Gala (singer)

Gala
Background information
Birth name Gala Rizzatto
Born 6 September 1975
Milan, Italy
Genres Electronic, dance, pop, Eurodance
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1996–present
Labels Matriarchy Records 2005-2014, Clipper Sound ( Spain) 2012-2014, EMI ( France/ Middle East) 2006, Universal ( 1999-2002), DIY ( Italy)1996-1998
Website www.galasound.com

Gala (born Gala Rizzatto, September 6, 1975) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. Gala has sold over six million records worldwide. Her debut album Come Into My Life included the multiplatinum singles "Freed From Desire", "Let a Boy Cry" and "Come Into My Life" which reached the Top 3 in music charts across Europe, South America, Russia and the Middle East.

Biography

Early life

Named by her parents after Salvador Dalí and Paul Eluard's muse, Gala Dali, Gala left Italy at 17 to attend art school in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1993 she moved to New York where she graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts and became a photographer capturing the New York underground scene of artists and club-goers in the city.

1996–2001: early music career

In exchange of a photo for a European DJ, Gala recorded her first demo. "Freed From Desire" was written in New York and then mailed overseas on a cassette tape. It was recorded in London and was released by Italian independent label Do It Yourself Records.

In 1996, Gala was voted Best Female Singer of the Year in Italy by the magazine Musica e Dischi.[1] In July 1997 she was awarded the Italian Dance Award as the best pop-dance artist of the year.[2][3] Gala achieved a Diamond recording award in France,[3][4] a Platinum record in Benelux and a Gold record in the United Kingdom.[5] The same year she was nominated for the Best Dance Act at the Mobo Awards in the UK alongside The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Orbital.[6] In July 1997 she won Best Foreign Artist of the Year at the Midem in Cannes, France.[7]

Between 1995 and 1998 Gala performed on the UK's BBC Top of the Pops,[8] France’s Taratata,[9] Les Années Tubes,[10] M6’s Hit Machine,[11] MTV Germany, as well as performing in venues such as Bercy Stadium in Paris and Las Ventas in Madrid.

Her album Come into My Life was released in 1998, with 4 singles charting in the Top 20 across Europe,[12][13][14][15] selling over 6 million records worldwide by 1998.

In 1998, while performing "Let a Boy Cry" on Taratata, she met Prince's manager Steve Fargnoli who began representing her. The same year she signed with Universal Records in Italy. After Steve Fargnoli's unexpected death in 2001, Gala broke her contract with Universal Records and returned to New York.

2005–2010

Settling in Brooklyn, Gala set out to redefine her sound, her life and her career, re-emerging as an independent artist.

In 2005, "Faraway" was released in France by EMI[16] and Greece where it reached #1 on the iTunes chart and #6 in the national charts.[17] “Faraway” was co-produced by Cash Money Records musician/producer Kevin Rudolf.[18] It was featured in a Bod Man perfume TV advertisement,[18] aired on MTV, HBO and was covered by Greek Idol winner Tamta.[19]

In 2005 Gala appeared on Pink TV[20] and on M6’s Fan De.[21] In 2006, she performed in the Mega PANN party at the Central Studios in Utrecht.[22]

In 2008 Gala formed the label Matriarchy Records, based in Brooklyn, New York. "Tough Love" is Matriarchy Records' debut album released digitally worldwide on September 6, 2009.[23]

"Tough Love" (album) included collaborations with a host of well known producers, including drummer Deantoni Parks, Marcus Bell and Kevin Rudolf who in 2008 achieved a #5 Billboard (US) hit with his song featuring Lil Wayne, "Let It Rock". Gala also collaborated with Tamir Muskat, founder of Balkan Beat Box on her song "I Am The World, The World Is Me". More recently Muskat is responsible for the Jason Derulo hit Talk Dirty, which samples the same "Balkan Beat Box" production style.

Gala independently produced four music videos for the "Tough Love album". The video for the song "I Am The World, The World Is Me" was shot in collaboration with the Italian/Argentinean painter and writer Sebastiano Mauri, incorporating his video installation The Songs I Love To.

In 2009 she performed two nights at the Ethias Arena. In 2010 Gala performed at the Highline Ballroom in New York,[24] at the Palais des Sports and at the Antique Theater in Arles. The same year she was invited to perform as the headliner at 24h velo de Louvain-la-Neuve,[25] second largest beer event in Europe organized by the students of the Belgian University of Louvain-la-Neuve.

