June 6, 2024 • 29 mins
Lady Gaga is more than your average pop star. From the early modest days of sewing her own costumes and singing about disco sticks, she has continually reinvented herself along the way to become one of the planet’s biggest stars of both music and film.
She’s won Grammys, an Oscar and every award in between. She’s sold over 170 million records and generated hundreds of millions of dollars with her groundbreaking tours. She’s stolen the screen next to leading men such as Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born and Joaquin Phoenix in this year’s Joker: Folie à Deux. Heck, she even pivoted to jazz with remarkable success, becoming BFFs with her mentor and collaborator, the late, great Tony Bennett.
She’s also become a tireless advocate for UNICEF, the Rainforest Foundation, the LGBTQ+ community, and mental wellness. And let’s not forget, she is the matriarch to millions of little monsters out there who continue to worship their Mother Monster. How’s that compare to your résumé?Yes,
Lady Gaga is one of music’s greatest overachievers, but to quote one of her biggest hits: she was born this way.
Her breakthrough single, “Just Dance” instantly became a club hit, reaching the Billboard dance charts soon after. It would also hit the Hot 100 in the U.S., but it was in Canada where “Just Dance” would first reach #1.
Finally, Lady Gaga’s debut album, The Fame, was released via Interscope on August 19, 2008. The album would produce hit after hit - with fans waiting to see what she would be wearing, and how she would creatively one-up herself with ever video, and every public appearance.
On November 10, 2009, she released the song that would become arguably the biggest song and video of her career. “Bad Romance” was an instant smash hit, with its “Rah, rah-ah-ah-ah, Roma, roma-ma, Gaga-ooh-la-la” chant, Hitchcock references and a pounding beat that channels German techno.
This is the story of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance - with newly unearthed audio from Gaga herself!
Encore will be going on a brief summer hiatus! See you in July for season 4!
Also contains audio from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPmeKqC4H_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0101Sm7HAjs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPGwSgfGBB8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ5UQOMlEQo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Cfi7U4eL4
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Encore. The stories behind the songs. Here's Ihe
Radio's Miles Galloway,
ra ra, I'm Miles Galloway. And this is the story
of Lady Gaga's bad romance.
(00:22):
Lady Gaga is more than your average pop star from
the early modest days of sewing her own costumes and
singing about disco sticks. She has continually reinvented herself along
the way to become one of the planet's biggest stars
of both music and film. She's won Grammys an Oscar
and every award in between. She sold over 100 and
70 million records and generated
(00:43):
hundreds of millions of dollars with her groundbreaking tours. She's
stolen the screen next to leading men such as Bradley
Cooper in a star is born and Joaquin Phoenix in
this year's Joker foe. A heck she's even pivoted to
jazz with remarkable success. Becoming BFFs with her mentor and collaborator,
the late great Tony Bennett.
(01:04):
She's also become a tireless advocate for UNICEF the Rainforest
Foundation and the LGBT Q Plus community and mental wellness.
And let's not forget she is the matriarch to millions
of little monsters out there who continue to worship their
mother monster. How does that compare to your resume? Frankly,
it makes mine look a bit trivial.
(01:24):
Yes, Lady Gaga is one of music's greatest overachievers, but
to quote one of her biggest hits. She was born
this way. Actually, Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on
March 28th, 1986 in Manhattan, New York. Her parents, Cynthia
and Joseph raised Stephanie and her younger sister by six years,
(01:45):
Natalie in a duplex on the upper west side of Manhattan.
Now, before I go any further, I feel like it's
important to point out that Joseph Germanotta is one of
the persons responsible for giving us Wi Fi. That is
an actual fact. He's even called the godfather of Wi
Fi because back in 2002, when everybody was plugging cables
into their computers to get an internet connection. Lady Gaga's
(02:07):
dad founded guest Wi Fi, a company that installed Wi
Fi in hotels. So not only did he give us
Lady Gaga, he gave us Wi Fi her mum, by
the way, was a VP at Verizon. No biggie.
Anyway, back to our story from the age of one,
Stephanie displayed a love for music so much that her
grandparents bought the family a piano to encourage learning. Baby.
(02:29):
Stephanie would learn to walk by grabbing the piano leg
and pull herself up so she could hit the keys.
Then when she was four years old, Stephanie began playing piano.
At first, she just wanted to do it playing by ear,
but let
would help her reach the next step of writing music.
At the age of six, she would write her first
song called Dollar Bills, which was apparently inspired by Pink
Floyd's Money. Wow. Already listening to the dark side of
(02:52):
the Moon at six, that is impressive. At seven, she
was performing in front of the camera which she would
share footage of with her fans. 19 years later, this
is my first piano
when she was 11. Stephanie was accepted into the prestigious
(03:13):
Juilliard school but her Roman Catholic parents decided to instead
send her to the covenant of the sacred Heart. The
affluent all girls private school boasted many notable alumni including
Paris Hilton whom Stephanie was said to be enamored with
unlike Paris. Though Stephanie was not one of the cool
kids at sacred heart, wearing mismatched clothes and pursuing her
(03:33):
love for
performing over boys outside of school. She began taking vocal
lessons from Christina Aguilera's singing coach, Don Lawrence who has
continued to help her with her vocals. She also took
acting classes on Saturdays which helped her visualize and improvise.
I remember the first time that I drank out of
an imaginary coffee cup, she would tell New York magazine,
(03:53):
that's the very first thing they teach you. I can
feel the rain too when it's not raining.
By 13, Stephanie was writing songs and by 14, she
was performing at open mic nights in New York City
clubs with her parents chaperoning her, her piano training was
paying off for her both as a performer and songwriter.
She would tell the Telegraph, I was classically trained as
(04:13):
a pianist and that innately teaches you how to write
a pop song. Because when you learn bach inversions, it
has the same sort of modulations between the chords. It's
all about
tension and release influenced by her parents taste in classic
rock and pop. She used acts like Billy Joel, Pink
Floyd and The Beatles as inspiration even forming a band
with some friends in an early appearance at much music.
(04:35):
In 2008. Lady Gaga recounted her days of playing gigs
as a 14 year old. I really started gigging out
in New York City when I was 14. That's pretty young. Yeah,
I was,
my parents didn't realize then how great it was because
they were like, you know, stay home, do your homework.
Uh But uh
(04:55):
I just, I couldn't, I couldn't stay off the stage,
but you obviously knew what you wanted to do at
a young age, right? At the same time, Stephanie was
also scoring lead roles in school productions of guys and dolls.
