Lady Gaga had to reluctantly pull the plug on her Born This Way Ball tour after suffering a hip injury. But she still managed to stage a very personal appearance for one very special fan, who scored a plum front-row seat.
On Wednesday, the pop star met with a young girl suffering from a terminal heart condition who traveled from Wisconsin to Chicago to see Gaga's show, only to discover that the singer had to cancel the tour.
Per local reports, Gaga swung by to visit 5-year-old Kayleigh Gurbynski, who'd been diagnosed with a hypoplastic left heart and Turner's Syndrome.
The meeting, which happened in Chicago, had reportedly been orchestrated by local radio-show host Tony Waitekus, who reached out to Gaga's camp to see if the eager Little Monster could score some face time with Mother Monster.
And even if the show didn't go on, Gaga's get-together with Kayleigh did -- a poignant moment that Waitekus chronicled on his radio station's Facebook page.
"Even though Lady Gaga was not well enough to do the show tonight due to Doctors order (suffering from joint pain), Lady Gaga made it a point of still meeting Kayleigh!," he wrote. "Fantastic for Kayleigh and my hats off to Lady Gaga and her people for making this happen!"
On Tuesday, the 26-year-old songbird revealed that she was in too much pain to walk and decided to postpone four concert dates.
But a day later, Gaga's tour promoter, Live Nation, announced that it was scrapping all remaining tour dates after the star was diagnosed with a hip injury that will require surgery.
"After additional tests this morning to review the severity of the issue, it has been determined that Lady Gaga has a labral tear of the right hip," Live Nation said in a statement. "She will need surgery to repair the problem, followed by strict down time to recover. This unfortunately, will force her to cancel the tour so she can heal."
Injury or not, it's great to know that Gaga will still always make time for her Little Monsters, especially those most in need.
Sorry, Little Monsters, Lady Gaga is bowing out. The pop star has decided to cancel the remainder of her Born This Way Ball tour after announcing that she would postpone four shows due to a hip injury.
"After additional tests this morning to review the severity of the issue, it has been determined that Lady Gaga has a labral tear of the right hip," Live Nation said in a release. "She will need surgery to repair the problem, followed by strict down time to recover. This unfortunately, will force her to cancel the tour so she can heal."
Initially, concerts scheduled for today and Thursday in Chicago, Saturday in Detroit and Sunday in Hamilton, Canada, had been the only shows canceled, with makeup dates to be announced later, however Mother Monster's injury has clearly become a bigger issue than before.
"I've been hiding a show injury and chronic pain for sometime now,over the past month it has worsened," Gaga tweeted yesterday. "I've been praying it would heal." She continued : "I hid it from my staff, I didn't want to disappoint my amazing fans. However after last nights performance I could not walk and still can't."
Lady Gaga has postponed her "Born This Way Ball" tour in three cities after an aggravated injury has left her unable to walk, according to a statement on her website.
"Due to a case of synovitis, (severe inflammation of joints), Lady Gaga's doctor has ordered her to postpone The Born This Way Ball performances in Chicago, Detroit and Hamilton (Ontario)," the statement read.
Gaga was quoted on the site as saying, "I am completely devastated and heartsick. I've been hiding this injury and pain from my staff for a month, praying it would heal, but after last night’s performance I could not walk. To the fans in Chicago, Detroit and Hamilton, I hope you can forgive me as it is nearly impossible for me to forgive myself right now. I would do anything for you. I will hopefully heal as soon as possible and be at 500% again, which is what you deserve.”
Lady Gaga is famous around the world, but she'll never forget where she comes from. On Wednesday, the pop star pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross to help with Hurricane Sandy relief in New York.
"If it wasn't for NYC: the Lower Eastside, Harlem, the Bronx and Brooklyn, I would not be the woman or artist that I am today," Gaga, 26, posted on her Little Monsters blog. "New York is relentless ambition, a drive to succeed, a place where there is a natural pursuit of diversity through compassion."
"Please accept this gift on behalf of myself, my parents Joe and Cynthia, and my sister Natali; with our deepest gratitude New York for raising us," she added. "Thank you for helping me build my spirit. I will now help you rebuild yours. Sincerely, Lady Gaga and The Germanottas"
Gaga, of course, isn't the only celeb wanting to help those suffering after Sandy. Chelsea Handler donated $100,000 to the Red Cross in John C. Reilly's name, Adam Levine made himself a poster boy for the organization and Christina Aguilera, Bruce Springsteen and countless other stars helped raise $23 million in NBCUniversal's "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" telethon.