In 2010 "Tough Love" was featured in popular American television series The Millionaire Matchmaker (USA). The same year "Freed From Desire" was used for a Nissan television commercial in France and Spain.

2011–2012

In 2011, Gala performed the new single "Lose Yourself In Me" at the show Dance in the Summer in Beirut, next to Taio Cruz, T-pain, Dev and Dash Berlin. The event was organized by MixFM Radio and "Lose Yourself In Me" reached #2 in the top 10 airplay charts before its release, later ranking at #1 in Lebanon RFX Radio for 3 consecutive weeks.

The worldwide release of the "Lose Yourself In Me" single occurred in May 2012 through Gala’s independent label Matriarchy Records. The song has been played, among other stations, on Fun Radio and Radio FG in France. It has been on high rotation on Impact FM and Radio Antipode, and entered the new releases on Belgium’s Fun Radio.

The "Lose Yourself In Me" music video was produced independently by Matriarchy Records in collaboration with The Masses. It was directed by Alistair Legrand brother of Victoria Legrand from the band Beach House. The video featured full LED suits and krump dancers from Los Angeles and was choreographed by Gala. After its release, the video was featured on the home page of Dailymotion, Yahoo France, The Huffington Post, The Mediateseur, and Vogue.

2013

In 2013 Gala shot a video for the song "Taste Of Me" choreographed by Benoit Swan, Artistic Director of New York’s avant guard dance company Cedar Lake, and directed by New York-based French director Alexandre Moors (Kanye West’s "Runaway", Blue Caprice). Gala's video features the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre trained "Abdur-Rahim Jackson". The "Taste Of Me" video appears as a one single lateral dolly shot that follows five dancers including Gala interacting in an organic dance that constantly moves forward.

Inspired by her favorite director Alfred Hitchcock, Gala wanted to shoot a video that felt like a single take. Another reference was Eadweard Muybridge and his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion and in motion-picture projection. Different choreographers among Gala's favorites (Parsons, Bob Fosse, Mark Morris) are also subtly referenced in the choreography.

The "Taste Of Me" video was featured as an exclusive with Digital Spy, the most popular news and entertainment website in the UK. In Europe the video was revealed exclusively by Fun Radio Belgique, sister station to Fun Radio France, the largest group of FM radio stations claiming approximately 3.8 million listeners every day. The deluxe version of the EP includes the original production by Marcus Bell and remixes by Bimbo Jones, Hoxton Whores, Starkillers and Almighty Records. In Belgium the "Taste Of Me" video was featured in major newspaper Dernier Heure (online)[26] and Gala appeared on RTL morning and evening news to speak about her new single.[27]

In 2013 Gala's various new songs such as "Lose Yourself In Me", "Taste of Me" and "Love Impossible" were featured on MTV networks hit television shows Best Ink, The Kardashians[28] and Real World Ex-Plosion.,[29] Road Rules, Extreme Challenge.

"Freed From Desire" was sampled by German band Frida Gold. The song entitled "Liebe ist meine Rebellion" went to #4 in the German singles chart. "Freed From Desire" was also covered by Nouvelle Star "Dana", live on French television and by Greek-Swedish pop star Elena Paparizou at the MAD Video Music Awards 2013.

2014

Gala headlined at the 2014 Winter Olympics at Medals Plaza in Sochi. The performance was broadcast live on Europa Plus TV, Russia's most popular television channel. She performed an hour set which amongst others included her three new singles: "Lose Yourself In Me", "Taste Of Me" and "The Beautiful". Despite the controversy surrounding the Olympics, Gala opened her performance with her 90's hit "Let A Boy Cry" in support of her gay following.[30]

2015

Gala made a cameo appearance at Youssou N'Dour's concert for Dakar Ne Dort Pas in Dakar, Senegal on New Years Day. The event was televised by Tele Future Media. Her new release is a collection of her 2012-2014 singles alongside some previously unreleased songs, entitled Singles V1. The album contains remixes by Todd Terry, Hoxton Whores, Bimbo Jones and Midnight Magic amongst others.

