-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
VICE: Lady Gaga is an icon, up there with the likes of Prince, Bowie and Madonna
- Thread starter LordByron28
- Start date
Im quoting you but I'm speaking to everyone in this thread, do you guys seriously think Beyoncé hasn't reached that level?
No. I personally don't think so. The other artists just were around in a different time. Where exposure was greater and records sold and radio had more of an impact.
I'd say she's an icon based off of a combination of sales, social presence, and success in other mediums. It's sort of a matter of opinion at this point if she's not to you, but some of the reactions in this thread seem to deny reality and make it seem like she's struggling and/or irrelevant. Which is baffling.
She's on a sold out stadium tour right now, so saying she's irrelevant is madness.
In some ways yes and in other ways no .
It just differnt Era so hard to do a 1 to 1 .
I was just watching some old interviews of hers and compared them to her interviews she done recently. She's almost a completely different person (not in a bad way). She's so poised and it's like she knows how a Hollywood legend (Hepburn, Doris Day, etc.) should act and assumes the role. Much different than when she was on Letterman and ate paper lol.
Last edited:
She's probably gonna keep doing films for the foreseeable future, so it's not surprising.
Agreed.
Gaga is great, but i feel Dua Lipa has been cranking out albums packed with really good & popular songs. The past few years, everyone I know gets more excited for a new Dua song than a new Gaga song.
I feel like people sit here and overrated the success of Prince and Bowie. They are absolutely top tier musicians and the best in the business, but people are acting like they were sure things for 30-40 years. Prince had close to 40 albums, but you mostly hear about Purple Rain. He was a star in the 80s, but his sales declined sharply in the 90s. Its not like Prince was getting major play throughout his career. Only Madonna is the one that blew up in multiple generations.
Gaga is definitely closer to a Madonna then people like to say. Even her concept is similar to Madonna's with reinventing herself every few years. The last 20 years we have three pop stars hitting that level in three difference ways. Beyonce, Rihanna, and Gaga. Beyonce is an imagine. Her album sales are quite weak compared to the others, but her name is a goddamn word at this point. Gaga is going the journeyman route of reinventing, but dabbling successfully in multiple pursuits in Hollywood. Rihanna is a machine, between the untouched singles success and completely reshaping large parts of the fashion industry. She is going to be an icon for future generations. Prince, Bowie, Madonna all have that image. I see Gaga, Beyonce, and Rihanna having it as well.
Gaga is definitely closer to a Madonna then people like to say. Even her concept is similar to Madonna's with reinventing herself every few years. The last 20 years we have three pop stars hitting that level in three difference ways. Beyonce, Rihanna, and Gaga. Beyonce is an imagine. Her album sales are quite weak compared to the others, but her name is a goddamn word at this point. Gaga is going the journeyman route of reinventing, but dabbling successfully in multiple pursuits in Hollywood. Rihanna is a machine, between the untouched singles success and completely reshaping large parts of the fashion industry. She is going to be an icon for future generations. Prince, Bowie, Madonna all have that image. I see Gaga, Beyonce, and Rihanna having it as well.
Her acting career is keeping her relevant. She would have been forgotten like Katy Perry if it wasn't for that.
Artflop, Joanne, and Chromatica didn't really make an impact. A Star Is Born gave her a career resurgence.
I do consider her an icon, but not in the same level as Madonna. Madonna had hits effortlessly for 20+ years.
Artflop, Joanne, and Chromatica didn't really make an impact. A Star Is Born gave her a career resurgence.
I do consider her an icon, but not in the same level as Madonna. Madonna had hits effortlessly for 20+ years.
Since this thread as become at least partially about Madonna, a reminder that NO POP GURL has been able to match the sheer audacity of this somg/video:
View: https://youtu.be/Np_Y740aReI
Justify My Love
This song is still SEX. To this day.
View: https://youtu.be/Np_Y740aReI
Justify My Love
This song is still SEX. To this day.
Maybe it's the area I teach in, but I taught music tech to middle schoolers. We talked a lot about what kids like and not one of them in three years has mentioned Lady Gaga. Again, most of my students talk about Billie Eilish and NBA YoungBoy. Personally, outside of her acting, I don't hear anything about her.
Prince tried to release a triple album in the 80s (Crystal Ball) and Around the World in a Day came out less than a year after Purple Rain. I doubt he cared a lot about sales.