And a funny thing happened on the way to the
forum which took place at Sacred Hearts Brothers School, Regis
High School. Her success at school made her a target
for the older girls in the plays who would give
(05:16):
her the nickname the germ. However, Stephanie's friends also are
said to have called her germ because
of her last name, German Otter. But in her high
school years, Gaga's eccentricities would lead to constant bullying by
her classmates. She would tell Rolling Stone in 2011 that
she was teased for being ugly, having a big nose
and being annoying. She recalled that girls would say your
(05:38):
laugh is funny. You're weird. Why do you always sing?
Why are you so into theater? Why do you do
your makeup like that? What's with your eyebrows? I used
to do these really big
vita eyebrows. I used to self tan and I had
this really intense tan in school and people would say,
why the fuck are you so orange? Why do you
do your hair that way? Are you a dyke? Why
do you have to look like that for school? I
(06:00):
used to be called a slut, be called this be
called that I didn't even wanna go to school sometimes. However,
it was around the age of 15 when Stephanie would
get her first taste of showbiz. You girl see me
out there? Yeah. It looked like you were cheating. I fucking,
hey guys, you got Mr Goodwin's check out that voice.
You heard? There was 15 year old Stephanie Germanotta in
(06:21):
an episode of the Sopranos titled the Tell Tale Mus Adele.
In the scene, a teenage gaga breaks into school at
night with some friends including AJ Soprano. They tossed the
coach's desk and a collection of trophies into the pool
while it wasn't a breakout star making performance for Stephanie.
It did give her a first credit on her IM
DB page years later after she became a super
(06:42):
star, she reflected on the cameo in the groundbreaking HBO
series telling Entertainment Weekly. When I look back on that scene,
I can see exactly what I did wrong in that scene.
I didn't know how to listen in a scene. I
was supposed to laugh and it was sort of like
cue laugh. I see it and I go, oh, that's
not a real laugh. Perhaps portraying a badass on TV.
Gave her an idea because while she was in high school,
(07:04):
she began sneaking into clubs on the Lower East Side
with her fake ID where she was exposed to all
types of music and
entertainment, including avant-garde, performance art and drag shows. Stephanie finished
high school ahead of schedule at age 17 and was
one of only 20 students who gained early admission to
the collaborative arts project. 21 through New York University's tis
(07:25):
School of the Arts. She lived in an NYU dorm
and studied music getting a taste of what it was
like to be an adult through writing essays on subjects
like art, religion, politics, and social issues. Stephanie was able
to develop her song
writing skills at a talent show in 2005, Stephanie played
a piano and sang two original songs. Captivated an electric kiss.
Coming in third place. But school wasn't for her. She
(07:48):
felt her studies were holding her back as an artist.
And during her second year, she dropped out to pursue
her dream full time. And while Time magazine may have
ranked Lady Gaga as one of its top 10 college
drop outs. I feel it's important for me to say
stay in school kids unless you're the next Lady Gaga.
In that case, follow your dream.
Years later, she would tell Elle magazine, I loved NYU,
(08:09):
but I thought I could teach myself about art better
than the school could. I really felt New York was
my teacher and that I needed to bite the bullet
and go it alone. I wasn't interested in going to
frat parties and doing those sorts of collegiate things. I
was really interested in the music scene and waitressing and
cleaning toilets or whatever the fuck it was. I was doing.
Stephanie told her parents that she was quitting school and
her dad surprisingly agreed to financially support her for the
(08:32):
first year living in the Lower East side.
She began honing her craft as a singer songwriter when
she caught the attention of producer Rob Fusari who had
co-written and produced the Destiny's Child Hits. No, no, no.
And bootylicious, he was looking for an artist to front
a band. He was putting together at first, Stephanie didn't
look the part, but once he heard her sing, he
brought her into the studio and the two got to work.
(08:54):
At first, they began writing rock songs, but Fusari didn't
feel it was a genuine style for Stephanie. Although rock
and roll was the genre
where she felt she belonged. Fusari convinced Stephanie to give
dance oriented pop music a chance using the glam look
of David Bowie, the theatricality of Freddie Mercury and Queen
and the pulsating synthetic sounds of European disco pop. Stephanie
(09:16):
and Fusari created a new persona. All they needed was
a name for it. During their time working in the studio,
Fusari had made a habit out of playing Queen's radio Gaga.
Whenever Stephanie arrived one day while the two were texting
Fusari typed radio Gaga which instead his phone auto corrected
to Lady Gaga and just like that, an iconic name
(09:36):
was born Fusari and Gaga would reportedly begin a short
lived romantic relationship on top of their working relationship. And
soon they would begin writing songs and setting up a
domestic Limited liability company called Team Love Child LLC that
also included Joseph Germanotta as a partner. All they needed
now was a record deal.
(09:56):
This next segment contains descriptions of an alleged sexual assault
if you or someone you know has been affected by
sexual assault. We encourage you to reach out for support.
At the age of 19, Stephanie was sexually assaulted by
a record producer. She
worked with, she wouldn't discuss the horrific events of that
night until years later when Lady Gaga appeared on an
(10:17):
episode of Apple T V's the me you can't see
in discussion with host Oprah Winfrey. She detailed what happened.
A producer said to me,
take your clothes off
and I said no.
And I left
and
(10:39):
they told me they were gonna burn all my music
and they didn't stop,
they didn't stop asking me. And then I just froze
and I just,
(10:59):
I don't re I don't even remember. I understand this.
Me too. Movement. I understand that some people feel really
comfortable with this. And I do not,
I do not ever want to face that person again.
She further admitted that at a later date, she was
pregnant as a result of the rape and that the
(11:20):
producer who she refuses to name, abandoned her, dropping her
off at her parents' house because she was vomiting. And
I had a total psychotic break. And for a couple
of years, I was not the same girl. She continued
the way that I feel when I feel pain was
how I felt after I was raped. I've had so
many MRI s and scans where they don't find nothing
(11:41):
but your body remembers during an interview on the Howard
Stern Show, Gaga would explain that the trauma didn't really
settle in until years later because she was so focused
on her career. Well,
you know, it, it happens every day, it happens every
day and it's, it's really scary and it's sad and,
and you know,
it didn't affect me as much right after as it did.
(12:04):
About four or five years later, it hit me so hard.
I was so traumatized by it that I was like,
just keep going because I just had to get out
of there. I have talked to other women who somehow
Lady Gaga found the strength to keep going. Her ambition
and determination would pay off in late 2006. When Joshua Sarin,
head of A and R at Def Jam Records heard
(12:27):
her song. Beautiful, Dirty Rich, impressed with
what he heard. He took Gaga's music to his boss,
label president L A Reid who proceeded to offer her
an artist development deal. So Ruben would tell nj.com, there
was something unusual about her. She sat down at the
piano in a showcase room and the way she played
and the lyrics and the way she acted and sang
(12:48):
was just so different and in your face and you
couldn't turn away. She was wearing these crazy white thigh
high boots and a black mini dress and she had
this presence like I'm sexy and I don't care what
anybody has to say about it
despite saying she was a true star who will change music.
