Why is Lady Gaga so popular?

[Andonagio]

It seems that Lady Gaga is everywhere these days, to the point where her name has become almost synonymous with contemporary rock. Her music's catchy, but I don't see what makes it stand head and shoulders above all of the other stuff that's coming out. Is her music really that groundbreaking, and if so, how? Or are there other reasons that she's so popular right now?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm going with people like it and she's visual.

 

[Amaris]

It seems that Lady Gaga is everywhere these days, to the point where her name has become almost synonymous with contemporary rock. Her music's catchy, but I don't see what makes it stand head and shoulders above all of the other stuff that's coming out. Is her music really that groundbreaking, and if so, how? Or are there other reasons that she's so popular right now?

She has a well polished, dynamic look; as you mentioned, she has music that is catchy, it also plays well and can be listened to repeatedly; her personality is engaging, and she fosters listener loyalty; she has a strong background of talent and ability, which works well in what she does.

I'm sure there are more reasons, but right now she's riding a wave of chart toppers and that's why she's everywhere in the public eye. How long that will last, I don't know, but I do enjoy her music and think she is a talented artist.

 

[JarodRussell]

Because lately even extreme crap seems to get people's attention. I don't know if that's because we're closing in on 2012, or maybe there's something in the water, or there's cosmic rays, I dunno...

 

[T'Baio]

'Cause she's awesome?

 

[Docbrown777]

I've quickly gotten tired of her act. Especially the ridiculous attention whore outfits she wears everywhere she goes. You want to wear something crazy on stage that is one thing. However, apparently even when traveling on airplanes or other mundane activities she wears stuff just as crazy.

I guess someone didn't pay enough attention to her as a kid or something.

 

[Starbreaker]

She's just a gimmick. I really don't think she has any longevity.

 

[Jetfire]

IMHO...She is awful...I don't get the appeal.

 

[Holdfast]

You may as well ask why any singer/celebrity is popular. Or indeed, any entity's popularity at all.

To a minor degree, there's an element of talent, but beyond that it's combination of careful packaging, appropriate marketing, and other commercially well-understood elements. And then you need an added element of luck in reaching a critical "snowball" mass beyond which the boom becomes self-sustaining.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Why do people sit around and idly wonder why one thing or another is popular, implying that such popularity is undeserved?

Enjoy the things you like--don't worry about the things you don't.

Lady GaGa is awesome. I don't care much for her public shenanigans, but I find her music very enjoyable and catchy. Nobody should have to justify their tastes to anyone else, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[bigdaddy]

It seems that Lady Gaga is everywhere these days, to the point where her name has become almost synonymous with contemporary rock.

She is rock? I always consider her to be pop and no where close to anything that would be called rock.

 

[Rii]

I enjoy most of her music. Don't know anything about her beyond that.

 

[JonathonWally]

She's really the Devil and in her music and videos she's seducing us all, making us all fall in love with her so she can devour our souls.


And I'm enjoying every minute it of it.

 

[Amaris]

IMHO...She is awful...I don't get the appeal.

Well, if you think she's awful, then there's no way to really explain the appeal, since what we find appealing you find to be lacking. That said, she's talented, smart with her image and her music, and throws a great show.

 

[Jetfire]

IMHO...She is awful...I don't get the appeal.

Well, if you think she's awful, then there's no way to really explain the appeal, since what we find appealing you find to be lacking. That said, she's talented, smart with her image and her music, and throws a great show.

Then again...what the hell do I know.

Carry on!

 

[thumbtack]

Did you know that Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are one and the same person?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have never heard any of her songs, so I don't know what she sounds like. But if it's anything like how she dresses (those weird tacky outfits) or acts in public (like crashing the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, or flipping off the crowd at Citi Field), then I don't *want* to know.

And could she possibly have picked a stupider sounding name? Sounds like an extra from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert or some shit like that. Yeah, yeah, I know she got it from "Radio Ga Ga". But the difference is, that doesn't sound stupid - as a song title. It definitely lost something in translation.

 

[Owain Taggart]

She's more of an image than talent, though some do say she has a lot of talent and that she doesn't need to do all these things to get attention. But what it basically boils down to is that she has a good publicity machine. She reminds me a lot of what Madonna did in her early days.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

And could she possibly have picked a stupider sounding name? Sounds like an extra from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert or some shit like that. Yeah, yeah, I know she got it from "Radio Ga Ga". But the difference is, that doesn't sound stupid - as a song title. It definitely lost something in translation.

The link with the Queen song would work better if she were Irish-- "Lady O'Gaga."

BTW, I thought I heard somewhere that she's a hermaphrodite, or was at least born as one before getting some "corrective" operations. Any truth to that?

 

[startrekwatcher]

Her music is catchy and she tries to stand out from all the cookie cutter pop tarts--Miley Cyrus, Christina, Britney etc-- that are everywhere these days. Her music is about the only thing I can tolerate from contemporary music but it won't stand the test of time and she also strikes me as a bit of a Madonna clone. Her whole persona and gimmick is clearly just an act she puts on and I doubt the Stephanie behaves like this behind closed doors.

So it is damning her with faint praise that she is the best of a very mediocre music era these days.