Lady Gaga kicks off world tour in Germany (PHOTOS)
Monday, 18 July 2022 (15:18 IST)
She will perform in 14 cities around the world for the first time since January 2018. Lady Gaga will give her first concert on July 17 as an open-air concert in Düsseldorf, after which she will appear in Stockholm, Paris, London, Toronto, Washington, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, among others.
It will be the live premiere of the songs from her latest album, "Chromatica."
Lady Gaga originally wanted to go on tour for the release of the album in 2020. Due to the pandemic, however, the concerts had to be postponed twice.
German fans of the pop icon should be particularly pleased that the first concert is in Düsseldorf — during her last world tour in 2018, Lady Gaga had to cancel many European concerts due to illness, including all of her stops in Germany.
Top star despite health issues
Lady Gaga suffers from fibromyalgia, an increased sensitivity to pain, colloquially known as soft tissue rheumatism. She spoke with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey in 2020 about how the disease causes chronic pain throughout her body and leads to exhaustion: "Even sitting here with you today, I am in head-to-toe pain," said Gaga.
Regardless of her illness, Lady Gaga is one of the most successful artists in the world. She has won 12 Grammy Awards and has also received an Oscar and two Golden Globes for her acting and music.
The concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment states that she has sold over 36 million albums worldwide.
Around 190 million fans follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — that's more than twice Germany's entire population.
Lady Gaga: a total work of art
Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, released her first album in 2008, "The Fame," which marked her international breakthrough, selling 15 million copies. It included the hit songs "Poker Face" and "Just Dance," which became two of the world's best-selling singles of all time.
"Chromatica" is her sixth studio album, and features collaborations with musical greats such as Ariana Grande and Elton John.
But even beyond her music, Lady Gaga is a total work of art, particularly with her shrill costumes.
At US President Joe Biden's inauguration, she sang in a bulletproof dress. She sometimes dresses as Jo Calderone, her fictional male alter-ego she created in 2010. The meat dress she wore at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards remains legendary. Early on in her career she was compared to Madonna, the "Queen of Pop."
Lady Gaga has also demonstrated her acting skills, whether in the lead role alongside Bradley Cooper in the remake of the classic film "A Star is Born" (2018) or as Patrizia Reggiani, the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, in Ridley Scott's "House of Gucci" (2022). "A Star is Born" brought her an Oscar nomination for best actress and she won the Academy Award for the song "Shallow."
The commercial and critical success of the 36-year-old world star on stage and on the silver screen is reflected in the ticket prices for her concerts: The cheapest tickets in Düsseldorf cost €176 ($177), while the most expensive ones sell for €2,239. A few places are still available.
