most pop stars can say.
yeah, agreed.
I agree.
I am kind of sad that she still has to hide behind the wig, even with Tony.
I feel like she got tripped up by trying to be “more than”. When she first came out, she was different from the other pop stars because she wasn’t solely focused on being “hot”, she was fine with being odd too. But then people started asking, “your image is “more than” the typical pop star, why isn’t your music “more than” the typical pop?”
Instead of focusing on the music (and sound) she started trying to be ART and SOCIAL CHANGE, and as a result the music suffered.
Gaga does a fine job of “humiliating” herself, no paparazzi needed.
ETA: When you act like a douche Gaga, of course the media is going to pick up on it. If you don’t want bad things said about you, then stop acting like a fool.
No that is you!
@Sozual I get that you’re a Gaga fan but you don’t need to jump down the throat of everyone who has something critical to say about her. We can all have a healthy debate and respect each other’s opinions without being combative.
Littlestar
What does ETA mean? You can’t mean Estimated Time of Arrival.
ETA = edited to add. I only figured this out recently…
Hello, everything is going sound here and ofcourse every one is sharing facts,
that’s truly good, keep up writing.
I still think she is full of sh*t
Yep. Talks out of both sides of her mouth. I don’t care what your shtick is, so long as it’s genuine. Nothing about her is.
Please!
People need to seriously go move to L.A. or N.Y.C to work for these actors, singers, directors, and etc. People like Gaga and West are two of the realest people out there. West is crazy, but he is himself. He is talented, conceded, intelligent, and he thinks too much. They are themselves. People attack folks that are themselves and then buy fakes like Reese, until they show their true face. I met Gaga’s personal chef back in 2011 and I knew she was legit from what he said. He talked about being a personal chef and I asked who he worked for. He said he wouldn’t say straight out, but it is the biggest Pop star out right now. I said Janet Jackson. He said nooo. He talked about this person having a signing at the Best Buy next door. That was when Born This Way came out. He asked me where I was from and I told him the state. He said oh and mentioned one of my states major cities. He talked about them hanging out with the local folks at the hotel they were staying in. It was pretty impressive he remembered one of our major cities, cause it is even less notable than Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha is like Atlanta, compared to this city. Our capital has become extremely notable in the last two years only. Only person having a signing at the Best Buy was Lady Gaga. I worked with people that worked for folks out there and the comments are more bad than good. Heidi Klum is an ex. I have also met some people myself living in NYC. She is very eloquent and she will be around forever cause she has talent. People are no better than the chick that dissed Viola Davis.
The guy also fawned over how much of a sweetheart she was after I guessed who he worked for and I said I loved her.
The so called crazy stuff she wears is no more crazy than Prince, Michael, Madonna, No more than George Clinton or Patti Labelle.
http://tantheman88.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/labelle2006.jpg
Watching music videos from other countries, whether it is Europe or South Korea, it is dismaying to see how Americans applaud raunch more than creativity. The majority of American entertainers are extremely boring. Since the late 90’s it seems popular art has been all about conformity. You can watch videos from Europe or S.K. and not know what is going to happen next, unlike the U.S.
Here is a video about people being told to be creative at a young age and then told to stop being creative once they hit a certain age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C_HReR_McQ
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared are videos produced by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling
Gaga’s original music isn’t living up to her antics these days. Bowie’s and Elton’s did for many, many years. A powerful discography by both.
They didn’t change into another look-at-me costume every time they step out the door or even four in a day for five years. Bowie killed off his alter-ego fairly early on because he knew it was time and he was being lost in it. Gaga changes to the extreme every day with her crazy outfits that it loses all impact except to her Little Monsters. Stop whining when people bore of it.
Gaga’s problem was that she was fascinating and then she kept throwing everything but the kitchen sink at her videos trying to one up herself during Born This Way and she came off more and more pretentious in interviews and the endless outfits that never stopped, and people just burnt out on her.
Another one of her issues is she tells everyone how wonderful she is, album of the decade or I’m one of the best songwriters and then turns out Artpop, an average pop album that didn’t live up to HER HYPE. Bowie let other people praise his work and didn’t explain it to death before it even came out. Gaga and her art and pop was a flat mess. There was more art in her pop visually and performancewise during her Fame/Fame Monster eras.
So, in other words, you really can’t stomach gaga and her antics.
@ Souzal, You should really bend over and pick up all those names you’ve dropped all over the place.
