Do you consider Lady Gaga to be the greatest pop act of all time?

[Fiona Apple 13,006]

She is imo

[River 116,219]

Nope.

Someone better will come at some point and will replace her..

I find it funny that people are still talking about the "greatest" "the queen", like come on, grow up..

 

[Bradley 59,023]

I think Madonna is a wonderful performer, an ambitious artist with a strong ability to write and produce music. The aesthetics throughout her career and her persona she's created for herself are very powerful and influential but if you're honest to yourself, you know she's not half a vocalist Gaga is.

It's kind of unfair to compare Gaga and Madonna with each other. Madonna has been in the industry for decades while Gaga for 8 years. I think Gaga is doing better in my opinion, she's not as influential as Madonna is as of current but she can easily outdo her in the future. In decades, Gaga is going deliver us more pop albums, collaborate with more jazz artists and act in more movies and TV series. She's starting to excel in everything and she defines ENTERTAINER. Surely she's still not more influential than Michael Jackson and Madonna right now, but with her vocal, performing, writing, acting, directing and producing abilities, she will be on a higher position than Madonna in decades.

It's actually a wonder people are comparing Gaga, a performer with 8 year experience with Madonna, with decades of experience. It represents the influence Gaga already has in the music business.

[Didymus 34,379]

2 hours ago, AmericanHSlave said:

It's actually a wonder people are comparing Gaga, a performer with 8 year experience with Madonna, with decades of experience. It represents the influence Gaga already has in the music business.

I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense. People started to compare her with Madonna the day she came out so obviously the "it represents her influence" argument is ridiculous. They were compared for their body of work, not for their influence. Not ever for their influence, except for the fact that they both got people to dress up before going to concerts (and even there there's a major difference because Madonna actually impacted street wear too in her first ever era).

I think your whole post is rather odd tbh. You're saying Gaga "defines" being an entertainer when, really, the nature of her entertainment has consistently been compared to Madonna It's Madonna who has defined what a female pop star does and Gaga neatly follows in her footsteps so far (as everyone does). If you think Madonna doesn't have a large acting (she even won a Golden Globe) and directing career behind her, you simply don't know enough about her. Singing jazz? Done by other artists (incl. Madonna). So far Gaga hasn't done anything major that people before her haven't done. And before you say "it's too early", yes it is, but it's also too early to expect that she will become the greatest pop act of all time.

I mean, the whole point is that Madonna, through her work, has pushed what a female pop star can do in the industry. She is remembered for propelling the music business into a new age. Gaga is talented but so far she hasn't shown much interest in pushing those boundaries once again. Which is why I don't think she will ever be remembered as being more influential than someone who literally redefined the industry.

So "she can easily outdo her in the future", I don't think so. To outdo her, she'll have to be able to keep the audience at her feet for more than 30 years (let's face it, in terms of commercial success for the first 8 years she's already doing FAR worse), she'll have to release several universally critically acclaimed albums (hasn't happened yet while it did happen in Madonna's first 8 years), she'll have to go on the most successful female solo tour in history (doubt she'll achieve that) and she'll have to act in 21 movies, three theater plays, direct and co-write 3 movies and sell more than 300 million albums worldwide. She'll also have to be remembered as someone who consistently pushed the boundaries of being a female artist in the music industry and someone who singlehandedly transformed it. She'll have to become a feminist icon and achieve more financial success (and control) than any of her female peers. Easily? I don't think so.

Lemme just ask you tho, why does she have to outdo Madonna? I don't think anyone will outdo Madonna for a very long time. Artists like Gaga still walk in her footsteps and god knows they're even acknowledging it.

None of us know what the future will bring, but I do think that to say that Gaga can "easily" outdo Madonna's career is willful ignorance. We're obviously better off just enjoying the ride Gaga provides without slapping unnecessary ambitions, credentials or futures on her.

[Andy McQueen 4,484]

Yes, and I'm not even ashamed to think that. She's already a legend to me, but there's many things ahead in the future and she will proof the haters wrong over and over again. One day, when she dies, people will remember her as someone who spread love with every invention. Also, one certain quote by Albert Camus comes to my mind whenever I think of her: 
"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."

That's why I love her. That's why I will always love her. She's not afraid of making mistakes - that's what makes her a true artist and innovative. She's all here for revolution and fearless in her wild, eccentric, creative spirit and I will always be thankful for that. 

[yASSsss 35,510]

Yes,i believe she is.at least,for me  

We may not realize this now but i have a feeling that after 10-15 years,she'll be considered a Legend in the music industry

she's already halfway there so its not a reach 

[REALITY 76,270]

Honestly, I don't know. I know about pop stars here and there, some I know more than others, but I don't know enough about each and every other pop act to know whether or not Gaga's the "greatest pop act of all time". I will say though, that she is very versatile and she is truly an artist. She makes music for her Little Monsters, and makes art to make art, not to make money. That's the reason why I appreciate her so much. 

