By Claire Kietduriyakul '26, Loomis Chaffee
Louder Than War.
The radio began blasting "Just Dance" in the late 2000s. It became an instant smash, and Lady Gaga made headlines and gained acclaim as a talented young musician with incredible potential. Later, she developed into a game-changing artist and activist who continues to be a major force in American society and mainstream culture.
She practically seems to be a shapeshifter. Every one of her albums has a distinct persona and style. No matter what she is wearing on stage, it is obvious that her presence is infectious. Everyone gets up and moves when they see her perform. Throughout her career, "authentic" Gaga was a popular persona. She has an outstanding vocal range and is an incredible pianist. Due to the unique and rather "out there" looks and identities, this is occasionally overlooked. These abilities were emphasized with "authentic" Gaga, and even helped her win her first Oscar for Best Original Song in 2018 for the song "Shallow" from the motion picture "A Star Is Born". Another notable persona in her career was that of her album “Joanne” in 2016. A change nobody expected where she donned a cowboy hat and sang in a country accent. Soon after, various musicians such as Justin Timberlake, Kesha and Kylie Minogue followed suit.
Lady Gaga, who self-identifies as bisexual, elaborates on the value of just being yourself and not trying to hide it in her song "Born This Way." Specifically, the lyrics quote: “No matter gay, straight, or bi', lesbian, transgender life. I'm on the right track, baby, I was born to survive”. This gave the LGBTQ+ community a sense of security and made them feel like they belonged and were accepted. A lot of others were also motivated to come out by the song, most notably multimillionaire, pop singer and dancer Jojo Siwa. She stated “When I truly learnt what the lyrics said, I thought: wait, it’s okay to be gay”. This shows that even people with such high influence are inspired by Lady Gaga’s music and life ethos.
Sources
How Lady Gaga reshaped the music world in her image. (2020, May 29). NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
JoJo Siwa Says Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” Inspired Her To Be Her True Self. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://youtu.be/yNcOUf5DlpQ
O’Neill, L. (2020, July 30). Ranking All of Lady Gaga’s Personas. Www.vice.com. https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7j59x/every-lady-gaga-persona-identified-then-ranked
Wikipedia Contributors. (2019, October 12). Academy Award for Best Original Song. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Song
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