Sozual
I get you’re a big fan and defender of Lady Gaga. Taking that bias out of this discussion though, is her fall on the charts reasonable? Has her recent music matched her earlier stuff? Or has the image of Lady Gaga, costumes and theatrics taken more of a main role?
She might be a perfectly pleasant person to work with. She’s proven she’s a talented singer, musician and writer. None of this is in dispute. So, why has the quality of her work fallen?
Or rather why has she lost such a large portion of her fanbase?
Has she become more focused on the theatrics of her persona and focusing less on the music/her raw talent?
Jayna has it. All those other musicians made their music. Some of it flopped too, but they never let their personas engulf them. They never defended their music that were flops like our ears were unwashed and not good enough for their music and concepts. Gaga is in her own league. She’s not appearing currently to have the staying power of Bowie, Elton, Clinton, Miss Patti.
Time will tell.
How was her album controversial? She said when it was going to be released it was all radio-friendly songs. It got average reviews and now she calls it controversial.
Gaga is so dramatic. Remember the behind-the-stage thing for her Monster Ball? She’s at the height of her fame and her ass is being kissed everywhere as the next coming, which I’m sure irritated other very talented people, and then she has the video of her sitting at her dressing table crying how the Little Monsters give her strength to go on and she does it for them because she has so many haters, or whatever she said. LOL Poor Gaga. Now Tony is saving her. I guess she and Elton are on the outs since his comment last year that her persona was taking over her talent and that’s very dangerous.
I think Gaga is very talented and has charisma on stage, but Artpop was average. Accept maybe that’s why it didn’t take off for critics or the music-buying public.
One thing that really always annoyed me about Gaga is that she thrives on controversy and then cries in public about the negative attention she receives. It really makes me wonder just how full of “it” she really is.
This advice pretty much goes for anyone, but especially for Gaga in particular; if you’re a “controversial artist”, you better prepare yourself for negative criticism.
Most of the music I listen to and enjoy is very controversial by mainstream standards, but they’re also not fame hungry pop stars nor do they care that a majority of people find their songs too violent or offensive to be enjoyable.
Gaga only got 22 comments? Interest in her really has fallen.
I have always been a big fan of hers since the beginning. Art pop was pretty lack luster but not everything an artist puts out is gold. It seems tony really has helped her see the light and healed her bc the media really has given her a beaten. I think great things are still to come from her and I’m excited for her next album. I believe in her!
Gaga is a drama queen. I remember in 2008,she was so refreshing and fun,then her persona took over. It got annoying,she needs to stop. It’s really a shame,because she’s so talented.
I never really believed her to be remarkably talented, but I used to be a fan. I’ve been done with her for a while. She completely lost me with Born This Way, and her albums keep becoming worse and worse over time.
I lost her with BTW. That album was crap. Art Pop was worse.
I’m friends with a very dedicated Little Monster and it’s exhausting being friends with him sometimes. It helps no one to not hear criticism when it’s needed. Take note, Gaga.
Oh lord this chick just wears me out. She used to be fun, now she’s just exhausting.
And then Tony found me…and Tony taught me…and Tony loaned me this giant American Standard Poodle to wear on my head.
She was in Greece last week and she drove us crazy! She showed up half naked at the airport with men carrying her around but she playing in an empty stadium! Not to mention that they have been promoting free tickets for a year now! Such a shame! She has a great voice but she’s too high to get her act together!
She doesn’t need anyone else’s help to make her look like an a-hole.
Also, here’s a wild theory on the failure of Artpop, besides the fact that what I’ve heard of it sounded generic, for even her:
She attempted to go “normal” briefly, and it failed for her. Moreover, when Artpop was released, people were still too busy being shocked by Miley Cyrus. So, no, her music doesn’t sell itself. I know all of her fans and then some try to convince the cynics that her talent is the final frontier to pop music, but if that were the case, why couldn’t she sell records before she became Lady Gaga or after her image became washed up?
It’s because she’s ordinary. Her voice may be decent (not really hearing this “talent”, not even when I used to be a fan) and she may write her songs, but adequacy among the subpar does not a remarkable artist make.
Her image is all she has to hold onto, and it doesn’t seem to help that she’s continuously running her mouth, whether it be on Twitter or passive aggressively via interviews. She doesn’t have the charm to pull off a comeback like Spears did. I don’t feel bad for Gaga. This is an “artiste” who valued celebrity over the art she’s always claimed was so precious to her. She sold her soul for fame, but fame doesn’t last forever when your “legacy” is shallow.