L A Reid never actually met with Gaga and dropped
her from Def Jam after only three months because he
(13:10):
didn't like her demos. He would tell Larry King that
this decision would be one of the biggest regrets of
his career. A
Speaker 2 (13:17):
couple of months later,
she does her demo tapes.
They get to my desk and I sit and I
listen and I say I have this all wrong. I
couldn't be more wrong. I don't know what I saw.
I don't know what I loved about her, but today
I don't feel the same.
So I made the foolish mistake of letting her go.
(13:37):
And a couple of months later,
maybe six months later,
one of her songs comes out on another label
and it starts to become a hit. And I tried
to ignore it. I mean, I really tried to ignore
it like, oh, it's not really gonna be a hit
and this thing explodes. The song was called Just Dance.
And Lady Gaga was born
(13:57):
and I felt like the biggest failure in the world.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Years later, Gaga would write about the rejection for her
single Marry the Night telling E News. It was one
of the worst days of my life and it happened
quite quickly. But in my mind, when I think back
on that period of my life, it all happened very slow.
Gaga fueled her depression through eating junk food and
watching TV at her Lower East side pad, but realized
(14:20):
this was actually a turning point for her. Instead of
giving up. She told New York magazine, that's when I
started the real devotion to my music and art. She
began to eat healthier and started going to the gym.
Although in addition, she has admitted to taking diet pills
and cocaine,
but she was getting into shape and experimenting more with
her image. It was around this time that she met
(14:42):
a singing burlesque queen named Lady Starlight. While the two
of them were go go dancing together at a bar
called Saint Jerome's. In 2007 Starlight tutored Stephanie on
everything she needed to know about the local art scene,
helping her learn burlesque and establishing an image in a
2009 interview with Caught in the crossfire. Lady Starlight explained
(15:04):
her influence on Stephanie saying my style, performance art and
djing inspired her persona.
I was also one who told her to take off
her pants because I rarely wore any myself. The two
put together a burlesque act that included dancing in thongs
and go go boots, singing x-rated lyrics and introducing pyrotechnics
via a lighter and a can of hairspray.
(15:27):
They performed as Lady Gaga and the Starlight review and
threw a weekly party called New York Street Revival and
Trash Dance where they played hits from the seventies and eighties.
Gaga would tell New York magazine Starlight and I bonded
instantly over her love of heavy metal and my love
of boys that listen to heavy metal. Gaga and Starlight
befriended local glam rock bands, semi precious weapons who
(15:49):
allowed the two to open up shows for them regularly.
Gaga and Rob Fusari had become distant. But when he
saw her perform, one of her burlesque shows. He was
shocked describing it as Rocky Horror meets eighties band. Still
Fusari believed in Gaga. And when his friend Vincent Herbert
was hired by Endoscope to scout new artists, he swung
a meeting with one of the biggest record executives in
(16:11):
the world.
Jimmy Ive is one of the most powerful names in
the music industry. Originally, an engineer and producer, Ive has
worked with everyone from John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen to
Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks in 1990 he founded in
Interscope Records and helped shape the careers of nine inch nails.
U two, Eminem black eyed peas, no doubt. And Doctor
(16:32):
Dre who he also co-founded the beats brand with. Obviously,
Ive was someone who could help Lady Gaga with her
career
while he was interested in seeing what Gaga could do.
Ive got Vincent Herbert to set her up with some
songwriting gigs for Britney Spears, pussycat dolls, Fergie and New
Kids on the block. She was also given a chance
to perform at Lollapalooza that summer, which is how she
(16:53):
ended up with blonde hair. After someone in the crowd
yell out Amy Winehouse, Herbert told her to try dying
her hair blonde to make her look more distinct. She
did it immediately performing a Lollapalooza also earned Gaga her
first rave reviews in the press as well as a
citation for indecent exposure for wearing hot pants.
After relocating to Los Angeles, Gaga began working on new
(17:16):
music with Moroccan producer, Red One who worked with Akon
and Enrique Iglesias. He helped Gaga with her pivot to
a more commercial dance pop sound. She was obsessed with
Andy Warhol and his multifaceted approach to art devouring his
books and using his ideas to develop her vision for
the brand
using Warhol's factory as a blueprint. She launched a collective
(17:37):
under the name House of Gaga, which she would work
on various projects related to Lady Gaga's music such as costumes,
staging props and music video production. She also adopted Warhol's
love of wearing wigs and
big sunglasses and exploring his interest in queer culture through
working with drag queens and promoting gay rights. Ive passed
(17:59):
on Gaga's music to Senegalese American hit maker Akon who
immediately took an interest in cosigning her to his Interscope
imprint K live
with Akon and Red One. Gaga would write her first
single just dance in only 10 minutes while she was
hung over in an interview with artists direct. She would
explain the meaning behind the song. Everyone is looking for
(18:19):
a song that really speaks to the joy in our
souls and in our hearts and having a good time.
It's just one of those records. It feels really good
and when you listen to it, it makes you feel
good inside. It's as simple as that. I don't think
it's rocket science when it comes to the heart.
I think it's a heart theme song released on April 8th, 2008.
Just Dance instantly became a club hit reaching the billboard
(18:40):
dance charts. Soon after. It would also hit the hot
100 in the US. But it was in Canada where
just dance would reach number one. Gaga would show her
gratitude for her Canadian fans during a visit to much
music where she would perform the song and sit down
with host Leah Miller and I have to thank Canada
because you guys were the first to pick up this weapon.
And you actually on the back of the liner notes,
(19:01):
you wrote the back. Were you, did you write that
when you were there? I did it when I was there. Yeah.
And um we had to actually rush produce um the
album because you guys wanted it so much sooner than
everybody else did. It's not even out in the States yet. No,
it's nowhere. It's nowhere. But here that is
Lady Gaga's debut album. The Fame was released via Interscope
(19:24):
on August 19th, 2008 with one of the biggest record
labels behind her. Gaga was ready to break out, speaking
with MTV News. She explained the themes behind the record
in my lyrics. Um
Well, the album is a concept record. So this idea
of the fame is through and through, but it is
(19:44):
through and through in a couple different ways. It's in
there as uh somebody who, if you have nothing, you
know whether you've got no money no fame. You know,
you can still feel beautiful, dirty rich, right? Because it's
about making choices about being passionate and having references, things
that you pull in your life that you believe in.
(20:05):
But it's also about, uh
you know, self discovery and being creative. The record is
sli slightly focused, but it's also eclectic. The fame would
continue to pump out consecutive hits over the next year.
