Gaga Announces BOK Date
Lady Gaga has captivated audiences around the globe with her stunning international smash, The Monster Ball tour. With the majority of North American dates already sold out, Lady Gaga has announced she will be extending her North American 2011 tour, now including a stop at Tulsa’s BOK Center. The 2011 North American Monster Ball Tour will begin on February 19th, 2011 at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
Entertainment bloggers report the 22-year-old New Yorker has been hailed as the "future of pop" for her catchy dance tunes and racy stage attire. Like Madonna before her, Lady GaGa (real name: Stefani Germanotta) is quickly becoming an icon for the gay community.
Nor is she afraid to perform in her underwear. Earlier this summer, she turned heads with Just Dance, featuring Colby O'Donis (and a video cameo by Akon) and last month, she released The Fame, her debut. Singles like the mirror ball anthem Beautiful Dirty Rich and the Christina Aguilera-meets-Fergie jam Poker Face have made her a critical hit as well as an underground sensation.
A former singer-songwriter, Lady GaGa made the transition to dance-pop while performing in New York's underground club scene. The brunette-turned-platinum-blonde got her cred on risqué performances that combined heavy metal, fire and lots of skin. In 2005, Lady GaGa was signed by Def Jam, only to be dropped in less than four months. She remained upbeat and eventually scored a songwriting deal with Interscope. Last year, after penning tracks for Britney Spears and Pussycat Dolls, Lady GaGa signed with Akon's Kon Live imprint.
The Lady, whose name is inspired by the Queen song Radio Ga Ga," makes it clear she's not interested in staying an underground darling: "I know when I signed with a major label, my job [was] to write a hit pop song and play the game."
Critics around the world raved about the first leg of The Monster Ball Tour, which Gaga described as “the first-ever pop-electro opera.” The Sun called it “breathtaking stuff” and “the best live show you will see this year,” while London’s Independent wrote: “Gaga’s got it, which is why, right now, the whole pop world wants to take a ride on her disco stick.” Writing about her show at Radio City Music Hall, the New York Times noted that “her Monster Ball tour always provided something worth a snapshot: a sci-fi tableau, perhaps, or a skimpy, glittery costume. The more her image gets around, the better Lady Gaga does.”
“In just 2 years Lady Gaga has become an international superstar, selling out everywhere in the world,” said Arthur Fogel, CEO Global Touring and Chairman – Global Music Live Nation.
Lady Gaga is touring in support of The Fame Monster, which was released on November 18th, 2009, by Streamline/Konlive/Interscope. The album is the follow-up to 2008’s Grammy Award-winning album The Fame, which spawned the No. 1 singles “Just Dance” and “Poker Face.” Combined, The Fame and The Fame Monster have sold 13.5 million albums worldwide, while Lady Gaga’s current singles, “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” “Lovegame,” “Paparazzi,” “Bad Romance” and “Telephone” have combined sales over 50 million worldwide. At this year’s BRIT awards, she took home awards for International Album (The Fame), International Female Solo Act and International Breakthrough Act. At the 2010 MTV VMA’s Lady Gaga took home a record 8 wins including ‘Video of the Year’.
Her music videos have received a combined total of over 1 billion views online – the first artist to reach this number. Lady Gaga has made another video milestone with “Bad Romance” becoming the most viewed video of all-time on YouTube.com.
Tickets (general admission floors and reserved seating in the stands) for The Monster Ball go on sale for Tulsa beginning Saturday, October 9th at 10am at LiveNation.com.
Citi® cardmembers will also have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday October 5th, 10am local time through Citi's Private Pass® Program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.
Virgin Mobile customers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, October 5th at 10am local time. “It's hard to enhance a Lady Gaga tour, but Virgin Mobile will once again spice things up by bringing her fans and our customers one-of-a-kind experiences and memorable moments," said Bob Stohrer, VP of Marketing for Virgin Mobile USA. "We'll also build on our important partnership with Lady Gaga around the issue of youth homelessness, continuing to raise awareness and inspire volunteerism for young people in need." For details visit www.virginmobileusa.com.
For complete tour and ticket information, visit: www.ladygaga.com and livenation.com.
About Live Nation Entertainment:
Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE-LYV) is the largest live entertainment company in the world, consisting of five businesses: concert promotion and venue operations, sponsorship, ticketing solutions, e-commerce and artist management. Live Nation seeks to innovate and enhance the live entertainment experience for artists and fans: before, during and after the show. In 2009, Live Nation sold 140 million tickets, promoted 21,000 concerts, partnered with 850 sponsors and averaged 25 million unique monthly users of its e-commerce sites. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.
About Virgin Mobile USA:
Virgin Mobile USA, one of Sprint's prepaid brands, offers millions of customers control, flexibility and connectivity through Virgin Mobile's Beyond Talk™ plans for mobile phone service and prepaid Broadband2Go high-speed Web access. Virgin Mobile branded handsets are available at more than 40,000 retail stores, including Target, Walmart, Best Buy and RadioShack. Top-Up cards are available at approximately 150,000 locations nationwide and can be used for Broadband2Go services. Purchase and experience Virgin Mobile on the Web and at Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and www.virginmobileusa.com.
Edit Note: Links will be provided with this story when the producer or venue confirm press access to the show for a writer and photographer from Tulsa Today.