Other work

Gala has also worked as a songwriter for classical musicians like Salvatore Licitra and Marcelo Alvarez on the album Duetto[31] and Mario Frangoulis.[32] She remains an avid photographer, with many of her photos appearing on her official website.[33]

Discography

Albums

Year Album Charts
FR BEL/W BEL/F SWI NL
1997 Come into My Life
32
16
28
49
20
2009 Tough Love EP
—
—
—
—
—
2009 Tough Love
—
—
—
—
—

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)		 Album
AUT
[34] 		BEL
(Fl)
[35]		 BEL
(Wa)
[36]		 FIN
[37]		 FRA
[38]		 GER
[39]		 ITA
[40]		 NED
[41]		 SPA
[42] 		SUI
[43]		 UK
[44]
1996 "Everyone Has Inside" — — — — 24 — 1 — 1 — — Single only
"Freed from Desire" 16 1 1 17 1 3 3 5 1 13 2 Come into My Life
1997 "Let a Boy Cry" — 1 1 — 1 — 1 9 1 23 11
"Come into My Life" — 6 4 11 10 — 1 32 1 — 38
"Suddenly" — 43 34 — 56 — 5 85 1 — —
2005 "Faraway" — — — — 71 — — — — — — Tough Love
2009 "Tough Love" — — — — — — — — — — — Tough Love
2012 "Lose Yourself In Me" — — — — — — — — — — — Single only
2013 "Taste of Me" — — — — — — — — — — — Single only
2014 "The Beautiful" — — — — — — — — — — — Single only

References

  1. ↑ Press article. Galasound.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  2. ↑ Press article. Galasound.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Press article. Galasound.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  4. ↑ InfoDisc : Le Bilan des Ventes de l'Année 1996. Infodisc.fr. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  5. ↑ Home. BPI. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ Gala - Come Into my life - Dance D'or 98. YouTube (2006-12-15). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  8. ↑ Top of the Pops (UK) - Season 34, Episode 51: Christmas Special 1997. TV.com (1997-12-25). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  9. ↑ Artistes - Gala. MyTaratata.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  10. ↑ gala les années tube. YouTube (2009-06-11). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  11. ↑ Gala - Freed from desire - Hit Best Of on M6. YouTube (2006-12-13). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  12. ↑ 1997-12-06 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive. Official Charts (1997-12-06). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  13. ↑ Gala - Let A Boy Cry. lescharts.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  14. ↑ 1997-08-09 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive. Official Charts (1997-08-09). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  15. ↑ Gala - Come Into My Life. ultratop.be. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  16. ↑ Gala, la chanteuse de "Freed From Desire" revient avec "Faraway". | Musique Radio. Musiqueradio.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  17. ↑ Gala - Faraway @ Top40-Charts.com - Songs & Videos from 49 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 30 Countries. Top40-charts.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Billboard - Google Books. Books.google.com (2005-08-27). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  19. ↑ Ftes (Faraway) Video | Tamta | MTV UK. Mtv.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  20. ↑ Gala on Pink TV, The French Gay TV Station. YouTube (2008-07-11). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  21. ↑ Gala a FAN DE. YouTube (2011-11-19). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  22. ↑ Shari about Gala @ TVL. YouTube (2009-04-23). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  23. ↑ Connecting to the iTunes Store. Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  24. ↑ Gala Live at the Highline Ballroom, NYC, July 2010 (HQ). YouTube (2010-07-22). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  25. ↑ Archives - sudinfo.be. Sudpresse.be. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  26. ↑ DH Net. Dhnet.be http://www.dhnet.be/medias/musique/une-vraie-soiree-de-gala-53496aa53570aae038b550a1. Retrieved 20 April 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. ↑ RTL News. RTL.be http://www.rtl.be/videos/video/485978.aspx. Retrieved 20 April 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ↑ "Keeping Up With The Kardashians".
  29. ↑ "Real World Ex-Plosion".
  30. ↑ "Gala Open Letter". Open Letter. So So Gay. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  31. ↑ Duetto-Son Gli Occhi Tuoi. YouTube (2007-12-08). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  32. ↑ Mario Frangoulis Nights in White Satin (Notte de Luce) lyrics. Loglar.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  33. ↑ Live + More. Galasound (2009-04-11). Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
  34. ↑ "Gala: Austrian Singles Chart Positions". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  35. ↑ Flemish peaks
  36. ↑ Wallonia peaks
  37. ↑ Finnish peaks
  38. ↑ "Gala: French Singles Chart Positions". lecharts.com. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  39. ↑ German HitParade
  40. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: G". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  41. ↑ "Gala: Dutch Singles Positions". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  42. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  43. ↑ "Gala: Swiss Singles Chart Positions". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  44. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 220. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 17, 2009)
  46. ↑ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved January 17, 2009)

External links