However, the two pop acts that come to mind when I think of some of the greatest ones are Madonna and Michael Jackson. While I'm not a huge fan of Madonna today. I loved her older music: Like A Virgin, Material Girl, Crazy for You, Vogue. Also, you really cannot compete with Michael Jackson. He's been hailed as the "King of Pop" for forever, with iconic songs like Beat It, Thriller, Billy Jean, Man in the Mirror. 

I believe though that Gaga will be one of those acts that people will remember forever. 

[AbuHassan1992 766]

the beatles

[Bradley 59,023]

38 minutes ago, Didymus said:

I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense. People started to compare her with Madonna the day she came out so obviously the "it represents her influence" argument is ridiculous. They were compared for their body of work, not for their influence. Not ever for their influence, except for the fact that they both got people to dress up before going to concerts (and even there there's a major difference because Madonna actually impacted street wear too in her first ever era).

I think your whole post is rather odd tbh. You're saying Gaga "defines" being an entertainer when, really, the nature of her entertainment has consistently been compared to Madonna It's Madonna who has defined what a female pop star does and Gaga neatly follows in her footsteps so far (as everyone does). If you think Madonna doesn't have a large acting and directing career behind her, you simply don't know enough about her. Singing jazz? Done by other artists (incl. Madonna). So far Gaga hasn't done anything major that people before her haven't done. And before you say "it's too early", yes it is, but it's also too early to expect that she will become the greatest pop act of all time.

I mean, the whole point is that Madonna, through her work, has pushed what a female pop star can do in the industry. She is remembered for propelling the music business into a new age. Gaga is talented but so far she hasn't shown much interest in pushing those boundaries once again. Which is why I don't think she will ever be remembered as being more influential than someone who literally redefined the industry.

So "she can easily outdo her in the future", I don't think so. To outdo her, she'll have to be able to keep the audience at her feet for more than 30 years (let's face it, in terms of commercial success for the first 8 years she's already doing FAR worse), she'll have to release several universally critically acclaimed albums (hasn't happened yet while it did happen in Madonna's first 8 years), she'll have to go on the most successful female solo tour in history (doubt she'll achieve that) and she'll have to act in 21 movies, three theater plays, direct and co-write 3 movies and sell more than 300 million albums worldwide. She'll also have to remembered as someone who consistently pushed the boundaries of being a female artist in the music industry and someone who singlehandedly transformed it. She'll have to become a feminist icon and achieve more financial success (and control) than any of her female peers. Easily? I don't think so.

Lemme just ask you tho, why does she have to outdo Madonna? I don't think anyone will outdo Madonna for a very long time. Artists like Gaga still walk in her footsteps and god knows they're even acknowledging it.

None of us know what the future will bring, but I do think that to say that Gaga can "easily" outdo Madonna's career is willful ignorance. We're obviously better off just enjoying the ride Gaga provides without slapping unnecessary ambitions, credentials or futures on her.

I agree with you about the point of her being compared to Madonna for their body of work, rather than for their influence. But I still think Gaga is influential in her own way, if she were a lousy and ordinary performer that merely stepped on the path that Madonna had set for female entertainers, she wouldn't be constantly and directly compared to her for years, because before that happened, many people would have dismissed her as another pop girl trying but failing to become Madonna. The fact that she's been constantly compared to Madonna shows her excellence, and while Gaga hasn't 'found new land' for future entertainers, she's been doing extremely well on the path her predecessors have laid upon her. So some influence and impact are still quite evident in Gaga's career. With that being said, I acknowledge Madonna's influence and defining moves she had taken in the past, and yes, Gaga is walking on that path she and Michael laid. But Gaga has somehow left a huge evident mark on this path, in my opinion. She's reawakened some parts of Madonna's career that hasn't been seen in a long while, so I give credits to her for that. Perhaps I should rephrase my post to "Gaga reawakens the golden era of being an entertainer".

On a side note, while their works draw similarities, I think there's still a huge distinction between Gaga and Madonna's artistry though.

I admit that Gaga hasn't outdone Madonna yet commercially, but because you always remind me of how you don't want Gaga to sacrifice art for money, shouldn't we look into how they can impact the music industry more rather than talking about who sells more? What I'm trying to say is that Gaga's impact will not be restricted by how much she sells, especially in an era where records are hardly sold in comparison with the 80s and 90s. (I'm not saying Madonna's commercial performance was unimportant, she sold massive numbers and I give her full credits for that, even if it was easier to sell records back then, she was still extremely successful commercially, so don't get me wrong) While Gaga hasn't sold 20+ million records every time she puts out an album, she still sells millions worldwide and the impact is visible.

