Lady Gaga Named Godmother To Elton John's Second Son Elijah

John and his partner David Furnish chose the Mother Monster after she proved to be a 'great' godmother to their first son, Zachary.

Lady Gaga Named Godmother To Elton John's Second Son Elijah

 

Lady Gaga might be keeping a low profile recovering from hip surgery, but she's making a little time for her friends. Longtime pal Elton John has confirmed that the singer is the (god)mother monster to his second son, Elijah, with partner David Furnish.

"She's a great role model. She's young. She's been a great godmother to Zachary," the legendary singer told "Extra," according to Gossip Cop, about her role as godmother to Elijah as well as his first son. "We're all bonkers in this business, but we're human beings at the same time."

Since Elijah's birth in January, Gaga has been taking her role rather seriously. John recalled a visit she paid them in Las Vegas after his birth, where John has a show at Caesars Palace, "The Million Dollar Piano." He shared, "She was already dressed to go to the show, and she was sitting there and she bathed him, and she was dressed like Audrey Hepburn."

In addition to collaborating on family matters, Gaga teased back in November 2011 that she intended to work with John on her followup to Born This Way. "My next duet, I believe, will be with Elton," she said. "I'm already working on my next album, and I played him a song that I wrote and he really loved it. I don't want to give anything [else] away!" (They previously appeared together on the "Gnomeo and Juliet" soundtrack song "Hello Hello.")

Gaga was sidelined back in February, having to cancel the remainder of her Born This Way tour dates in the U.S. to have hip surgery. Since then, aside from making some appearances on her golden wheelchair, Gaga has remained mostly out of the limelight.
Back in March, her manager, Vincent Herbert, revealed that she's "doing unbelievable" and is "ready to get back to work" on her upcoming album, ARTPOP.


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Analysis: How Lady Gaga, Katy Perry And Rihanna Came To Dominate Top 40 Radio

A pure pop boom coincides with the Pop Songs radio airplay chart's two-decade anniversary.

Happy birthday, Billboard's Nielsen BDS-based Pop Songs chart! Two decades in, the ranking continues to track the trends at, and reveal the realities of, U.S. mainstream top 40 radio. 

The chart's 20th anniversary - it launched the week of Oct. 3, 1992 - also coincides with an unprecedented pure pop boom, as mainstream top 40 radio is playing more pure pop than ever before. And, as station ratings soar, such a focus on the format's musical middle ground is reinforcing that the format works best when deemphasizing such extremes as rock and rap. 

A year-by-year analysis of Billboard's Pop Songs chart reveals that pure pop - i.e., melodic, often synth-driven, uptempo fare from the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry - has made up at least 60% of the survey's total top 10 hits each year from 2008 through 2012 (from January through July annually). Last year, the style accounted for a whopping 79% of the list's top 10s - the highest percentage in the chart's history - as 30 of the 38 top 10s during that period fit a pop classification. 


This week, Chart Beat is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Billboard's Pop Songs radio airplay chart.

Today, Oct. 2: Analysis: How Lady Gaga, Katy Perry And Rihanna Came To Dominate Top 40 Radio 

Tomorrow, Oct. 3: The Top 100 Pop Songs 1992-2012, From No. 100 To No. 1

Thursday, Oct. 4: The Top 40 Pop Artists 1992-2012, From No. 40 To No. 1 

What's behind the pure pop boom? It's no coincidence that 2008 marked the arrival of two of the format's reigning stars: Perry and Gaga. Rihanna, meanwhile, continued to solidify her star status as an almost constant chart staple, adding touches of R&B and reggae to her overall pop focus. Add the continued domination or resurgences in that span of such acts asChristina Aguilera, Clarkson, Maroon 5 (which, in recent years, has segued from rock to a more pop lean), P!nk and Britney Spears, and it's clear that pop became tops at mainstream top 40 radio. 

In turn, ratings have reflected that audiences' appetites for pop are robust. CBS Radio flipped KAMP Los Angeles and WXRK New York to mainstream top 40 in 2009, taking on respective Clear Channel Media and Entertainment-owned format leaders KIIS and WHTZ. In Arbitron's August 2012 ratings among listeners ages 6 and older, KIIS led all Los Angeles stations with a 5.5 share, while KAMP pulled a 3.8 share. In New York in August, WHTZ registered a 6.1 share, while WXRK scored a 2.4 showing.

Similar battles brew in other large markets. In Detroit and Boston, CBS Radio has likewise switched WDZH (also in 2009) and WODS (two months ago) to mainstream top 40, again challenging established Clear Channel-owned format outlets WKQI and WXKS, respectively. 

