A glamorously gaudy, self-made, post-modern diva stitched together from elements of Madonna, David Bowie, and Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga was the first millennial superstar. Mastering the constant connection of the Internet era, Gaga generated countless mini-sensations with her style, her videos, and her music, cultivating a devoted audience she dubbed "Little Monsters." But it wasn't just a cult that turned her 2008 manifesto The Fame into a self-fulfilling prophecy: Gaga crossed over into the mainstream, ushering out one pop epoch and kick-starting a new one, quickly making such turn-of-the-century stars as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears seem old-fashioned. It was quite a trick for any artist to pull off, but especially impressive for one who specialized in repurposing the past (particularly the '80s) for present use, creating sustainable pop for a digital world. Gaga's fame soon extended beyond music: she received accolades for her 2015 role in American Horror Story: Hotel and her Oscar-nominated turn in Bradley Cooper's 2018 remake of A Star Is Born. Within two years, she returned to the top of the Billboard 200 with Chromatica, then notched another Top Ten and Grammy-win with her second standards album, Love for Sale. She also scored a top 40 hit with "Hold My Hand" off the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack in 2022, before joining the Rolling Stones for 2023's "Sweet Sounds of Heaven."

Perhaps unsurprisingly given her flair for grand gestures, Lady Gaga has deep roots in drama. Born Stefani Germanotta on March 28, 1986, the future Gaga played piano as a child and pursued musical theater in high school, regularly auditioning for New York-based television shows, notably landing a background role for a 2001 episode of The Sopranos. At the age of 17 she enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in their Collaborative Arts Project 21. As she studied, she continued to eke her way into show biz, winding up with an appearance on MTV's short-lived post-Punk'd reality show Boiling Points in 2005. Not long afterward, she left school so she could concentrate on her music, fronting a band called SGBand, which released two EPs prior to splitting. Germanotta then teamed with producer Rob Fusari, a collaboration that produced not only her stage name Lady Gaga, but recordings that led to her signing with Def Jam in the fall of 2006.

Her association with Def Jam was short-lived: the label dropped her early in 2007. Gaga rebounded by working with performance artist Lady Starlight, the two developing the Lady Gaga & the Starlight Revue, a tongue-in-cheek neo-burlesque act that gained positive press and proved to be her last stop before signing with Interscope later in 2007. While at Interscope, she created a bond with Akon, who convinced Interscope head Jimmy Iovine to have her co-sign with his Kon Live imprint, and Gaga began working with producer/songwriter RedOne, a union that led to the songs that would bring her fame: "Just Dance," "LoveGame," and "Poker Face." These songs formed the foundation of The Fame, the debut album that appeared in August 2008.

Initially, Lady Gaga had greater success in Europe, thanks in large part to the "Just Dance" single, which earned club play in the U.S. and chart placement in other territories. Gaga's march toward the top of the American chart was slow but "Just Dance" reached the peak position in January 2009, followed swiftly by "Poker Face," the single that firmly pushed her into the mainstream, its popularity growing so large it often functioned as a punch line on TV in addition to winning a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. "LoveGame" and "Paparazzi" also appeared as singles before Gaga released The Fame Monster in time for the holiday season of 2009. The mini-LP, available separately and as a package with The Fame, contained the single "Bad Romance," whose popularity soon rivaled "Poker Face" and helped kick-start a stellar year for Gaga in 2010. That year, the hit singles "Bad Romance," "Alejandro," and the Beyoncé duet "Telephone," along with the successful Monster Ball Tour, put Lady Gaga front and center with the public as she worked on her sophomore album, announcing its May release on New Year's Day 2011.

The steady march to the summer unveiling of Born This Way was preceded by the release of three singles: "Born This Way," "Judas," and "The Edge of Glory." All of them reached the Top Ten, and the empowerment anthem "Born This Way" hit number one soon after its release in February 2011. The accompanying album arrived to mixed reviews, but it eventually reached double-platinum status and produced subsequent hits with the Top Ten "You and I" as well as a Top 40 entry for "Marry the Night." A full remix of the album, naturally called Born This Way: The Remix, appeared at the end of the year, as did a holiday television special called A Very Gaga Thanksgiving and an accompanying EP, A Very Gaga Holiday.