She'll also have to remembered as someone who consistently pushed the boundaries of being a female artist in the music industry

While I can't measure how far her impact is, she has been pushing the boundaries of CONTEMPORARY pop music AND being a female artist though. It's not possible to witness an immediate revolution in pop music but Gaga has been contributing hugely in this. I think it will be more evident 10 years later. I think she hasn't influenced everyone yet but there are many pop acts who supposedly tried to perform, dress, shoot videos, make songs like Lady Gaga.

[deeman 189]

The best music is the music YOU make.

[Didymus 34,379]

18 minutes ago, AmericanHSlave said:

She's reawakened some parts of Madonna's career that hasn't been seen in a long while, so I give credits to her for that. Perhaps I should rephrase my post to "Gaga reawakens the golden era of being an entertainer".

Well, I give her credit for that too, absolutely. People don't call her "the Madonna that can sing" for nothing. And she did bring back that superstar feel, which she literally said herself was her goal. So absolutely, I can agree with this.

19 minutes ago, AmericanHSlave said:

I admit that Gaga hasn't outdone Madonna yet commercially, but because you always remind me of how you don't want Gaga to sacrifice art for money, shouldn't we look into how they can impact the music industry more rather than talking about who sells more? What I'm trying to say is that Gaga's impact will not be restricted by how much she sells.

Well.. I mean, I care more about Madonna's impact on a social level than on a commercial one. Her support for homosexuals in the 90's was groundbreaking and I've talked to many "older" gay people who talk about Madonna the way some LM's talk about Gaga. That's definitely food for thought (explains a post in another thread where I said that Gaga's support for gays didn't excite me). I won't deny that Gaga's a gay icon (even if Gaga doesn't want to be called that herself) and has become a presence in the context of bullying etc., no one should. That just doesn't erase similar achievements by other, preceding artists, to the malcontent of many.

25 minutes ago, AmericanHSlave said:

It's not possible to witness an immediate revolution in pop music but Gaga has been contributing hugely in this. I think it will be more evident 10 years later. I think she hasn't influenced everyone yet but there are many pop acts who supposedly tried to perform, dress, shoot videos, make songs like Lady Gaga.

True, but I wouldn't include any major pop artist here. Of course you don't need to influence major pop acts to be influential (Gaga obviously had a huge impact on a whole generation of up-and-coming new generation acts but none of those got famous yet - Madonna has directly influenced many pop icons; took a while for them to become famous too of course, so the same could possibly happen with Gaga), so it will be interesting to look at the evolution of pop music in a few years although, personally, I don't think Gaga was ever at the steering wheel of pop dynamics except in terms of style and fashion and only for a short period of time (an achievement that should mostly be connected to her stylists if we're completely honest).

Anyway, that post sounds a lot more pleasing to my ears

Sorry if I reacted a bit aggressively, but sometimes it just bugs me that people don't seem to be able to enjoy Gaga's career without wanting it to be bigger than it is right now (whether in the past, present or future). I don't think you're one of those people, personally, but I guess your post (esp. the "easily" outdoing Madonna parts) just brought it out in me Thanks for not freaking out though.

[Pharamon 6,839]

11 hours ago, DiscoHeaven23 said:

That would be to bias of me to say and too premature. 

I think, if i were to be honest, these two hold that title now. 

 

Wait i agree MJ is iconic and is a diamond but Madonna? She has burnt off like a candle after several years and her career wasnt always that great to call it the greatest pop act ever ...

[Didymus 34,379]

1 minute ago, Skrill said:

Wait i agree MJ is iconic and is a diamond but Madonna? She has burnt off like a candle after several years and her career wasnt always that great to call it the greatest pop act ever ...

Doesn't the same count for Michael too though? I mean, I'd say that counts even more for Michael than for Madonna tbh The latter still managed to go on the most successful solo tour ever after being in the business for more than 25 years and her album sales (and critical appreciation) have never been as unsteady as Michael's, especially post-2000 when Michael's career deteroriated massively.

[Phoenix 17,395]

one of the greatest

[OmgSum1Actually 3,041]

I do consider her one of the greatest acts in pop culture EVER, next to Madonna and MJ

Lady Gaga is a pop star who absolutely captivated WORLDWIDE media in 2009-11 with everything she did, but she did not do "bad" things, she was constantly in media because of her music, fashion and art in the first place, not because of some kind of a stupid breakup...

So basically in less than 3 years of her carrer she was called queen of pop (yes I think Madonna is queen of pop also) and I can remember all of the media saying that she is ruling the world (at that moment).

Just consider how many iconic moments she had, all the way from the "Lady Gaga bow hair", penis, VMA performance, meat dress, egg, wearing a condom etc etc...

At the same time she had great music, so the world opened their heart to someone who is completely different and she made the world love her () 

Lady Gaga serves out of this world performances + she's a pop star who is hanging in ****innn Louvre.