This reminds me of that My Chemical Romance thread where people lost their minds about MCR being called the new Queen. It's not about who they're being compared to, it's about trying to point out their cultural relevance to young audiences today.
Most kids today are much more likely to know who Lady Gaga is than Madonna anyway.
Most kids today are much more likely to know who Lady Gaga is than Madonna anyway.
Gaga does not have the discography. It's as simple as that. Madonna has Ray Of Light, Confessions, LAP which are all better than her discography. It's nothing about the times. The music just isn't there. She also hasn't had a solo hit since ... the Artpop era, and even those were minor short lived hits. Her star power burned really bright quickly but also fizzled. Icon status has tiers, and she's somewhere between Billy Eilish and Britney.
When you put it like that...
The comparison really does feel...
...
Reductive.
I'm not putting her on Madonna level, but she's certainly an icon.
Don't let Madonna's fading relevance fool you - she was *THE* preeminent 80s star that pretty much defined a generation alongside Michael/Prince.
Don't let Madonna's fading relevance fool you - she was *THE* preeminent 80s star that pretty much defined a generation alongside Michael/Prince.
OP
OP
I'm just trying to figure out what people mean when they say she's irrelevant or fell off after BTW. Where did she go?
- 2013 finished up a 100 stop sold out world tour that grosses over $180 million. Then released ARTPOP a Billboard #1 album along with a top 10 hit. The album sells about a million copies. She was all over radio, late night talk shows, day time talk shows, award shows, multiple music videos, etc. performing and promoting the album. She did a promo ARTRAVE concert where she experimented with different performance art. She hosted, starred and performed in her 2nd ABC Thanksgiving special. She also had a small role in Machete Kills.
- 2014 she went on a major world wide tour for ARTPOP with 79 stops it grosses $83 million dollars with nearly one million tickets sold. Was the Versace brand ambassador for spring/summer 2014. She released a Jazz Duet album with Tony Bennet. In addition she performed the final concert residency for the Roseland Ballroom in NYC before it shut down. It grossed over $1.5 million across 7 shows and received high praises from critics. Portions of the show were also televised on various TV shows. Gaga also released her 2nd perfume line. She also made a small cameo in Sin City 2.
- 2015 she performed Sound of Music tribute at the Oscar's. Performed a classic Jazz Duet with Tony Bennet at the Grammys. She performed 'I Wish' an a televised Grammy special honoring Stevie Wonder. She performed 'Imagine' at the opening 2015 Eurogames. She also does a 36 Jazz show tour with Tony Bennet for Cheek 2 Cheek which grosses $15 million dollars. Stars in lead role of American Horror Story Season 5. Stars in Nick Knight's fashion film for Tom Ford's upcoming fashion collection. Releases 'Till It Happens To you' a song about rape featured in an indie film about women being raped on college campuses. Won the Billboard Woman of the Year Award. She also won a Grammy for the Jazz Duet album, Cheek 2 Cheek with Tony Bennet.
- 2016 she did a David Bowie tribute performance at the Grammys using a medley of his songs. She performed the National Anthem at the Superbowl. She won a Golden Globe for her AHS S5 role. She is introduced by Joe Biden and accompanied with 50 survivors of sexual assault and performs 'Till It Happens To You' at the academy awards. She is a guest editor for V Fashion magazine and publishes a few op-eds. In April 2016, Gaga joined Vice President Joe Biden to support his 'It's On Us' campaign as he traveled to colleges on behalf of the organization, which has seen 250,000 students from more than 530 colleges sign a pledge of solidarity and activism. Two months later, Gaga attended the a conference in Indianapolis where she joined with the Dalai Lama to talk about the power of kindness and how to make the world a more compassionate place.[SUP] [/SUP]She performed at many campaigning events and fundraisers for Hillary Clinton's presidential run. She partnered with Elton John and released a clothing/accessory line where 25% of the proceeds went to Elton John's AIDS foundation. In June 2016, during a vigil held in Los Angeles for victims of the attack at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Gaga read aloud the names of the 49 people killed in the attack, and gave a speech. Later that month, Gaga appeared in a Human Rights Campaign's tribute video to the victims of the attack. She guest starred in AHS S6 performing a small recurring role. She performed and modeled for Victoria secrets fashion show 2016 lineup. Finally, she released her 6th Billboard #1 album 'Joanne' accompanied with a small promo tour around the US as well as a number of late night shows and day time talk shows.