Gaga continued to promote Born This Way throughout 2012, appearing at various star-studded events and on television programs while continuing her international tour. The tour came to a halt in February of 2013, when she announced that she needed hip surgery to repair a labral tear. As she was healing, she worked on her third album, Artpop. Preceded by the Top Ten single "Applause" and the Top 15 follow-up "Do What U Want" (the latter a duet with R. Kelly), Artpop was released in early November 2013. The album explored familiar themes of fame, love, and empowerment. It debuted at number one in several countries, including the U.S.

The release of Artpop coincided with an announcement that Gaga had parted company with Troy Carter, her manager of five years. Then, shortly after she embarked on the ArtRave tour in May 2014, it was revealed that Bobby Campbell -- her new manager -- had signed them both up to Artist Nation, the artist management division of Live Nation Entertainment. That same year, Gaga worked in collaboration with fellow New Yorker Tony Bennett on an album of jazz standards titled Cheek to Cheek, which was issued in September. Cheek to Cheek provided a jolt to Gaga's career. The album debuted at number one on Billboard's Top 200 and earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Album, its success opening the door to other snazzy show biz gigs. First, she sang a tribute to The Sound of Music at the 2015 Academy Awards and, a year later, she was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar for "Until It Happens to You," the tune she co-wrote with Diane Warren for the documentary The Hunting Ground. Gaga was also cast as a lead in the 2015-2016 season of American Horror Story, winning a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Elizabeth.

She returned with new music on 2016's Joanne, which was inspired by her late aunt of the same name. Drawing on glam rock, disco, and folk, as well as dance-pop, the album featured an impressive list of collaborators, including Mark Ronson, Nile Rodgers, Father John Misty, Josh Homme, Florence Welsh, Tame Impala's Kevin Parker, and Beck. Featuring the singles "Perfect Illusion," "John Wayne," and "Million Reasons," the album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 but quickly lost traction on the charts. It wasn't until February of 2017 that the success of her Super Bowl halftime show would set Joanne on the comeback trajectory. In addition to returning The Fame, Born This Way, and Artpop to the charts, the momentum from her performance landed Joanne at number two and "Million Reasons" at number four on the Hot 100. Before embarking on the Joanne World Tour, she issued the standalone single "The Cure" and the documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, which partially focused on chronic physical ailments that would eventually cause the cancellation of the final stops of the world tour.

In 2018, Gaga made the leap to the silver screen by starring alongside Bradley Cooper in his remake of the classic Hollywood fable A Star Is Born. Upon its release in October, the soundtrack to the film debuted at the top of the Billboard and U.K. charts, while the film itself turned into a commercial and critical hit. Lady Gaga earned two Academy Award nominations for A Star Is Born: a nod for Best Actress and as a co-composer of "Shallow," which was nominated for, and won, Best Original Song. After its win, the song reached number one on the Billboard charts. In 2020, she won the Best Song Written for Visual Media Grammy Award for the A Star Is Born track "I'll Never Love Again," which she co-wrote with Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey, and Aaron Raitiere.

Gaga's Grammy win arrived as she ramped up the release cycle for Chromatica, her sixth LP. A return to glitzy dance-pop, Chromatica arrived in May 2020, preceded by the singles "Stupid Love" and "Rain on Me," the latter a duet with Ariana Grande that debuted at number one on the Hot 100. Also featuring appearances by BlackPink and Elton John, the album continued Gaga's streak of number one entries on the Billboard 200. A remix album, Dawn of Chromatica, arrived in 2021 and featured contributions by Arca, Rina Sawayama, Charli XCX, and many more. That same year, Gaga remained in the spotlight, singing the national anthem at Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony, joining the cast of Ridley Scott's House of Gucci, and celebrating the tenth anniversary of Born This Way with an EP dubbed Born This Way Reimagined, which showcased covers by Kylie Minogue, Big Freedia, Orville Peck, Years & Years, and others.

Also in 2021, she reunited with Tony Bennett for a follow-up to their 2014 collaboration, a Cole Porter tribute dubbed Love for Sale, which won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The following May, Gaga contributed a classic arena power balled called "Hold My Hand" to the Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. She performed the song at the 95th Academy Awards Ceremony where it was nominated for Best Original Song. Following her highly successful The Chromatica Ball tour, Gaga again captured the zeitgeist when a remix of her song "Bloody Mary" was featured in the Netflix show Wednesday. As a result, the song went viral on social media and returned to the Billboard top 40. In 2023, she

returned to the public eye as a featured performer, along with Stevie Wonder, on the Rolling Stones' song "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" off their Hackney Diamonds album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