The sexually provocative poker face about being with a man,
but fantasizing about a woman was her second song to
reach number one all across the globe for paparazzi Gaga
(20:28):
upped her visual game, hiring Jonas Akerlund to direct the
jaw dropping video. You might remember his name from previous
encore episodes for U two and me,
Donna Gaga would call it the most amazing creative work
that she's put together so far. Telling the Canadian press,
it has a real genuine powerful message about fame whoring
and death and the demise of the celebrity and what
(20:50):
that does to young people. And then there was love
game where the world learned all about what a disco
stick was. Well, Ken Lindsay from much music certainly did
when he asked her at the 2009 much music video awards.
Is it, is it possible to explain exactly what a is?
Ok. Ok. Then full disclosure cam actually now works for
(21:13):
iheartradio and may have even written these words I'm saying
right now. Cam is an extremely handsome man. Wait hold on.
Who put that in there? If some people in Canada
didn't know of Gaga in the summer of 2009, they
certainly did after her performance at the MM VA S
performing love game and poker face. Gaga
entered the stage from a New York City subway car
(21:34):
fought off the NYPD and ended things by shooting fireworks
from her bra or what I call a typical experience
when visiting the Big Apple speaking with much music. Just
after her performance, Gaga explained how she had achieved everything
till that point. Since I was a little girl. I
used to say my life is my life.
My life is performing and it wasn't true. But I
(21:57):
said it every day over and over again. I worked
and worked and I was very disciplined and I um
uh rehearsed and practiced every day. And then one day
I woke up and my life was hard. My life
was my life was, it's like, um it's a dedication now. It's,
it's not really a choice. It's just two am.
The fame ended up winning two Grammy Awards for best
(22:20):
electronic dance album and best dance recording for poker face.
But it wouldn't stop there before the end of 2009.
It would turn into a monster
in just over a year. Lady Gaga went from a
complete unknown to the biggest new artist on the planet.
She had made pop music exciting again and she wasn't
done with the Fame yet in November 2009, she dropped
(22:44):
eight new songs packaged with her album as something she
called the Fame Monster. She revealed how the additional ep
of songs came to her to Mt V's Alexa Chung. Well,
I'll just tell you that when I wrote The Fame Monster,
The Road. Um, you know, I really didn't intend on
writing a new album at all and, uh I was
like leaving my heart on the floor every night on
(23:05):
tour and my fans were giving me so much from
the audience that I was really inspired to write more music.
So uh I listened to my fans very good. The
Fame Monster would replace his predecessor as the complete version
of Gaga's debut album helping it reach 18 million copies
sold worldwide to date
(23:27):
these new songs. Once again, found Gaga revitalizing the music
video and turning the medium back into a must see
event with its singles, anticipation grew for each of her videos.
And on November 10th, 2009, she released the song that
would become argued
the biggest song and video of her career. Once again,
(23:47):
produced by Red One Bad Romance was an instant smash
hit with its ra ra a a ah Roma Roma
Ma Gaga oo la la chant Hitchcock references and a
pounding beat that channels German techno appearing on an episode
of Fuses on the record. Gaga explained the concept behind
Bad Romance to host Toure. I want your ily, I
(24:09):
want your disease. All of those things that I'm saying,
it's like
when, when you, when you love someone so much and
your fear of losing someone is so, so deep that you,
I want your psycho, I want your ugly. I want,
I want all the most disgusting parts of you that
you think nobody will ever love. I loved all of
those things. Uh Each song represents a different monster and
(24:30):
then I feel like I've encountered uh on the road.
So my fear of love, my fear of alcohol, my
fear of sex, bad romance debuted at number two,
the hot 100 making it her biggest chart debut to date.
It would also reach number one in Canada and basically
everywhere else in the world confirming that Gaga was now
pop music's most exciting artist. The song's success was largely
(24:54):
due to its eye popping video directed by Francis Lawrence
who would go on to direct three of the Hunger
Games films. The video depicted Gaga as a victim who
is kidnapped by supermodels and sold at auction to the
Russian mafia. So in some blindingly white futuristic bath house,
the video featured choreography that borrowed from Michael Jackson's thriller
(25:15):
and some of Gaga's most outlandish outfits including razor blade
sunglasses and that pyrotechnic bra of hers that seems to
burn her lover to a crisp yikes. When we were
preparing to shoot the bad romance video, we wanted the
story to kind of shine on this very simple white
background, a bath house where we told a story about
(25:38):
a woman that was imprisoned and stronger than all of
the limitations around her. Gaga would tell MTV news that
tough female spirit is something that I want to project.
It's meant to be. This is my shield, this is
my weapon. This is my inner sense of fame. This
is my monster.
(25:58):
The video's director Lawrence would also tell MTV that out
of all the music videos, he directed the response to
bad romance was bigger than any of them. I've been
doing it a long time but I've never really experienced
an explosion with a video like this where people so
eagerly awaited it and blew it up on youtube instantly
her little monsters loved it too and soon the video
(26:19):
was cleaning up at the 2010 MTV video music awards
winning seven out of 10 awards. It was nominated for
including video of the year, best choreography and best pop video.
Bad romance would also collect two more Grammys for Gaga,
best female pop vocal performance and best short form music video.
I would have to say the most impressive performance of
(26:40):
bad romance came in December 2000
2009 when she appeared on X Factor in the UK.
This was the year before one direction were on the
show in case you were wondering, dressed as a bat
gaga and 10 of her dancers emerged from a 20
ft bathtub giving new meaning to a communal bath. And naturally,
for the song's middle eight, Gaga sat on a toilet
to play the piano. Like most concert pianists are known
(27:02):
to do. I wonder where that 20 ft tub is
right now. Probably in Simon Cowell's bedroom.
Two more singles would follow bad romance Alejandro and Telephone
featuring Gaga's biggest collaboration to date Beyonce, which gave us
yet another epic dazzling music video starring Quentin Tarantino's famous
pussy wagon. I personally loved the Diet Coke Can hair curlers.
(27:26):
Bad romance hasn't really ever disappeared from our lives. It's
creeping closer to 2 billion views on youtube and remains
Gaga's most iconic musical moment.
Thankfully, in 2016, we finally got some clarity on what
the song's ear wormy chant actually means when Gaga joined
James Corden for a round of Carpool karaoke. I'll let
(27:47):
them break it down for you.
But it's like
it's romance. It's, it's Ro Ro. Oh, hang on. It's
a romance ga ga ga kind of, it's like, it's
like the beginning of romance. Romance. Ooh la la. Oh,
I see you're saying romance. Ooh la la.
(28:08):
This is as you might expect. Bad romance was part
of Lady Gaga's Super Bowl 51 halftime show in 2017.
She saved it for last to close out the electrifying performance.
