Lady Gaga insists on doing it her 'Way'
Singer Lady Gaga accepts the Best Pop Vocal Album award for "The Fame Monster" during The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 13, 2011 in Los Angeles. Credit: Getty Images
Lady Gaga has often said that she's "a student of celebrity," but with the unprecedented success of her new single, "Born This Way," she should probably start teaching a class.
Last week, "Born This Way" became only the 19th single to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts since 1958 by selling 448,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan - the highest single sales week for a female artist ever - and by being played every hour of Grammy weekend by many radio stations around the country.
However, Ga, who generated even more buzz by arriving at the Grammys in a space-age egg, certainly has many other new ideas to hatch.
MIXING BUSINESS AND LECTURE "I think the universe needs to have a rebirth," Gaga said on "Good Morning America" to promote her MAC Viva Glam cosmetics, which raise funds for the MAC AIDS Fund. "I think we all need to be inside a vessel for three whole days thinking about how we can love ourselves more, protect ourselves more, live life with more passion, and look not outwards for validation, but inwards, look inside of yourself to your spirit and your inner life. And buy that lipstick!"
BLITZ EARLY AND OFTEN Most artists would save their public relations blitz for the release week of their new album. Not Gaga. To launch the "Born This Way" single last week, she was on "60 Minutes," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Good Morning America" - hitting all three major networks, as well as the cover of "Vogue." Come May, she is set to do it again.
MIXING OLD AND NEW Gaga isn't halting her "Monster Ball" tour to work on new "Born This Way" numbers. She's inserting them on the fly. She'll unveil what HBO execs are calling "unique new elements" at her Madison Square Garden shows Monday night and Tuesday, which will be filmed for a special on the cable channel in May.
