There is no question that Lady Gaga is the biggest pop star on the planet. Her meteoric rise began in 2008 with her debut album “The Fame.” Gaga has sold over 20 million albums and 64 million singles worldwide. In the US alone she has sold over 30 million digital singles. While her rise has been historic, her tenure at the top has been short in comparison to the former Queen of Pop, Madonna. Madonna’s first single debuted in 1982 and her presence in the music scene has been apparent ever since. Madonna has 30 years compared to Lady Gaga’s four.
Based on talent and stage presence alone, Gaga appears to have the strength to stay on top, but the music scene is so frenetic these day’s, that it is difficult to predict anything five years down the line. The Hip-Hop scene for example is extremely quick moving and the only prominent artists over the past ten years are Jay-Z and Kanye West. Former stalwarts Eminem and 50-Cent fell off the radar multiple times throughout their career and still haven’t returned to their former prominence.
The Pop scene is similarly fickle. Other than Lady Gaga, and to a lesser extent Rihanna and Beyoncé, hot pop artists come and go. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera had similar starts at the top, but a number of scandals and issues with their personal lives dropped them off the radar for some time before career resurgences.
Madonna hasn’t always been at the peak of the Pop charts, however she’s always been involved the in music scene. Gaga has the ability to match Madonna, but her biggest hurdle to clear might be her own productivity. She already has two studio albums that have hit number one and 15 singles that have all made it into the top 10 of the US charts. Four hit singles a year is quite the accomplishment that hasn’t been matched since the 1960s.
Lady Gaga is supremely talented, but after such a hectic work schedule, it is hard to imagine she won’t want to take a break at some point. She’s only 25 and will already be remembered forever in the annals of music history. To adequately match Madonna, Lady Gaga needs to continue working for the next 15 years. She will need another nine studio albums to match Madonna’s 11 and an astonishing 60 additional singles to pull even with Madonna’s 75.
Lady Gaga is the biggest musician on the planet, but she’ll need to stay on top for a considerable amount of time to come close to Madonna’s career.
Source: MTV News, Lady Gaga Celebrates Success in Los Angeles, MTV.com