Lady Gaga is already a huge name in the music world, but now she's a scientific name as well — thanks to fans at Duke University who named an entire genus of ferns after the gender-bending pop star.
Nineteen species in Central and South America, Mexico, Arizona and Texas belong to the newly designated genus Gaga, the researchers report in a paper published by Systematic Botany. The genus is a grouping of closely related species that was split off from an earlier named genus known as Cheilanthes on the basis of subtle differences (for example, the number of spores per sporangeum) as well as DNA analysis.
The new genus' 19 species include two new ones: Gaga germanotta was found in Costa Rica and has a species name that pays tribute to the family of the artist, whose birth name was Stefani Germanotta. The species name for Gaga monstraparva, a newfound type of Mexican fern, honors Gaga's fans. ("Monstra parva" is Latin for "Little Monster," Gaga's term of endearment for her followers.)
It's clear from Duke's news release that Gaga's Little Monsters include the Duke researchers who proposed the new genus name.
"We wanted to name this genus for Lady Gaga because of her fervent defense of equality and individual expression," said biologist Kathleen Pryer, director of the Duke Herbarium. "And as we started to consider it, the ferns themselves gave us more reasons why it was a good choice."
Duke pointed out that the ferns go through a stage in which they have somewhat fluid definitions of gender. During their bisexual reproductive stage, the ferns' gametophyte takes on the appearance of a blue-green Gaga costume. Even the DNA analysis turned up a Gaga angle: One of the genus' distinguishing strings of base pairs reads GAGA (guanine-alanine-guanine-alanine).
Duke University
One of the costumes Lady Gaga wears for her performances (left) reminded researchers of the color and shape of a gametophyte from the species in the genus Gaga (right).
But the main motivation for the naming is to pay tribute to a superstar who's been an inspiration.
"We often listen to her music while we do our research," Pryer said. "We think that her second album, 'Born This Way, is enormously empowering, especially for disenfranchised people and communities like LGBT, ethnic groups, women — and scientists who study odd ferns."
Lady Gaga is a "remarkable, unexpected, perfect" choice for the scientific tribute, said Duke faculty member Cathy N. Davidson, whose was involved in a MacArthur Foundation initiative that helped the pop star create a national anti-bullying project called the Born This Way Foundation.
"Encouraging her fans and kids everywhere to be brave, bold, unique, creative and smart is what Lady Gaga is about," Davidson said in Duke's news release. "It's rare that a celebrity so young gives back so much to society."
There may be future opportunities out there for performers who count botanists among their fans. Pryer, who is president of the American Fern Society as well as the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, points out that genetic analysis may well reorganize the family tree of ferns over the long term — leading to more scientific categories that will need new names.
Update for 6:20 p.m. ET: In a follow-up phone call, Pryer told me she was inspired to go for a genus named Gaga after seeing the performer's blue-green getup during the broadcast of the 2010 Grammy Awards.
"When she emerged in what I saw as a fern gametophyte, I just felt that she was speaking to us," Pryer said.
She and her colleagues had been focusing on ferns for five years or so, and detailed studies of the plants' characteristics as well as DNA readings were leading them to the conclusion that many of the ferns that had been classified as belonging to the genus Cheilanthes really belonged in a separate category. "This is going to come as a shock to some botanists that they can't be called Cheilanthes anymore," she said.
Lady Gaga's appearance, basically in a fern costume, was the key moment for Pryer. "That was the initial 'Oh, my gosh, it would be wonderful if we could name a genus after her,'" the biologist said. When the research article was submitted to Systematic Botany for review, she and her colleagues sought Gaga's permission to use her name.
"Within 24 hours, her manager sent us an email and said 'Great,' with a smiley face," Pryer said.
She noted that U.S. taxpayers, including fans of Lady Gaga, help fund her lab's research through the National Science Foundation. "A lot of 'Little Monsters' are out there supporting the work in this field," Pryer said. Maybe knowing there's a scientific classification out there with Gaga's name on it will inspire the littlest Monsters to pursue careers in science. But in any case, the name will stand as an enduring tribute to a person who's done so much to promote basic human kindness through her music and the Born This Way Foundation, Pryer said.
