Lady Gaga Loves Country Music, But Especially Garth Brooks
Lady Gaga is back on the scene with a new record, and given that a number of tracks were written with Nashville native and notable country songwriter Hillary Lindsey, some are wondering if the pop starlet's latest music has a country flair.
The pop star says that she actually loves country music, including one unexpected favorite: Garth Brooks.
"Everyone thinks of rock 'n' roll and country in different ways," Gaga tells Rolling Stone Country. "Rock 'n' roll, country and blues — they all have babies. So I love Johnny Cash, I love Neil Young, I love Garth Brooks."
Though Cash and Young’s influences creep into other genres all the time, Brooks’ style isn’t cited as often. It does make sense, though, given his pop sensibilities. Gaga says she actually listened to Brooks as a child.
"When I was little, my father used to play 'I've Got Friends in Low Places' really loud in the basement, and I'd catch him down there dancing by himself, screaming real loud," she recalls. "I thought it was cool."
Lady Gaga's new record, titled Joanne, won’t be country per se, but it won’t exactly be anything else, either. Gaga says she just loves to play music, and whatever that ends up sounding like is fine with her.
"I have a general and deep respect for all country musicians, but I myself am not a country musician. I'm just a musician period," she says. "I love all different kinds of music and this is just what I wrote."
Gaga is currently on her Dive Bar Tour, which she actually kicked off at a small bar in East Nashville called the 5 Spot. Lindsey is cited with writing three tracks for Gaga: "Million Reasons," "A-Yo" and “Grigio Girls.” She is a frequent Carrie Underwood co-write, with many credits to her name including “Jesus Take the Wheel,” “Church Bells” and “Dirty Laundry.”
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