Programmers' adherence to, and the availability of, pure pop music at the format has ebbed and flowed since Billboard premiered Pop Songs, born of then-new BDS electronic monitoring technology, 20 years ago. (Ironically, given its title, Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" led the inaugural list. Current No. 1 "One More Night" by Maroon 5 is the chart's 252nd topper.) 

While pure pop has comprised more than 60% of all Pop Songs top 10s each year since 2008, the sound encompassed just 41% in 1993, when R&B from the likes of Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and TLC infused format playlists. 

In 1996, pop accounted for just 19% of all top 10s, as such rock/alternative acts as Gin Blossoms, Hootie & the Blowfish and Alanis Morissette became the format's - and the public's - flavor of choice. 

And, in 2003, pop's percentage rose to 45%, but the amount of rap top 10s doubled to 12 from the previous year, too. The heyday of 50 Cent, Diddy and Eminem at pop radio contrasted with 1993-2002, when no more than one rap title reached the top 10 annually. 

Since 2008, however, Rihanna has reigned with 15 more top 10s after "Umbrella," Gaga's implored us to just dance (while racking seven Pop Songs No. 1s) and Perry's tallied a record six Pop Songs No. 1s from one album ("Teenage Dream"). And, she, um, kissed a girl. Clearly, we've liked it all. 

According to Edison Research VP of music and programming Sean Ross, several factors have aligned to make for a current pinnacle for pop music. "There's less competition. R&B/hip-hop and alternative don't have the [ratings] influence that they used to, or, thus, the same ability to force songs on top 40's agenda. Only country has a similar ability to break new music and it's still viewed by most pop PDs as another sphere." 

Ross adds that mainstream top 40 has learned to cultivate its own versions of rock and R&B-influenced pop, allowing the format to sample variety without risking playing extremes. In recent years, he notes, the format largely replaced hip-hop with rhythmic pop from such acts as theBlack Eyed Peas. Teen punk similarly usurped alternative at top 40, thanks to the rise of bands like the All-American Rejects. "Plus, R&B acts like Chris Brown and Usher are releasing exclusive pop singles for top 40 while saving their core R&B singles for that format," says Ross (who served as Billboard's radio editor in 1988-92). 

While the names have changed - Peter Cetera, En Vogue, Guns N' Roses, Elton John and Toad the Wet Sprocket inhabited the maiden Pop Songs chart; Miley Cyrus wasn't born until a month after the list's launch;Justin Bieber, a year and a half later - the survey continues to help guide pop programmers' decisions. "The Pop Songs chart came along at point when country and hip-hop were competing heavily with the format," Ross recalls. "It gave mainstream top 40 PDs their own chart to look at.

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Elton John Slams Madonna: 'Her Career Is Over'

Singer also lashes out at Queen of Pop's appearance and her treatment of Lady Gaga.

Elton John has taken his war of words with Madonna to a whole new level.

Talking to Australia's Channel 7 program on Sunday, John said (via ABC News) that the pop queen's "career is over" and insulted her appearance, saying she "she looks like a f---ing fairground stripper."

The pair have been feuding for years, but his latest attack on Madge seemed especially mean-spirited. Asked about the diva, who's currently touring the world on her hugely successful but bad press-plagued MDNATour, John said, "Why is she such a nightmare? Her career is over, I can tell you that. Her tour has been a disaster and it couldn't happen to a bigger cu--."

But he didn't stop there. John went on to offer up a backhanded compliment while dismissing Madonna's most recent album, MDNA,before insulting her looks and complaining that she has been rude to his friend, Lady Gaga.

"If Madonna had any common sense, she would have made a record likeRay of Light, stayed away from the dance stuff and just been a great pop singer and made great pop records, which she does brilliantly," John continued. "But no, she had to prove that she was like ... and she looks like a f---ing fairground stripper."

He went on to complain, "She's been so horrible to [Lady] Gaga."

John and Madonna have long been involved in a bitter feud. Earlier this year, at the Golden Globe Awards, John dismissed Madonna's chances of taking home the Best Original Song prize for her "W.E." balled, "Masterpiece." When she did best John's "Gnomeo and Juliet" duet with Lady Gaga, "Hello, Hello," for the award, his husband, David Furnish went on a Facebook tirade against the Material Girl, writing, "Madonna.

 Best song???? F--K off! ... Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit. Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism."

John previously blasted Madonna in 2004 after she won the Q Music Magazine for Best Live Act, charging, "Madonna, best f---ing live act? F--- off. Since when has lip-synching been live?"

What do you think of Elton's comments about Madonna? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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