A powerhouse singer, songwriter, producer, and dancer, Beyoncé is a multifaceted global superstar by any measure. The Houstonian rose to fame in the late '90s as the central member of pop-R&B group Destiny's Child. The following decade, she started her ongoing streak of number one solo studio albums with Dangerously in Love (2003), the source of her first number one pop single, the ecstatic "Crazy in Love." Nearly omnipresent hits such as the elegantly dismissive "Irreplaceable" (2006) and boisterous "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008), combined with sold-out world tours and Grammy Awards, all heightened Beyoncé's profile in the 2000s. Billboard named her female artist of the decade, while the RIAA acknowledged that, with 64 gold and platinum certifications, she was its top-selling artist. Beyoncé continued to diversify in the 2010s with the visual albums Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016), followed by the Jay-Z collaboration Everything Is Love (2018) and her work on the remake of The Lion King (2019). The latter project was expanded with the soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift, executive-produced by Beyoncé, who also wrote and directed the related musical film Black Is King (2020). Beyoncé has since become the most awarded artist in Grammy history with Renaissance (2022), a cosmopolitan dancefloor celebration tying together gospel, disco, house, bounce, and Afrobeats with nods to ballroom culture. The second act in that series, 2024's Cowboy Carter, carried Beyoncé into the country music realm.

Born in Houston, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles began performing at age seven, winning over 30 local competitions for her dancing and vocal abilities. She joined her cousin Kelly Rowland and classmates LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett in forming an adolescent vocal group. Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and Rowland's legal guardian, signed on to be the girls' manager, eventually quitting his full-time job to focus on their efforts. This situation would ultimately lead to the creation of one of the most popular female R&B groups of all time: Destiny's Child.

Destiny's Child gained momentum throughout the '90s. They appeared on Star Search in 1992 (under the name Girls Tyme) and weathered several lineup changes before signing to Columbia in 1997. Four studio albums later, the group had officially become the best-selling female group of all time, with such smash hits as "Jumpin' Jumpin'," "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Say My Name," and "Survivor" bolstering the young women's momentum despite lawsuits from former members Roberson and Luckett. In 2001, Beyoncé, Rowland, and replacement member Michelle Williams allowed themselves a break from the group to pursue individual solo careers. Before landing several movie roles, Beyoncé became the first Black female artist and second woman ever to win the annual ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award. An appearance in the MTV drama Carmen: A Hip Hopera quickly followed, but it was her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember that established her as a true Hollywood star.

While "Work It Out," her inclusion on the movie's soundtrack failed to chart in the U.S., it was a Top Ten hit in the U.K. Beyoncé's full-length solo debut, 2003's Dangerously in Love, reached multi-platinum status. Featuring collaborations with Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, OutKast's Big Boi, and romantic interest Jay-Z, the album spawned a total of four Top Ten singles and garnered the singer five Grammys. Destiny's Child reconvened the following year to release Destiny Fulfilled; upon completing the resulting tour, the group issued one final album, a greatest-hits compilation entitled #1's, and subsequently disbanded. Beyoncé turned her full attention to her burgeoning solo career. She released B'day in September 2006 and, three months later, turned in an award-winning performance for the movie musical Dreamgirls. The singer then embarked on the Beyoncé Experience concert tour and released a live DVD in November 2007.

The following year proved to be another busy one as Beyoncé landed the role of Etta James in Cadillac Records, a musical biopic that explored the heyday of Chicago's Chess label. Shooting commenced in February 2008, with Beyoncé also serving as co-executive producer. One month before the film's December release, the singer released her third studio album, I Am...Sasha Fierce. The double-disc effort emphasized her two distinct personalities, allowing Beyoncé to explore both mainstream sounds and traditional R&B. Some live releases followed. Released in 2009, I Am...Yours, a CD/DVD set, documented an August 2009 performance at Wynn Las Vegas, while 2010's I Am...World Tour, available in separate audio and video formats, was recorded at London's significantly larger O2 Arena (a few months after the Vegas program). She followed ten Grammy nominations with 2011's 4, which debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. One of her most energetic and empowering tracks, "Run the World (Girls)," was issued as the lead single, while "Love on Top" eventually won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

