Lady Gaga’s Joanne , her fifth studio album, topped the Billboard 200 in addition to selling 201,000 copies in just the first week of its release.
Joanne is based on Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga’s real name and, according to the Guardian , the album reflects on the singer’s life experiences and is notable for its “inward-looking tone.”
Earlier this month, Lady Gaga admitted that she has post-traumatic stress disorder after having been sexually assaulted when she was 19-years-old. However, in a shocking move even for him, controversial personality Piers Morgan has boldly stated that he doesn’t believe Lady Gaga’s claims, referring to her admission as “vainglorious nonsense” used simply to promote herself and her album.
Presumably asserting that veterans are the only people who can have PTSD, Morgan claims that he was “angered” by Lady Gaga’s recent personal revelation.
“I come from a big military family. It angers me when celebrities start claiming ‘PTSD’ about everything to promote themselves.”
Piers Morgan Refuses To Back Down After Facing Criticism For Questioning Lady GaGa & Madonna’s Rape Claims https://t.co/QpSX0dDEaX pic.twitter.com/U0ZpAN0ehx
— Noaa (@Noababushka) December 26, 2016
He went on say that he doesn’t believe people who claim they have been raped or sexually assaulted if they do not file a police report.
“Lady Gaga & Madonna have both made ALLEGATIONS of rape many years after the event. No police complaint, no charges, no court case.”
Lady Gaga responded that she would be willing to educate the controversial celebrity about why many sexual abuse victims do not report the events, and even agreed to discuss the matter with him in an interview. However, Morgan’s condescending tone following Lady Gaga’s offer of an interview means that he may have lost his chance after all.
@piersmorgan if you continue to shame me in the process of kindly agreeing to interview w/ u I’ll happily do the interview with someone else
— xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) December 13, 2016
The “Bad Romance” singer’s previous albums Born this Way , Artpop , and Cheek to Cheek have all topped the charts, however, very few albums have achieved early week sales as high as her most recently released Joanne .
According to Rolling Stone magazine, the opening week sales of Lady Gaga’s previous albums averaged between 140,000 and 180,000 copies.
MTV reports that Joanne is one of the best-selling albums of 2016 and the album’s performance has put Lady Gaga in league with other popular artists like Beyoncé, Drake, and Frank Ocean.
Also, Entertainment Weekly reports that Joanne ‘s success means that Lady Gaga has surpassed both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift who each have three number-one albums to their credit, while Lady Gaga has four top-charting albums.
However, Joanne failed to top Artpop ‘s opening week sales figures in 2013 which totaled 258,000. The Washington Post reported that Joanne fails to meet the expectations of some of the “Applause” singer’s fans because it doesn’t feature songs that discuss liberty, positivity, and empowerment.
Lady Gaga went to a lot of effort to promote Joanne . She appeared on shows like Saturday Night Live and James Corden’s The Late Late Show to not only speak about the album but also perform songs featuring in it. In addition to her television promos, the singer partnered with Bud Light to embark on a Dive Bar Tour that involved performing in three dive bars in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville.
Lady Gaga is always ready to pay tribute to legendary artists and musical masterpieces during various award ceremonies. During the 87th Academy Awards ceremony, Lady Gaga paid tribute to the classic 1965 movie The Sound of Music by singing a medley from the famous movie.
She later attended the opening ceremony of the 2015 European games in Azerbaijan to perform a piano cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” More recently, she played tribute to the late David Bowie by singing a medley of his hit numbers at the 2016 Grammy Awards ceremony.
David Bowie and Lady Gaga are two icons, great artists, revolutionaries, activists, inspirational and fearless! pic.twitter.com/MmigEAQj4j
— COME TO MAMA (@JoanneMonster96) December 25, 2016
However, the singer’s performance was not received well by Duncan Jones, Bowie’s director son, who considered her tribute irrational. Also, veteran drummer Mick Woodman also criticized Lady Gaga for what he deemed to be a poor performance.
Lady Gaga has now made her mark in the field of acting. In June, Lady Gaga won the Golden Globe award for her role in The American Horror Story: Hotel , the fifth season of the popular FX horror series. Lady Gaga played the role of Countess, a hotel owner who is, in fact, a vampire; and she went on to feature in Roanoke , the 6th season of American Horror Story .
Can we all agree this was one of the most iconic roles ever played on television. Lady Gaga as the Countess, American Horror Story Hotel. pic.twitter.com/EyqDB49TG5
— Joel (@Joel_dubroc) December 24, 2016
Being recognized for her acting skills was a moment of joy for Lady Gaga who actually wanted to be an actress instead of a singer, but she got her breakthrough in the music industry before she could establish herself as an actress.
Lady Gaga is set to appear with Bradley Cooper in a major Warner Bros. movie titled A Star is Born . She’ll be playing the role of a promising singer whose mentor strives to create a superstar, while his own career is affected by alcohol addiction. The movie will be directed by Bradley Cooper and is due for release in 2017.
[Featured Image by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images]