The Fame Songwriting Credits by Lady Gaga

The Fame is the debut studio album by Lady Gaga, released in August 2008 on Interscope/Streamline Records and co-produced by RedOne, Martin Kierszenbaum, and Gaga herself, the album that introduced the most original pop persona of the late 2000s and generated two number-one singles in 'Just Dance' and 'Poker Face,' both of which became among the best-selling singles of the decade. Gaga wrote or co-wrote all her own material; the album's lyrical themes explore celebrity culture, hedonism, and sexual freedom through a dance-pop and electropop production framework that drew on 1980s synth-pop (Giorgio Moroder, Queen) and contemporary club music (Eurotrash, house), distinguishing her from the dominant R&B and teen pop of the era. 'Just Dance,' the lead single, spent 22 weeks climbing the Billboard Hot 100 before reaching number one in January 2009, a slow climb that had initially concerned the label about the single's commercial viability before it became one of the year's most played songs; 'Poker Face' followed and spent nine weeks at number one. The Fame has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, spent years on the Billboard 200 after its release, and won two Grammy Awards including Best Electronic/Dance Album. The album established a creative model, pop star as performance-art persona, with fashion and visual presentation inseparable from the music, that influenced the subsequent generation of mainstream pop artists more comprehensively than almost any debut of the decade.