"It's a way for us to give a gift," she said. "A forever gift."
Taylor Kinney tells TODAY's Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that he feels lucky to be dating superstar Lady Gaga and discusses his role as a tough guy lieutenant battling an addiction to pain medication on the new NBC show "Chicago Fire.''
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Maybe Mother Monster had too much spaghetti and milk? Lady Gaga took a page from the Justin Bieber nausea playbook and vomited several times onstage this past weekend in Spain.
In a video making the rounds, the 26-year-old can be seen slinking down a staircase with her back to the audience during a performance of "Edge of Glory" in Barcelona. Then, as she makes her way across a stage plank toward a dancer, she abruptly throws up at least four times.
At one point, her backup dancer gently pats her on the back as she tries to hurl inconspicuously.
But you gotta give it to Mother Monster: Ever the pro, she barely missed a beat and continued with the performance.
At least she's getting some good laughs out of it: The "Poker Face" diva poked fun at herself on Twitter Monday morning, posting a link to the video and writing, "Was praying nobody saw but actually its quite a good laugh if u need one! Check out Lady PukeGA doing Swan 'Vomit' Lake."
She also gave props to herself for carrying on: "I still hit my routine mom!! :)," she tweeted. "Thank goodness for the Dorchester...i need some tea, i think i just cried a little watching that."
So what was the gastronomic culprit?
Gaga herself might have provided the answer when she tweeted about lunch a few hours before the performance.
"In SPAIN having the time of my life!!!!!! *eats Paella in the corner*," she wrote. "I love it here so much, my view is beautiful I'm gon rock Barcelone!"
The bum tummy was yet another blow to the songbird, who seems to be having a tough week overall.
On Sunday night, just a day after her puke-fest, Gaga was booed by fans in London during the launch of her new perfume, Lady Gaga Fame, after she arrived an hour late to Harrod's and then skipped out on posing for fans and photogs on the carpet.
Smells like some serious Little Monster discontent there.
Lady Gaga is starting her own "body revolution." On Sept. 25, the "Born This Way" singer, 26, shared a somber photo of herself wearing yellow lingerie via her Little Monsters website. "[I've battled] bulimia and anorexia since I was 15," Gaga wrote in the caption.
The revelation comes on the heels of the singer's recent radio interview with Elvis Duran, in which she admitted to being on a diet "because I gained, liked, 25 pounds" during her five weeks off between tour dates.
At the time, the Grammy Award winner insisted she didn't "feel bad about" putting on a few extra pounds. "Not even for a second."
"I have to be on such a strict diet constantly," Gaga explained. "It's hard because it's a quite vigorous show, so I tend to bulk up, get muscular, and I really don't like that. So I'm trying to find a new balance."
Proving she's more than just a number on a scale, Gaga shared some words of wisdom from Marilyn Monroe via Twitter Sept. 22: "To all the girls who think you're ugly because you're not a size 0, you're the beautiful ones. It's society who's ugly," the singer quoted the late blonde bombshell as saying. Gaga then added, "Thank you to my fans who love me no matter what and know the meaning of real beauty and compassion. I really love you."
Months earlier, legendary musician Elton John, 65, said he was concerned about his pop star pal's tiny frame. "She is frail, and she doesn't eat when she should," John said of Gaga. "I know how tiny she is and I do worry about her, yes."
NEW YORK -- Lady Gaga launched her debut perfume while being inside a giant size perfume bottle.
The avant garde pop star was in a large bottle — a replica of her "Fame" fragrance -- appearing in the transparent glass where attendees took photos and watched the singer get a tattoo on the recently shaved back of her head.
The entertainer entered the the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on New York's Upper East Side Thursday night on top of a convertible. She posed for pictures and interacted with some fans.
Inside, she laid in the bottle in a sparkly top, black skirt and red wig. Then she took off some clothing and a wig — now appearing in lingerie, including a thong — and began receiving a tattoo of the back of her neck (she shaved the bottom half of the back of her head this week).
Evan Agostini / AP
Lady Gaga arrives at the Guggenheim Museum in New York on Thursday.