She was decked out in football pads and surrounded by
pyro where she led a mass dance along to her
(28:29):
hit that ended with fire
works and her jumping off stage to catch a football
like any good banger bad romance also had its viral
moment on tiktok after one user named Grace Groy issued
a hashtag bad romance challenge with a soaring a cappella
rendition of the chorus from there. It inspired many people
(28:50):
to use the audio to tell their stories of personal trauma.
And most recently, the song inspired headlines for her upcoming
turn as Harley Quinn in Joker Folly. A de literally
every outlet that wrote about the film's trailer found some
different way to use the song's title in the headline
because obviously she and the Joker can write a bad romance.
(29:11):
Am I right? I'm Miles Galloway. And that was the
story of Lady Gaga's bad romance on Encore with new
episodes every Thursday.
Encore is an iheartradio Canada podcast. Subscribe to this podcast
on iheartradio or wherever you get your podcasts. Download the
iheartradio app for more great podcasts. Just like these
(29:35):
dive into the behind the scenes world of your favorite artist.
Interviews with us. Shannon Burns producer Jess and the entire
iheartradio team on the filter podcast. Grab your headphones, new
episodes land every week wherever you get your podcasts.
This is Encore. The stories behind the songs. Here's Ihe
Radio's Miles Galloway,
ra ra, I'm Miles Galloway. And this is the story
of Lady Gaga's bad romance.
(00:22):
Lady Gaga is more than your average pop star from
the early modest days of sewing her own costumes and
singing about disco sticks. She has continually reinvented herself along
the way to become one of the planet's biggest stars
of both music and film. She's won Grammys an Oscar
and every award in between. She sold over 100 and
70 million records and generated
(00:43):
hundreds of millions of dollars with her groundbreaking tours. She's
stolen the screen next to leading men such as Bradley
Cooper in a star is born and Joaquin Phoenix in
this year's Joker foe. A heck she's even pivoted to
jazz with remarkable success. Becoming BFFs with her mentor and collaborator,
the late great Tony Bennett.
(01:04):
She's also become a tireless advocate for UNICEF the Rainforest
Foundation and the LGBT Q Plus community and mental wellness.
And let's not forget she is the matriarch to millions
of little monsters out there who continue to worship their
mother monster. How does that compare to your resume? Frankly,
it makes mine look a bit trivial.
(01:24):
Yes, Lady Gaga is one of music's greatest overachievers, but
to quote one of her biggest hits. She was born
this way. Actually, Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on
March 28th, 1986 in Manhattan, New York. Her parents, Cynthia
and Joseph raised Stephanie and her younger sister by six years,
(01:45):
Natalie in a duplex on the upper west side of Manhattan.
Now, before I go any further, I feel like it's
important to point out that Joseph Germanotta is one of
the persons responsible for giving us Wi Fi. That is
an actual fact. He's even called the godfather of Wi
Fi because back in 2002, when everybody was plugging cables
into their computers to get an internet connection. Lady Gaga's
(02:07):
dad founded guest Wi Fi, a company that installed Wi
Fi in hotels. So not only did he give us
Lady Gaga, he gave us Wi Fi her mum, by
the way, was a VP at Verizon. No biggie.
Anyway, back to our story from the age of one,
Stephanie displayed a love for music so much that her
grandparents bought the family a piano to encourage learning. Baby.
(02:29):
Stephanie would learn to walk by grabbing the piano leg
and pull herself up so she could hit the keys.
Then when she was four years old, Stephanie began playing piano.
At first, she just wanted to do it playing by ear,
but let
would help her reach the next step of writing music.
At the age of six, she would write her first
song called Dollar Bills, which was apparently inspired by Pink
Floyd's Money. Wow. Already listening to the dark side of
(02:52):
the Moon at six, that is impressive. At seven, she
was performing in front of the camera which she would
share footage of with her fans. 19 years later, this
is my first piano
when she was 11. Stephanie was accepted into the prestigious
(03:13):
Juilliard school but her Roman Catholic parents decided to instead
send her to the covenant of the sacred Heart. The
affluent all girls private school boasted many notable alumni including
Paris Hilton whom Stephanie was said to be enamored with
unlike Paris. Though Stephanie was not one of the cool
kids at sacred heart, wearing mismatched clothes and pursuing her
(03:33):
love for
performing over boys outside of school. She began taking vocal
lessons from Christina Aguilera's singing coach, Don Lawrence who has
continued to help her with her vocals. She also took
acting classes on Saturdays which helped her visualize and improvise.
I remember the first time that I drank out of
an imaginary coffee cup, she would tell New York magazine,
(03:53):
that's the very first thing they teach you. I can
feel the rain too when it's not raining.
By 13, Stephanie was writing songs and by 14, she
was performing at open mic nights in New York City
clubs with her parents chaperoning her, her piano training was
paying off for her both as a performer and songwriter.
She would tell the Telegraph, I was classically trained as
(04:13):
a pianist and that innately teaches you how to write
a pop song. Because when you learn bach inversions, it
has the same sort of modulations between the chords. It's
all about
tension and release influenced by her parents taste in classic
rock and pop. She used acts like Billy Joel, Pink
Floyd and The Beatles as inspiration even forming a band
with some friends in an early appearance at much music.
(04:35):
In 2008. Lady Gaga recounted her days of playing gigs
as a 14 year old. I really started gigging out
in New York City when I was 14. That's pretty young. Yeah,
I was,
my parents didn't realize then how great it was because
they were like, you know, stay home, do your homework.
Uh But uh
(04:55):
I just, I couldn't, I couldn't stay off the stage,
but you obviously knew what you wanted to do at
a young age, right? At the same time, Stephanie was
also scoring lead roles in school productions of guys and dolls.
And a funny thing happened on the way to the
forum which took place at Sacred Hearts Brothers School, Regis
High School. Her success at school made her a target
for the older girls in the plays who would give
(05:16):
her the nickname the germ. However, Stephanie's friends also are
said to have called her germ because
of her last name, German Otter. But in her high
school years, Gaga's eccentricities would lead to constant bullying by
her classmates. She would tell Rolling Stone in 2011 that
she was teased for being ugly, having a big nose
and being annoying. She recalled that girls would say your
(05:38):
laugh is funny. You're weird. Why do you always sing?
Why are you so into theater? Why do you do
your makeup like that? What's with your eyebrows? I used
to do these really big
vita eyebrows. I used to self tan and I had
this really intense tan in school and people would say,
why the fuck are you so orange? Why do you
do your hair that way? Are you a dyke? Why
do you have to look like that for school? I
(06:00):
used to be called a slut, be called this be
called that I didn't even wanna go to school sometimes. However,
it was around the age of 15 when Stephanie would
get her first taste of showbiz. You girl see me
out there? Yeah. It looked like you were cheating. I fucking,
hey guys, you got Mr Goodwin's check out that voice.
You heard? There was 15 year old Stephanie Germanotta in
(06:21):
an episode of the Sopranos titled the Tell Tale Mus Adele.
