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"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album of the same name. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, it was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour. Inspired by the 1990s empowering music for women and the gay community, Gaga explained that "Born This Way" was her freedom song. She had sung part of the chorus at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in 2010 and announced the song as the lead single from the album. The single was released on February 11, 2011.
The electropop song is backed by rumbling synth sounds, a humming bass and additional chorus percussion, with sole organ toward the end. The lyrics discuss self-empowerment and feature the names of LGBT communities, including "chola" and "orient", which drew criticism from Asian and Hispanic communities. Critics who favored the song called it a "club-ready anthem", while it faced criticism for having similarities with Madonna's 1989 single "Express Yourself". The song reached number one in 19 countries. It became her third single to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the 1000th song by any artist. It became the fastest-selling song in iTunes history, selling one million copies in five days. "Born This Way" has sold 8.2 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Nick Knight directed the accompanying music video, which was inspired by painters like Salvador Dalà and Francis Bacon, and their surrealistic images. Gaga is depicted as giving birth to a new race with the help of a prologue. A series of dance sequences later, the video concludes with the view of a city populated by this race. Critics noted cultural references and artistic similarities to the work of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Björk, and late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, as well as to Greek mythology and surrealism.
The song along with its music video won two awards at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards and two awards at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards. Gaga performed the song at the 53rd Grammy Awards after coming out of an incubating vessel. It was performed during the last leg of The Monster Ball Tour and in television shows such as Saturday Night Live, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest and Good Morning America. The song was treated with different remixes, including a Country Road version recorded by Gaga herself and another by Indian production duo Salim and Sulaiman Merchant. Alice Cooper, Madonna, Katy Perry, Maria Aragon, and the cast of the TV series Glee have covered the song.
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