Gaga came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album
The Fame (2008), which was a critical and commercial success and achieved international popularity with the singles "
Just Dance" and "
Poker Face". The album reached number one on the record charts of six countries, topped the
Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart while simultaneously peaking at number two on the
Billboard 200 chart in the United States and accomplished positions within the top ten worldwide. Achieving similar worldwide success,
The Fame Monster (2009), its follow-up, produced a further two global chart-topping singles "
Bad Romance" and "
Telephone" and allowed her to embark on her second global concert tour,
The Monster Ball Tour, just months after having finished her first,
The Fame Ball Tour. Her second studio album
Born This Way, released in May 2011, topped the charts in all major musical markets, after the arrival of its eponymous lead single "
Born This Way", which achieved the number-one spot in countries worldwide and was the fastest-selling single in
iTunes history, selling one million copies in five days.
[3]Inspired by
glam rock artists like
David Bowie,
Elton John and
Queen, as well as pop singers such as
Madonna and
Michael Jackson, Gaga is well-recognized for her outré sense of style in fashion, in performance and in her music videos. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including five
Grammy Awards, among twelve nominations; two
Guinness World Records;
[4] and the estimated sale of 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide.
[5][6] Billboard named her the Artist of the Year in 2010,
[7] ranking her as the 73rd Artist of the 2000s decade.
[8] Gaga has been included in
Time magazine's annual
Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world as well as being listed in a number of
Forbes' annual lists
[9] including the 100 most powerful and influential celebrities in the world and attained the number one spot on their annual list of the
100 most powerful celebrities.