In the scene, a teenage gaga breaks into school at
night with some friends including AJ Soprano. They tossed the
coach's desk and a collection of trophies into the pool
while it wasn't a breakout star making performance for Stephanie.
It did give her a first credit on her IM
DB page years later after she became a super
(06:42):
star, she reflected on the cameo in the groundbreaking HBO
series telling Entertainment Weekly. When I look back on that scene,
I can see exactly what I did wrong in that scene.
I didn't know how to listen in a scene. I
was supposed to laugh and it was sort of like
cue laugh. I see it and I go, oh, that's
not a real laugh. Perhaps portraying a badass on TV.
Gave her an idea because while she was in high school,
(07:04):
she began sneaking into clubs on the Lower East Side
with her fake ID where she was exposed to all
types of music and
entertainment, including avant-garde, performance art and drag shows. Stephanie finished
high school ahead of schedule at age 17 and was
one of only 20 students who gained early admission to
the collaborative arts project. 21 through New York University's tis
(07:25):
School of the Arts. She lived in an NYU dorm
and studied music getting a taste of what it was
like to be an adult through writing essays on subjects
like art, religion, politics, and social issues. Stephanie was able
to develop her song
writing skills at a talent show in 2005, Stephanie played
a piano and sang two original songs. Captivated an electric kiss.
Coming in third place. But school wasn't for her. She
(07:48):
felt her studies were holding her back as an artist.
And during her second year, she dropped out to pursue
her dream full time. And while Time magazine may have
ranked Lady Gaga as one of its top 10 college
drop outs. I feel it's important for me to say
stay in school kids unless you're the next Lady Gaga.
In that case, follow your dream.
Years later, she would tell Elle magazine, I loved NYU,
(08:09):
but I thought I could teach myself about art better
than the school could. I really felt New York was
my teacher and that I needed to bite the bullet
and go it alone. I wasn't interested in going to
frat parties and doing those sorts of collegiate things. I
was really interested in the music scene and waitressing and
cleaning toilets or whatever the fuck it was. I was doing.
Stephanie told her parents that she was quitting school and
her dad surprisingly agreed to financially support her for the
(08:32):
first year living in the Lower East side.
She began honing her craft as a singer songwriter when
she caught the attention of producer Rob Fusari who had
co-written and produced the Destiny's Child Hits. No, no, no.
And bootylicious, he was looking for an artist to front
a band. He was putting together at first, Stephanie didn't
look the part, but once he heard her sing, he
brought her into the studio and the two got to work.
(08:54):
At first, they began writing rock songs, but Fusari didn't
feel it was a genuine style for Stephanie. Although rock
and roll was the genre
where she felt she belonged. Fusari convinced Stephanie to give
dance oriented pop music a chance using the glam look
of David Bowie, the theatricality of Freddie Mercury and Queen
and the pulsating synthetic sounds of European disco pop. Stephanie
(09:16):
and Fusari created a new persona. All they needed was
a name for it. During their time working in the studio,
Fusari had made a habit out of playing Queen's radio Gaga.
Whenever Stephanie arrived one day while the two were texting
Fusari typed radio Gaga which instead his phone auto corrected
to Lady Gaga and just like that, an iconic name
(09:36):
was born Fusari and Gaga would reportedly begin a short
lived romantic relationship on top of their working relationship. And
soon they would begin writing songs and setting up a
domestic Limited liability company called Team Love Child LLC that
also included Joseph Germanotta as a partner. All they needed
now was a record deal.
(09:56):
This next segment contains descriptions of an alleged sexual assault
if you or someone you know has been affected by
sexual assault. We encourage you to reach out for support.
At the age of 19, Stephanie was sexually assaulted by
a record producer. She
worked with, she wouldn't discuss the horrific events of that
night until years later when Lady Gaga appeared on an
(10:17):
episode of Apple T V's the me you can't see
in discussion with host Oprah Winfrey. She detailed what happened.
A producer said to me,
take your clothes off
and I said no.
And I left
and
(10:39):
they told me they were gonna burn all my music
and they didn't stop,
they didn't stop asking me. And then I just froze
and I just,
(10:59):
I don't re I don't even remember. I understand this.
Me too. Movement. I understand that some people feel really
comfortable with this. And I do not,
I do not ever want to face that person again.
She further admitted that at a later date, she was
pregnant as a result of the rape and that the
(11:20):
producer who she refuses to name, abandoned her, dropping her
off at her parents' house because she was vomiting. And
I had a total psychotic break. And for a couple
of years, I was not the same girl. She continued
the way that I feel when I feel pain was
how I felt after I was raped. I've had so
many MRI s and scans where they don't find nothing
(11:41):
but your body remembers during an interview on the Howard
Stern Show, Gaga would explain that the trauma didn't really
settle in until years later because she was so focused
on her career. Well,
you know, it, it happens every day, it happens every
day and it's, it's really scary and it's sad and,
and you know,
it didn't affect me as much right after as it did.
(12:04):
About four or five years later, it hit me so hard.
I was so traumatized by it that I was like,
just keep going because I just had to get out
of there. I have talked to other women who somehow
Lady Gaga found the strength to keep going. Her ambition
and determination would pay off in late 2006. When Joshua Sarin,
head of A and R at Def Jam Records heard
(12:27):
her song. Beautiful, Dirty Rich, impressed with
what he heard. He took Gaga's music to his boss,
label president L A Reid who proceeded to offer her
an artist development deal. So Ruben would tell nj.com, there
was something unusual about her. She sat down at the
piano in a showcase room and the way she played
and the lyrics and the way she acted and sang
(12:48):
was just so different and in your face and you
couldn't turn away. She was wearing these crazy white thigh
high boots and a black mini dress and she had
this presence like I'm sexy and I don't care what
anybody has to say about it
despite saying she was a true star who will change music.
L A Reid never actually met with Gaga and dropped
her from Def Jam after only three months because he
(13:10):
didn't like her demos. He would tell Larry King that
this decision would be one of the biggest regrets of
his career. A
Speaker 2 (13:17):
couple of months later,
she does her demo tapes.
They get to my desk and I sit and I
listen and I say I have this all wrong. I
couldn't be more wrong. I don't know what I saw.
I don't know what I loved about her, but today
I don't feel the same.
So I made the foolish mistake of letting her go.
(13:37):
And a couple of months later,
maybe six months later,
one of her songs comes out on another label
and it starts to become a hit. And I tried
to ignore it. I mean, I really tried to ignore
it like, oh, it's not really gonna be a hit
and this thing explodes. The song was called Just Dance.
And Lady Gaga was born
(13:57):
and I felt like the biggest failure in the world.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Years later, Gaga would write about the rejection for her
single Marry the Night telling E News. It was one
of the worst days of my life and it happened
quite quickly. But in my mind, when I think back
on that period of my life, it all happened very slow.
