| "Paparazzi" | ||||
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| Single by Lady Gaga | ||||
| from the album The Fame | ||||
| Written | 2007 | |||
| Released | July 6, 2009 | |||
| Studio | 150 (Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey) | |||
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| Length | 3:29 | |||
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| Lady Gaga singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Paparazzi" on YouTube | ||||
"Paparazzi" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her debut studio album, The Fame (2008). It was released as the album's fifth and final single by Interscope Records. Gaga wrote and produced the song with Rob Fusari. The song portrays Gaga's struggles in her quest for fame, as well as balancing success and love. Musically, it is an uptempo techno-pop and dance-pop ballad whose lyrics describe a stalker following somebody to grab attention and fame.
The music video was released on May 29, 2009, and on July 6, 2009 "Paparazzi" was released digitally in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and physically in Australia on July 10. "LoveGame" initially had been planned as the third single release in the UK, but when its lyrics and music video were deemed potentially controversial, it was decided that "Paparazzi" would be released instead. "Paparazzi" was critically acclaimed for its "fun-filled" and club-friendly nature. It was also commercially successful, reaching top-ten positions in the music charts of Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States and topping the charts in the Czech Republic, Germany and Scotland.
The accompanying music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and portrays Gaga as a doomed starlet, hounded by photographers, who is almost killed by her boyfriend (played by Alexander Skarsgård). It shows her survival, comeback, revenge on her boyfriend, and experiences on the way to fame. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards in 2009 for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects. Gaga performed the song at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards in a performance art piece symbolizing the negative effect of fame leading to death, which was later nominated for VMAs Most Iconic Performance in 2024. Additional live performances of the song took place during many of her concert tours and residency shows.