Gaga applied make-up and played on an iPad inside the bottle, where she was joined by four others. Edith Piaf played in background, as did David Bowie's "Fame" and various songs that featured Kanye West. She got her tattoo — and danced in her seat — as West's latest hit "Mercy" blasted in the background.
The masquerade black tie event featured a few hundred people, mostly dressed with eye masks and headgear. Celebrity attendees included Yoko Ono, Marc Jacobs, Paris Hilton, Michael Strahan, Jason Wu and Lindsay Lohan, who arrived late for the event.
Gaga also debuted a short film for the fragrance in collaboration with director Steven Klein.
The Grammy-winning singer released her multiplatinum debut, "The Fame," in 2008. That was followed by the platinum-selling albums "The Fame EP" and last year's "Born This Way."
Are there free clippers being given out somewhere? It seems like a new celeb reveals a drastic new haircut every day, and tonight is all about Lady Gaga. But this singer didn't do it just for the thrill or to jazz up her usual 'do, she did it for a friend.
"I did it for u Terry," she tweeted, linking to her blog. "I'm sorry about ure mommy. She has princess die, but were all princess high."
The photo shows the back of (at least what we think is) Gaga's head, with her hair pulled up into a high bun, revealing a triangular section of her hair shaven off.
The "Terry" Mama Monster is referring to is famous photographer and friend Terry Richardson, who posted on his Tumblr page today, "R.I.P. Annie Lomax, My Mom 1938-2012"
We've always liked the Real Slim Shady. Apparently 60 million other people do, too! Eminem is the most popular artist on Facebook and was recently the first to accumulate 60 million fans on the social networking site.
Jason Decrow / AP file
Thumbs up? Facebook users really, really like Eminem.
Lady Gaga arrives at Brisbane Airport ahead of her Australian tour on Monday, June 11.
By Alexis L. Loinaz, E! Online
Even a head injury ain't gonna be a drag for this queen. Lady Gaga took to Twitter Monday night to assure her Little Monsters that she's doing all right after getting seriously clocked in the noodle onstage with a pole and suffering a concussion.
And she's willing to offer up photographic proof, vanity be damned.
The "Edge of Glory" songstress tweeted a disheveled pic of her waking up in full makeup and looking pretty disoriented.
"Thank you so much for all the thoughtful messages," she wrote. "I feel a bit woozy but a little better everyday. Very happy to be in beautiful Australia."
Yes, Little Monsters: You can breathe easy; Mama's on the mend.
She also poked fun at herself, adding: "Emerging from hours of sleep. Still remiss if I should go outside, with this clonker I may be of questionable styling."
Gaga was struck with a pole onstage Sunday during the New Zealand leg of her tour. But after vowing to "finish this show," she soldiered forth and sang another 16 songs.
Poor Gaga, who seems to be under siege these days.
When she's not avoiding swipes from wayward poles or weathering protests from outraged conservative groups, she's taking hits from Madonna, who recently dissed Gaga by performing a mash-up of "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself" in concert.
Has Gaga finally had enough? During her New Zealand show last week, she addressed her detractors, in what observers pegged as a thinly veiled dig at Madge.
"It sometimes makes people feel better about themselves [to], you know, put other people down or make fun of them or maybe make mockery of their work," she said in between songs. "And that doesn't make me feel good at all, that just makes me feel like I'm not being a good human being ... I feel like if you're a really good human being, you can try to find something beautiful in every single person, no matter what."
She also added, "I don't even want to fight back, because it's more important to me to keep writing music."
The most revealing tidbit, though, was this: "Things are really different than they were 25 years ago"--"Express Yourself" debuted in 1988 -- "and that's what makes 'Born This Way' so relevant for me," she said. "We're just socially in a different place and it's OK -- we don't have to all slice and hate each other anymore."
Lady Gaga received a concussion in the middle of her "Born This Way Ball" show in Auckland, New Zealand, on Sunday. During the song "Judas," one of the dancers accidentally hit the singer on the head with a pole.
According to fan site Gagamedia.net, Gaga continued with the performance for another 16 songs. "I want to apologize," she told the crowd. "I did hit my head and I think I may have a concussion but don’t you worry I will finish this show."
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