The Fame
Released August 19, 2008
Studio
Various[show]
Genre
Electropopsynth-popdance-pop
Length 50:20
Label
StreamlineKon LiveCherrytreeInterscope
Producer
Brian & JoshRob FusariMartin KierszenbaumLady GagaRedOneSpace Cowboy
The Fame is the debut studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on August 19, 2008, by Interscope Records. After joining Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records in 2008, Gaga began working on the album with different producers, primarily RedOne, Martin Kierszenbaum and Rob Fusari. Musically, The Fame is an electropop, synth-pop, and dance-pop album that displays influences from music from the 1980s. Lyrically, the album visualizes Gaga’s love of fame in general while also dealing with subjects such as love, sex, money, drugs and sexual identity. The album was primarily promoted through The Fame Ball Tour and multiple television appearances. The Fame was reissued as a deluxe edition with The Fame Monster on November 18, 2009.
The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who commended the album’s lyrical content and Gaga’s musicianship and vocal ability. The album was a commercial success, topping the charts in different countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Switzerland. In the United States, it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, while topping the Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 107 non-consecutive weeks. The Fame became the fifth best-selling album of 2009. It has sold 4.79 million copies in the United States as of February 2018 and is the seventh best-selling digital album in history. Combined with its reissue, The Fame Monster, the album had sold 15 million copies worldwide as of November 2010.
The first two singles from The Fame—”Just Dance” and “Poker Face”—gained international success, topping the charts in several countries worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Subsequent singles “LoveGame” and “Paparazzi”, were commercial successes as well, charting within the top 10 of more than ten countries worldwide. “Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)” had a limited single release, while “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” served as a promotional single.
The Fame has won multiple awards since its release. In the United States, the album was nominated for a total of five Grammy Awards at the 52nd Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album and the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for the single “Poker Face”. It also won Best International Album at the 2010 BRIT Awards in the United Kingdom. In 2013, Rolling Stone named The Fame as one of the “100 Greatest Debut Albums of All-Time”
The Fame Monster
The Fame Monster is a reissue of The Fame, released on November 18, 2009. Initially planned solely as a part of the deluxe edition of The Fame, Interscope later decided to release the eight new songs as a standalone EP in some territories. The decision was also due to Gaga believing the re-release was too expensive and that the albums were conceptually different, describing them as yin and yang. The deluxe edition of the album contains The Fame in its entirety along with The Fame Monster. The album deals with the darker side of fame, as experienced by Gaga over the course of 2008–09 while travelling around the world, and are expressed through a monster metaphor. Cover artwork was done by Hedi Slimane and has a gothic look which Gaga had to convince her record company to allow her to shoot. The composition takes its inspiration from Gothic music and fashion shows. Contemporary critics gave a positive review of the album, with the majority of them complimenting the songs “Bad Romance”, “Telephone”, and “Dance in the Dark”. In some countries the album charted together with The Fame while in others like the United States, Canada and Japan, it charted as a separate album. It has reached top 10 in most of the major markets. She announced The Monster Ball Tour supporting the album, which started on November 27, 2009, and continued through until Spring 2011.
Track listing
The Fame – US and International edition
1. “Just Dance” (featuring Colby O’Donis)
Lady Gaga RedOne Aliaune Thiam
RedOne 4:02
2. “LoveGame”
Gaga RedOne
RedOne 3:36
3. “Paparazzi”
Gaga Rob Fusari
Fusari Gaga[a]
3:28
4. “Poker Face”
Gaga RedOne
RedOne 3:57
5. “Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”
Gaga Martin Kierszenbaum
Kierszenbaum 2:55
6. “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”
Gaga Fusari
Fusari 2:52
7. “The Fame”
Gaga Kierszenbaum
Kierszenbaum 3:42
8. “Money Honey”
Gaga RedOne Bilal Hajji
RedOne 2:50
9. “Starstruck” (featuring Space Cowboy and Flo Rida)
Gaga Kierszenbaum Nick Dresti Tramar Dillard
Kierszenbaum Space Cowboy
3:37
10. “Boys Boys Boys”
Gaga RedOne
RedOne 3:20
11. “Paper Gangsta”
Gaga RedOne
RedOne 4:23
12. “Brown Eyes”
Gaga Fusari
Fusari Gaga[a]
4:03
13. “I Like It Rough”
Gaga Kierszenbaum
Kierszenbaum 3:22
14. “Summerboy”
Gaga Brian Kierulf Josh Schwartz
Brian & Josh 4:13
Total length: 50:20
Personnel
Personnel adapted from The Fame liner notes.
Akon – background vocals
Victor Bailey – bass guitar
Vicki Boyd – A&R coordinator
Troy Carter – management
Lisa Einhorn-Gilder – production coordinator
Flo Rida – rapping
Rob Fusari – production, co-executive producer
Calvin “Sci-Fidelty” Gaines – programming, bass guitar
Gene Grimaldi – mastering
Vincent Herbert – executive producer, A&R
Pieter Henket – photography
Tom Kafafian – guitar
Dyana Kass – marketing director
Martin Kierszenbaum – production, A&R
Brian Kierulf – production, arrangement
Lady Gaga – lead and background vocals, production, piano, synthesizers, keys
Leah Landon – management
Candice Lawler – photography
Dave Murga – drums
Colby O’Donis – vocals, background vocals
Robert Orton – mixing
Jennifer Paola – A&R admin
RedOne – production, instruments, programming, recording, background vocals, co-executive producer
Andrea Ruffalo – A&R coordinator
Dave Russell – engineering
Warwick Saint – photography
Joshua M. Schwartz – production, arrangement
Space Cowboy – production, vocals
Joe Tomino – drums
Tony Ugval – engineering
Liam Ward – design
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