Gaga fueled her depression through eating junk food and
watching TV at her Lower East side pad, but realized
(14:20):
this was actually a turning point for her. Instead of
giving up. She told New York magazine, that's when I
started the real devotion to my music and art. She
began to eat healthier and started going to the gym.
Although in addition, she has admitted to taking diet pills
and cocaine,
but she was getting into shape and experimenting more with
her image. It was around this time that she met
(14:42):
a singing burlesque queen named Lady Starlight. While the two
of them were go go dancing together at a bar
called Saint Jerome's. In 2007 Starlight tutored Stephanie on
everything she needed to know about the local art scene,
helping her learn burlesque and establishing an image in a
2009 interview with Caught in the crossfire. Lady Starlight explained
(15:04):
her influence on Stephanie saying my style, performance art and
djing inspired her persona.
I was also one who told her to take off
her pants because I rarely wore any myself. The two
put together a burlesque act that included dancing in thongs
and go go boots, singing x-rated lyrics and introducing pyrotechnics
via a lighter and a can of hairspray.
(15:27):
They performed as Lady Gaga and the Starlight review and
threw a weekly party called New York Street Revival and
Trash Dance where they played hits from the seventies and eighties.
Gaga would tell New York magazine Starlight and I bonded
instantly over her love of heavy metal and my love
of boys that listen to heavy metal. Gaga and Starlight
befriended local glam rock bands, semi precious weapons who
(15:49):
allowed the two to open up shows for them regularly.
Gaga and Rob Fusari had become distant. But when he
saw her perform, one of her burlesque shows. He was
shocked describing it as Rocky Horror meets eighties band. Still
Fusari believed in Gaga. And when his friend Vincent Herbert
was hired by Endoscope to scout new artists, he swung
a meeting with one of the biggest record executives in
(16:11):
the world.
Jimmy Ive is one of the most powerful names in
the music industry. Originally, an engineer and producer, Ive has
worked with everyone from John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen to
Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks in 1990 he founded in
Interscope Records and helped shape the careers of nine inch nails.
U two, Eminem black eyed peas, no doubt. And Doctor
(16:32):
Dre who he also co-founded the beats brand with. Obviously,
Ive was someone who could help Lady Gaga with her
career
while he was interested in seeing what Gaga could do.
Ive got Vincent Herbert to set her up with some
songwriting gigs for Britney Spears, pussycat dolls, Fergie and New
Kids on the block. She was also given a chance
to perform at Lollapalooza that summer, which is how she
(16:53):
ended up with blonde hair. After someone in the crowd
yell out Amy Winehouse, Herbert told her to try dying
her hair blonde to make her look more distinct. She
did it immediately performing a Lollapalooza also earned Gaga her
first rave reviews in the press as well as a
citation for indecent exposure for wearing hot pants.
After relocating to Los Angeles, Gaga began working on new
(17:16):
music with Moroccan producer, Red One who worked with Akon
and Enrique Iglesias. He helped Gaga with her pivot to
a more commercial dance pop sound. She was obsessed with
Andy Warhol and his multifaceted approach to art devouring his
books and using his ideas to develop her vision for
the brand
using Warhol's factory as a blueprint. She launched a collective
(17:37):
under the name House of Gaga, which she would work
on various projects related to Lady Gaga's music such as costumes,
staging props and music video production. She also adopted Warhol's
love of wearing wigs and
big sunglasses and exploring his interest in queer culture through
working with drag queens and promoting gay rights. Ive passed
(17:59):
on Gaga's music to Senegalese American hit maker Akon who
immediately took an interest in cosigning her to his Interscope
imprint K live
with Akon and Red One. Gaga would write her first
single just dance in only 10 minutes while she was
hung over in an interview with artists direct. She would
explain the meaning behind the song. Everyone is looking for
(18:19):
a song that really speaks to the joy in our
souls and in our hearts and having a good time.
It's just one of those records. It feels really good
and when you listen to it, it makes you feel
good inside. It's as simple as that. I don't think
it's rocket science when it comes to the heart.
I think it's a heart theme song released on April 8th, 2008.
Just Dance instantly became a club hit reaching the billboard
(18:40):
dance charts. Soon after. It would also hit the hot
100 in the US. But it was in Canada where
just dance would reach number one. Gaga would show her
gratitude for her Canadian fans during a visit to much
music where she would perform the song and sit down
with host Leah Miller and I have to thank Canada
because you guys were the first to pick up this weapon.
And you actually on the back of the liner notes,
(19:01):
you wrote the back. Were you, did you write that
when you were there? I did it when I was there. Yeah.
And um we had to actually rush produce um the
album because you guys wanted it so much sooner than
everybody else did. It's not even out in the States yet. No,
it's nowhere. It's nowhere. But here that is
Lady Gaga's debut album. The Fame was released via Interscope
(19:24):
on August 19th, 2008 with one of the biggest record
labels behind her. Gaga was ready to break out, speaking
with MTV News. She explained the themes behind the record
in my lyrics. Um
Well, the album is a concept record. So this idea
of the fame is through and through, but it is
(19:44):
through and through in a couple different ways. It's in
there as uh somebody who, if you have nothing, you
know whether you've got no money no fame. You know,
you can still feel beautiful, dirty rich, right? Because it's
about making choices about being passionate and having references, things
that you pull in your life that you believe in.
(20:05):
But it's also about, uh
you know, self discovery and being creative. The record is
sli slightly focused, but it's also eclectic. The fame would
continue to pump out consecutive hits over the next year.
The sexually provocative poker face about being with a man,
but fantasizing about a woman was her second song to
reach number one all across the globe for paparazzi Gaga
(20:28):
upped her visual game, hiring Jonas Akerlund to direct the
jaw dropping video. You might remember his name from previous
encore episodes for U two and me,
Donna Gaga would call it the most amazing creative work
that she's put together so far. Telling the Canadian press,
it has a real genuine powerful message about fame whoring
and death and the demise of the celebrity and what
(20:50):
that does to young people. And then there was love
game where the world learned all about what a disco
stick was. Well, Ken Lindsay from much music certainly did
when he asked her at the 2009 much music video awards.
Is it, is it possible to explain exactly what a is?
Ok. Ok. Then full disclosure cam actually now works for
(21:13):
iheartradio and may have even written these words I'm saying
right now. Cam is an extremely handsome man. Wait hold on.
Who put that in there? If some people in Canada
didn't know of Gaga in the summer of 2009, they
certainly did after her performance at the MM VA S
performing love game and poker face. Gaga
entered the stage from a New York City subway car
(21:34):
fought off the NYPD and ended things by shooting fireworks
from her bra or what I call a typical experience
when visiting the Big Apple speaking with much music. Just
after her performance, Gaga explained how she had achieved everything
till that point. Since I was a little girl. I
used to say my life is my life.