- 2017. She performed 'Moth Into The Flame' with Metallica at the Grammy's. She did the halftime show for the Superbowl. Also 'Million Reasons' became a Top 5 hit in the US forever haunting grocery stores and retail playlists. Released a Netflix documentary. She headlined Coachella and debuts a new song that is a small top 40 hit. Finally she began her 49 stop tour for Joanne.
2018. Wrapped up her Joanne tour which ends up grossing $95 million across 800,000 tickets sold. Sponsored busses and other resources to lend support for 'march for our lives' gun control rally in DC. Performed Million Reasons at The Grammy's. Performs 'Your Song' in honor of Elton John for a televised Grammy's special. Stars in A Star Is Born which grossed $436.2 million during its box office run. Shallow is currently at 1.8 billion streams on spotify and the music video on Youtube is at 1.3 billion streams. The rest of the soundtrack has performed well too. 'I'll always remember us this way' has over 600 million streams for example.
- 2019. Performed 'Shallow' at The Grammy's and Academy Awards. The performance at the Academy Awards went viral accumulating half a billion views. She spent the year doing her Vegas residency which is 52 shows across 2019 and 2020. It rakes in roughly $80 million gross. She launched her first makeup line. She won her first BAFTA and Academy Award for Shallow/ASIB. Won a Critic Choice Award for Best Actress for ASIB. She won her 2nd golden globe for Shallow. She won 2 grammys for Shallow and another Grammy for her live performance of 'Joanne'.
- 2020. She organized the 'One World Together At Home' benefit concert for Covid relief which was televised on most major networks and had numerous celebrities contribute performances. She released Chromatica which is a well received 90's House influenced album with some videogame electronic influences and pop melodies. It featured many collabs that are well liked within the LGBT community. It reached #1 on the Billboard album charts. Her 2nd single, Rain On Me hit #1 and has nearly a billion streams on Spotify alone. Her lead single was a short-lived top 5 hit. After that she raised awareness for BLM and instead of marketing Chromatica she let BLM takeover. She performed a medley of her 3 singles at the VMAs and was pretty well done especially with her wearing and promoting mask usage. She also appeared in Valentino's Voce Viva video campaign featuring music from Chromatica. Finally she campaigned for Joe Biden and delivered some speeches for him. She won 2 more Grammy's for her work in ASIB's soundtrack. She won 6 VMAs including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and a Tricon Lifetime achievement award.
- 2021. She performed the National Anthem at Biden's inauguration. Appeared in a short video ad campaign filmed by Nick Knight for Dom Perignon featuring music from Chromatica. Made a cameo on the Friends reunion special performing 'Smelly Cat' with Phoebe. She released a 10th anniversary edition of BTW with underground LGBT artists covering/remixing her material. She released a remix album of Chromatica, Dawn of Chromatica, featuring more underground pop and electronic acts that are popular among her fanbase and the LGBT community. A month and a half later she releases Love 4 Sale, her 2nd Jazz Duet album with Tony Bennet. The album spawns televised performances, concert series snd specials with 60 minutes. She also won a Grammy for Rain On Me. Finally, she starred in 'House of Gucci'. She received overall positive reviews for her performance and it is the top performing drama at the box office since Covid had hit. Not too mention her promo cycle for the film had her covering notable fashion magazines and her making splashes at the red carpet.
- 2022. She won a Grammy for 'Love 4 Sale', her 2nd Jazz Duet album with Tony Bennet. She released 'Hold My Hand' which plays during a pivotal moment of Top Gun: Maverick. It is the biggest film since the pandemic began and is projected to reach over $1 billion box office sales. She has rebranded her $140 million dollar makeup line and partnered with Sephora to dramatically grow the line. Currently she is embarking on a 20 stop stadium world tour that is projected to bring in $113 million gross. Her most recent show in France had 76,000 attendees which was the largest audience she had ever performed in front of to date.
It's due to the decline of monoculture. However, as an overall artist she is still everywhere and hasn't necessarily fallen off. I think a career projectory/comparison to Elton John and/or Cher may seem more appropriate for Gaga.
I'm surprised to see Prince brought up. I would think most people under 25 wouldn't be able to name you a single one of his songs, while I feel like Bowie and Madonna have lingered in pop culture to this day. Maybe he was bigger in the US
Might as well post the Madonna-Prince collab.
youtu.be
Madonna - Love Song (Feat. Prince) (Album Version)
Song: Love Song (Feat. Prince) (Original Album Version)Artist: MadonnaAlbum: Like a PrayerFull Album:01. Like a Prayer02. Express Yourself03. Love Song04. Ti...
youtu.be
I always thought an icon is more than pure sales. It's cultural and musical influence. Something that Prince, Madonna and Bowie have by the gallon, across multiple genres, mediums and generations.