Giving birth to Blue Ivy Carter in January 2012 didn't slow her down. Within a few months, she was performing in Atlantic City, and she later appeared at President Barack Obama's second inauguration. Joined by Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland, she headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show. Life Is But a Dream, a documentary, first aired on HBO in February 2013, and was followed by appearances on albums by Rowland, the-Dream, and Jay-Z. New material, such as "Bow Down" and "Standing on the Sun," trickled out without proper releases. Then, on December 13 -- with no preceding announcement -- Beyoncé released a self-titled visual album (a full-length studio recording with an accompanying video for each song). Her husband and daughter, along with Drake, Frank Ocean, and writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (via a sampled TED talk), made guest appearances. Beyoncé, assisted by the likes of Hit-Boy, Pharrell, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Miguel, co-wrote and co-produced the majority of the album's material. Like Beyoncé's four previous solo albums, it went to number one, and quickly went platinum in the U.S. Three months after she completed the Mrs. Carter Show world tour, she and Jay-Z embarked on the On the Run Tour, which reached the U.S., Canada, and France from June through September 2014. The following February, she was nominated for six Grammy Awards and won three, including Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance, both for "Drunk in Love." Although she didn't release any new material in 2015, she co-wrote and appeared on Naughty Boy's Top Five U.K. pop hit "Runnin' (Lose It All)," and contributed vocals to Coldplay's "Hymn for the Weekend."

In February 2016, a new single, "Formation," and its trenchant accompanying video, were released just before her Super Bowl 50 half-time performance. That April, another striking visual album, Lemonade, premiered on HBO, and its audio was subsequently available for streaming and download. Some of the album's specific, forthright lyrics fueled speculation about the status of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's relationship. Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, James Blake, and the Weeknd appeared as featured artists, while Just Blaze, Mike Dean, and Diplo were among the co-producers. The Formation World Tour began days later, just before the album became her sixth consecutive number one studio album. After wrapping that half-year trek, Coachella announced that Beyoncé would be headlining the festival's 2017 installment. While that performance was eventually canceled due to the birth of her twins, she would make a triumphant return to the desert stage a year later. Backed by a pyramid constructed with bleachers and over two-hundred backing performers, Beyoncé became the first Black female to headline the festival, closing both weekends of Coachella 2018 with historic performances that highlighted Black culture and featured guest appearances by Jay-Z, Solange, and a reunited Destiny's Child.

Months later in June 2018, while Beyoncé and Jay-Z's co-headlining On the Run II tour was underway, the couple released Everything Is Love, a collaborative full-length credited to the Carters. Led by "Apeshit," a single featuring input from Pharrell Williams, Quavo, and Offset, the album narrowly missed the top spot on the Billboard 200. Wrapping at the end of the year, On the Run II was the third-highest grossing tour of 2018.

True to form, Beyoncé issued a surprise live album, the Grammy-winning Homecoming, in April 2019. Paired with a film of the same title, the set documented her 2018 Coachella performance and added a cover of Maze's "Before I Let Go." Later that year, she not only starred as Nala in the photorealistic remake of The Lion King, but curated the film's accompanying soundtrack, The Lion King: The Gift. Featuring a wealth of African artists collaborating with the likes of co-star Donald Glover, Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar, and Tierra Whack, the album also included her single "Spirit," which went on to receive both Grammy and Oscar nominations. Beyoncé returned to the top of the Hot 100 in May 2020 as a featured artist on Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage Remix." Only two months later, she was behind the musical film Black Is King, also her third visual album. She took four awards from the subsequent Grammy ceremony: Best R&B Performance (for the Juneteenth charity single "Black Parade"), Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance (both for "Savage"), and Best Music Video ("Brown Skin Girl"). Another soundtrack song, "Be Alive," arrived in May 2021 as part of the tennis biopic King Richard.

In June 2022, Beyoncé released "Break My Soul," a house track made with "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" collaborators the-Dream and Tricky Stewart, as the first single off her seventh studio album. The song reached the Top 20 of the Hot 100 before the late-July arrival of its parent release, Renaissance. A vibrant and uptempo collection inspired in part by post-'70s Black and queer dance music, Renaissance debuted at number one and in early 2023 earned Beyoncé four more Grammy Awards, making her the most awarded artist in the organization's history. Following the triumphant Renaissance World Tour, she released its accompanying documentary concert movie Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which she wrote, directed, and produced. A new track, "My House," was released in conjunction.

Beyoncé's next era was unveiled in February 2024 during Super Bowl LVIII in the form of singles such as the chart-topping "Texas Hold 'Em" -- the first number one on the country chart by a Black woman -- and the sweeping "16 Carriages," from the country-tinged second act of her album trilogy, which she dubbed Cowboy Carter. The expansive 27-song set staked her claim in the genre with the help of guests such as veterans Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Linda Martell, as well as contemporaries Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Tanner Adell, and many more. ~ TiVo Staff