My life is performing and it wasn't true. But I
(21:57):
said it every day over and over again. I worked
and worked and I was very disciplined and I um
uh rehearsed and practiced every day. And then one day
I woke up and my life was hard. My life
was my life was, it's like, um it's a dedication now. It's,
it's not really a choice. It's just two am.
The fame ended up winning two Grammy Awards for best
(22:20):
electronic dance album and best dance recording for poker face.
But it wouldn't stop there before the end of 2009.
It would turn into a monster
in just over a year. Lady Gaga went from a
complete unknown to the biggest new artist on the planet.
She had made pop music exciting again and she wasn't
done with the Fame yet in November 2009, she dropped
(22:44):
eight new songs packaged with her album as something she
called the Fame Monster. She revealed how the additional ep
of songs came to her to Mt V's Alexa Chung. Well,
I'll just tell you that when I wrote The Fame Monster,
The Road. Um, you know, I really didn't intend on
writing a new album at all and, uh I was
like leaving my heart on the floor every night on
(23:05):
tour and my fans were giving me so much from
the audience that I was really inspired to write more music.
So uh I listened to my fans very good. The
Fame Monster would replace his predecessor as the complete version
of Gaga's debut album helping it reach 18 million copies
sold worldwide to date
(23:27):
these new songs. Once again, found Gaga revitalizing the music
video and turning the medium back into a must see
event with its singles, anticipation grew for each of her videos.
And on November 10th, 2009, she released the song that
would become argued
the biggest song and video of her career. Once again,
(23:47):
produced by Red One Bad Romance was an instant smash
hit with its ra ra a a ah Roma Roma
Ma Gaga oo la la chant Hitchcock references and a
pounding beat that channels German techno appearing on an episode
of Fuses on the record. Gaga explained the concept behind
Bad Romance to host Toure. I want your ily, I
(24:09):
want your disease. All of those things that I'm saying,
it's like
when, when you, when you love someone so much and
your fear of losing someone is so, so deep that you,
I want your psycho, I want your ugly. I want,
I want all the most disgusting parts of you that
you think nobody will ever love. I loved all of
those things. Uh Each song represents a different monster and
(24:30):
then I feel like I've encountered uh on the road.
So my fear of love, my fear of alcohol, my
fear of sex, bad romance debuted at number two,
the hot 100 making it her biggest chart debut to date.
It would also reach number one in Canada and basically
everywhere else in the world confirming that Gaga was now
pop music's most exciting artist. The song's success was largely
(24:54):
due to its eye popping video directed by Francis Lawrence
who would go on to direct three of the Hunger
Games films. The video depicted Gaga as a victim who
is kidnapped by supermodels and sold at auction to the
Russian mafia. So in some blindingly white futuristic bath house,
the video featured choreography that borrowed from Michael Jackson's thriller
(25:15):
and some of Gaga's most outlandish outfits including razor blade
sunglasses and that pyrotechnic bra of hers that seems to
burn her lover to a crisp yikes. When we were
preparing to shoot the bad romance video, we wanted the
story to kind of shine on this very simple white
background, a bath house where we told a story about
(25:38):
a woman that was imprisoned and stronger than all of
the limitations around her. Gaga would tell MTV news that
tough female spirit is something that I want to project.
It's meant to be. This is my shield, this is
my weapon. This is my inner sense of fame. This
is my monster.
(25:58):
The video's director Lawrence would also tell MTV that out
of all the music videos, he directed the response to
bad romance was bigger than any of them. I've been
doing it a long time but I've never really experienced
an explosion with a video like this where people so
eagerly awaited it and blew it up on youtube instantly
her little monsters loved it too and soon the video
(26:19):
was cleaning up at the 2010 MTV video music awards
winning seven out of 10 awards. It was nominated for
including video of the year, best choreography and best pop video.
Bad romance would also collect two more Grammys for Gaga,
best female pop vocal performance and best short form music video.
I would have to say the most impressive performance of
(26:40):
bad romance came in December 2000
2009 when she appeared on X Factor in the UK.
This was the year before one direction were on the
show in case you were wondering, dressed as a bat
gaga and 10 of her dancers emerged from a 20
ft bathtub giving new meaning to a communal bath. And naturally,
for the song's middle eight, Gaga sat on a toilet
to play the piano. Like most concert pianists are known
(27:02):
to do. I wonder where that 20 ft tub is
right now. Probably in Simon Cowell's bedroom.
Two more singles would follow bad romance Alejandro and Telephone
featuring Gaga's biggest collaboration to date Beyonce, which gave us
yet another epic dazzling music video starring Quentin Tarantino's famous
pussy wagon. I personally loved the Diet Coke Can hair curlers.
(27:26):
Bad romance hasn't really ever disappeared from our lives. It's
creeping closer to 2 billion views on youtube and remains
Gaga's most iconic musical moment.
Thankfully, in 2016, we finally got some clarity on what
the song's ear wormy chant actually means when Gaga joined
James Corden for a round of Carpool karaoke. I'll let
(27:47):
them break it down for you.
But it's like
it's romance. It's, it's Ro Ro. Oh, hang on. It's
a romance ga ga ga kind of, it's like, it's
like the beginning of romance. Romance. Ooh la la. Oh,
I see you're saying romance. Ooh la la.
(28:08):
This is as you might expect. Bad romance was part
of Lady Gaga's Super Bowl 51 halftime show in 2017.
She saved it for last to close out the electrifying performance.
She was decked out in football pads and surrounded by
pyro where she led a mass dance along to her
(28:29):
hit that ended with fire
works and her jumping off stage to catch a football
like any good banger bad romance also had its viral
moment on tiktok after one user named Grace Groy issued
a hashtag bad romance challenge with a soaring a cappella
rendition of the chorus from there. It inspired many people
(28:50):
to use the audio to tell their stories of personal trauma.
And most recently, the song inspired headlines for her upcoming
turn as Harley Quinn in Joker Folly. A de literally
every outlet that wrote about the film's trailer found some
different way to use the song's title in the headline
because obviously she and the Joker can write a bad romance.
(29:11):
Am I right? I'm Miles Galloway. And that was the
story of Lady Gaga's bad romance on Encore with new
episodes every Thursday.
Encore is an iheartradio Canada podcast. Subscribe to this podcast
on iheartradio or wherever you get your podcasts. Download the
iheartradio app for more great podcasts. Just like these
(29:35):
dive into the behind the scenes world of your favorite artist.
Interviews with us. Shannon Burns producer Jess and the entire
iheartradio team on the filter podcast. Grab your headphones, new
episodes land every week wherever you get your podcasts.
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