Lady Gaga is releasing her first Jazz album, ‘Cheek to Cheek’ this month with 88-year-old US singer Tony Bennett.
It marks a transformation in the flamboyant singer’s career from electro pop and dance music to a more grown-up, classical style. The album is due for release on September 23rd and will feature a mix of new songs from the duo and remakes of old classics from the likes of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin.
Gaga and Bennett first collaborated in 2011 on ‘Lady is a Tramp’ which went on to feature on his Duets album. They may seem like an unlikely coupling but the duo exude a unique chemistry and are now firm friends, often seen out together. Gaga’s voice is also exceptional singing jazz, which proves she has the talent to adapt to any musical style.
Despite her 27 million album sales, 5 Grammy Awards, 13 MTV Awards and her inauguration in 2014 as “one of the best-selling singers of all time”, Gaga was nervous about recording with him.
“I was so nervous to go into the studio with Bennett, I just wanted him to hear I have an authentic jazz voice,” she said.
The songs were recorded live with a full band and the album is tipped to be another Gaga hit making machine.
To date she has had four top selling albums and has sold 125 million copies of her tracks worldwide.
At only 28 years old, Lady Gaga has the potential to join the ranks of The Beatles and Elvis Presley with over 500m record sales.
So why the Jazz Reinvention?
Like her musical idol, Madonna,(“There is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me,” she admits) Gaga is constantly searching for ways to reinvent herself. Not only to keep her adoring fans that she calls ‘the Little Monsters’ perpetually entertained but for her own personal goals. She has been described by friends as “a zany and highly ambitious character that needs to constantly evolve”.
She has already taken on dance and pop music through her first studio album ‘Fame’ and ‘Fame Monster’, rock and metal styles were experimented with through her third album ‘Born This Way’ – so her foray into Jazz is just a natural progression of her showing the world the whole spectrum of her musical talents.
Despite ‘Cheek to Cheek’ not even being released, Tony Bennett has already indicated there is a likely possibility of another follow-up Jazz album with Gaga to come next year.
We hope the singer has time…
There is already talk of another self-penned Lady Gaga studio album appearing next year and she has also been confirmed as being the first person to ever perform from space. Yes space. Gaga is flying on the Virgin Galactic Flight to beam her performance to the Zero G Colony festival held in New Mexico in early 2015. Other passengers are having to fork out the $250,000 seat ticket on Richard Branson’s shuttle, while Gaga gets hers in exchange for a song!
If Internet rumours are to be believed, the “Marry the Night” singer may even be marrying her long-term boyfriend ‘Chicago Fire’ star Taylor Kinney on the flight. Apart from her musical performance, apparently Gaga wants the trip to be more memorable.
“Gaga and Taylor want to make a pledge for life, and think the space flight is too big an opportunity to pass up. It would be typical of her to have the least conventional ‘wedding’ ever,” a source close to the singer told the British newspaper The Daily Star.
Watch this space for reports from space next year.
HOW THE TALENT QUEEN EMERGED
March 28 1986 – Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
1990 – Aged only 4 young Stefani started playing the piano
1999 – She wrote her first piano ballad, aged 13
2003 – Stef as she was then known attended New York music theatre school CAP21
2005 – Dropped out of school to form rock band SGBand with high school friends
2006 – She met and started dating music producer Rob Fusari who helped create the Lady Gaga name
September 2006 – Signed and subsequently dropped by LA Reid’s Def Jam label after three months
2007 – Utterly heartbroken she started working as a go-go dancer in New York. She also met Lady Starlight who helped mould her now unforgettable Gaga style
2007 – Finally her music breakthrough. Spotted by Vincent Herbert and signed to first Interscope Records then Sony/ATV.
2008 – Lady Gaga releases debut album The Fame – after a slow start tracks ‘Just Dance’ and Poker Face’ provoked the success of the album in early 2009 winning her a Grammy and Song of the Year Awards.
2009 – The Fame Monster released her track ‘Bad Romance’ which topped the charts in 18 different countries.
2010 – The Monster Ball Tour commences – lasts for a year and a half and earns Lady Gaga $227.5m – the highest ever figure for a debut tour.
2011 – Gaga releases second studio album ‘Born This Way’ reaching number 1 and earning 1.8 million in its first week alone.
2011 – First collaboration with Tony Bennett. Also teams up with Cher and Elton John for tracks.
2013 – Third studio album Artpop released to critical acclaim. ‘Applause’ and ‘Do What You Want’ become top-selling tracks
2014 – ‘Cheek to Cheek’ release date 23rd September
GAGA’S FASHION STYLE
NEVER THE SHY RETIRING TYPE…
Lady Gaga has shocked the world for years with her crazy dress sense. Who can forget the raw meat dress or the times she dressed as a nun or in a dress made entirely from mini Kermit the frog cuddly toys.
She considers Donatella Versace her muse and the late English fashion designer and close friend Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that “I miss Lee every time I get dressed”.
Modeled on Andy Warhol’s Factory, Lady 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.
SOME OF HER OTHER EYE CATCHING LOOKS:
