Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga
Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga was a planned co-headlining concert tour by American record producer and vocalist Kanye West, and singer Lady Gaga. For the tour, which would have supported West's fourth album 808s & Heartbreak (2008) and Gaga's The Fame Monster EP (2009), the pair conceived a production that would unite their different musical audiences. The tour was scheduled to run from November 2009 to January 2010, but was canceled after public controversy regarding West's interruption of Taylor Swift's Best Female Video speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the cancellation, Gaga embarked on her own tour, The Monster Ball Tour, while West went on to make his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released on November 22, 2010.
Title card of the tour
Gaga only agreed to tour with West under the condition that everything "remain gay".
West (pictured) was criticized for his interruption of Taylor Swift's VMA speech. The incident reportedly put the fate of the Fame Kills tour in question.
808s & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by the American rapper and record producer Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 24, 2008, having been recorded earlier that year in September and October at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dominating its production, West was assisted by fellow producers No I.D., Plain Pat, Jeff Bhasker, and Mr Hudson, while also utilizing guest vocalists for some tracks, including Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, and Lil Wayne.
West (center) working on the album with producer and former mentor No I.D. (left)
The Roland TR-808, the drum machine which served as a primary instrument on the album
West performing at the 2008 Democratic National Convention leading up to the album's release
A billboard advertising the album in Chicago, 2009