Maybe Lady Gaga will have that in 20 years, but not now.
It kind of felt like she was the hottest thing in music for like 2008, 2009, 2010 ... and then she kinda hit a brick wall mainstream wise for whatever reason?
Madonna was a force of nature just repopularizing herself over and over again from the mid-80s straight into the early/mid 2000s, I don't think Gaga on the basis of muscial career is quite on that level. People are not remembering Madonna's peak (or well her several peaks), she was basically like Marilyn Monroe if Marilyn Monroe did movies but was also the 2nd biggest pop star on the planet.
Gaga has the talent, the artistic vision, but for whatever reason I think her music career kinda just faded too quickly. Again I have no clue why when lesser artists (IMO) like Justin Bieber are going on and on.
It felt like after Born This Way she didn't have many big hit singles, and nothing like her previous successes like Poker Face and Just Dance (which honestly I don't think is her best work) which were played constantly at every club, radio station, etc etc. Probably she didn't feel like doing the more basic dance club friendly singles?
But getting into Hollywood movies has really helped her career bounce back musically, A Star Is Born with the Shallow song and now the Top Gun "Hold My Hand" single are definite hit singles for her. Miley Cyrus kinda feels like the same, it kinda felt for a while like she would be the next huge thing for a decade+ but that hasn't really panned out (Taylor Swift and Adele feel they seized that mantle moreso). I guess Katy Perry would be somewhere in between those two groups.
Madonna was a force of nature just repopularizing herself over and over again from the mid-80s straight into the early/mid 2000s, I don't think Gaga on the basis of muscial career is quite on that level. People are not remembering Madonna's peak (or well her several peaks), she was basically like Marilyn Monroe if Marilyn Monroe did movies but was also the 2nd biggest pop star on the planet.
Gaga has the talent, the artistic vision, but for whatever reason I think her music career kinda just faded too quickly. Again I have no clue why when lesser artists (IMO) like Justin Bieber are going on and on.
It felt like after Born This Way she didn't have many big hit singles, and nothing like her previous successes like Poker Face and Just Dance (which honestly I don't think is her best work) which were played constantly at every club, radio station, etc etc. Probably she didn't feel like doing the more basic dance club friendly singles?
But getting into Hollywood movies has really helped her career bounce back musically, A Star Is Born with the Shallow song and now the Top Gun "Hold My Hand" single are definite hit singles for her. Miley Cyrus kinda feels like the same, it kinda felt for a while like she would be the next huge thing for a decade+ but that hasn't really panned out (Taylor Swift and Adele feel they seized that mantle moreso). I guess Katy Perry would be somewhere in between those two groups.
Last edited:
Gaga is an icon but her career stabilized before it could reach the highs of Madonna or even Beyonce and Rihanna. Most likely due to her albums progressively getting weaker since Artpop. She's still here, she's still popular, but she isn't a "hot" commodity anymore, her project releases aren't "events" anymore. By comparison, everytime Beyonce releases an album, it's a big deal, whenever Rihanna releases her next album, it will break the internet. Gaga doesn't have that impact anymore.
What? It's the same with Bowie. I doubt kids 25 and under are listening to Station to Station or Aladdin Sane, at least in America. I feel like VICE was trying to tip toe around naming Michael Jackson.
What? It's the same with Bowie. I doubt kids 25 and under are listening to Station to Station or Aladdin Sane, at least in America. I feel like VICE was trying to tip toe around naming Michael Jackson.
It's not my jam, but I still absolutely recognise Gaga's talent and acknowledge that she is significant part of pop music history.
I like Madonna, especially her '80s output. But yeah, Lady Gaga's vocals are on a whole other level.
I think Madonna's vocal peak was Ray of Light, since she'd just had lots of vocal training to do Evita. But then she somehow seemed to forget how to sing when Music came along.
Even at her peak though, there's no comparison to Gaga vocally.
Completely agree, a shame really. While I mentioned her '80s music as most-favorable overall, it's the album Ray of Light that is my personal favorite.
Yup. Beyonce is iconic both in music and in real life i guess, but i don't see Gaga as being a music icon. She's definitively an icon tho'.
Rihanna is an icon too.
