Bob Leone talks about Lana, Gaga & "So Legit"

[lola 6,616]

"He helped transform her from a painfully shy teenager to a world superstar – and as Lady Gaga prepares to launch new album Artpop, he should be basking in glory.

But instead, music manager Bob Leone, who also set Lana Del Rey on her path to fame, is broke and homeless, forced to move back in with his frail 88-year-old mother.

He claims that Gaga, 27, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, left him ruined – failing to reward him after he helped land her first major record deal.

And he says his grievances against the flamboyant New York-born singer has been taken up by Del Rey, who has blasted Gaga in a string of sharp-tongued lyrics.

The jibes, which appear in the  lyrics of her new song So Legit, include: ‘Stefani, you suck, I know you’re selling 20 million. Wish they could have seen you when we booed you off in Williamsburg.’

Leone says the lyrics reflect Lana’s fury at the way Gaga and her father Joe failed to reward him. 

‘She was very upset at the way I had been treated,’ he said. ‘We’ve spoken about it. She feels it wasn’t right.’

Leone, 64, discovered Gaga at the Triad Theatre, Manhattan, in 2000, when he was National Project Director at the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The young Stefani, then just 14, attended several of his songwriting workshops.

He said: ‘She was painfully shy back then. When she came to one of my open mic sessions with her mother, she’d just look at the floor and her feet.

‘I went over to her and said, “Stefani, I know why you feel intimidated, as everyone is older in here, but promise me when you come back next week, I want you to get up on stage and hear what you got.”

‘And she did. That’s when I knew that she was going to be a superstar. Although I never knew she would be this popular and more recognisable than Obama and Oprah.

 

 

‘I asked when she was only 17, “What do you want as a creative  person, to be known for great songwriting?” She looked me in the eye and without hesitation said, “I want world domination.’”

At the time, Leone held showcases at a Manhattan venue, inviting acts from across the US to perform in front of top record company bosses. He put his young starlet Stefani on the bill in front of record executive Wendy Starland.

Impressed, Starland was keen to pair Stefani with Rob Fusari, who went on to co-produce Gaga’s debut album The Fame. The pair recorded a demo and Stefani signed a record deal just months later in September 2006. It was at this point that Leone stopped playing an active role in  her career.

But he claims promises made just before this major breakthrough, in the six months when he was officially working as Gaga’s manager, were never kept, mainly due to the involvement of her father, Joe.

Leone said: ‘She [Gaga] said to  her dad he could be her business manager, but she wanted me as her manager as she wanted to sign with a major label.

‘I was happy to then stand aside, glad I could help, but Joe never forgave me for being her manager.

‘He despised me for accepting the offer to manage her. When I asked for a contract, he constantly came up with excuses why not, which went on for a couple of months, but he said, “I give you my word, you’ve been into my house, when you get her the major record deal, you will be fairly compensated.”

‘That never happened... I was just tossed aside. 

‘I love Stefani, I miss Stefani. I grieved for her when she became Lady Gaga. She literally transformed into a different human being. I grieved for years.’

 

Leone’s row with Gaga’s father reignited in 2010 when, struggling for cash, he decided to auction off a collection of unreleased CDs and recordings that the pair had made when she was a teenager.

Within hours her legal team had quashed the release and threatened Leone. ‘Some of this music dated back to when she was 15. I thought it was maybe worth a lot. But as soon as it was made public, their lawyer called me.

‘He called me four times with ridiculous threats about copyright infringement and violating propriety rights of her name.

‘It was David versus Goliath and I accepted a settlement of $10,000 dollars. $1,000 of that went to my lawyer, $3,000 to the auction house, so I was left with $6,000.’

Now broke, Leone reveals he may one day be forced to sell the only letter he has from Gaga in a bid to raise more cash after leaving his Manhattan home.

 

‘I lived there for 31 years, but it got to point where I couldn’t afford it, my savings had disappeared  and I had no choice but to move back to be with my mother. I live on a  disability cheque and that’s it. I found Gaga but I haven’t got a penny from her.’

Despite his predicament and his grievances with Lady Gaga, Leone holds no grudges against Lana Del Rey, despite not receiving any financial reward for her success.

He says this is because he was only Del Rey’s mentor and never acted as her manager,

Leone believes her father’s personality had a marked impact on Lady Gaga.

He said: ‘She says she did it [seek fame] for world domination and to be more famous than anyone else, but I think the reason she wanted that was to get her father’s approval.’

A spokesman for Lady Gaga declined to comment."

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2401543/Bob-Leone-ex-manager-Lady-Gaga-penniless-living-elderly-mother.html

[Velvet Elvis 218]

Stefani, you suck, I know you’re selling 20 million. Wish they could have seen you when we booed you off in Williamsburg.

[my ol man isa batman 480]

                                          

[TrailerParkDarling 5,679]

That's so sad He's a very interesting guy.. I know he still adores Lana.. it's funny how he notes the drastic change from Stefani to Gaga, I guess Lana is still Lizzy in his eyes?  Also hate that they say the song is 'new' ..ugh

[yayoop 4,502]

.. wow

[Heaux 1,396]

Ooh..interesting. Someone should post this on Gagadaily

[rways 405]

Omg

[elllipsis 1,441]

Ooh..interesting. Someone should post this on Gagadaily

 

 

--

 

What exactly happened with this guy & Gaga though? Are his complaints legitimate, is he just blaming someone else for his own mistakes, or a mix of both? From an unbiased standpoint please, if it's just Gaga fangirl/boy-ing don't even bother tbh.

[Quentin 552]

What exactly happened with this guy & Gaga though? Are his complaints legitimate, is he just blaming someone else for his own mistakes, or a mix of both? From an unbiased standpoint please, if it's just Gaga fangirl/boy-ing don't even bother tbh.

 

And why did he used the dailymail to say that?

[elllipsis 1,441]

And why did he used the dailymail to say that?

 

In all fairness, I should have mentioned 'Gaga bashing' too. That's not what I'm aiming for either.

 

And good question... Probably because they'll publish anything & everything that's even remotely controversial, I guess.

[Bad Kid 318]

Gaga doesn't owe him anything. He wasn't producing her music, promoting her, or launching her. She was the one who was out in the clubs every night doing it herself. The only thing he did was refer her to people who referred her to people who referred her to Def Jam, where she eventually got dropped from. He didn't need to drag Lana into his bullshit.

[DUKE 2,526]

Gaga doesn't owe him anything. He wasn't producing her music, promoting her, or launching her. She was the one who was out in the clubs every night doing it herself. The only thing he did was refer her to people who referred her to people who referred her to Def Jam, where she eventually got dropped from. He didn't need to drag Lana into his bullshit.

That is not true. It is very untrue indeed.

 

What exactly happened with this guy & Gaga though? Are his complaints legitimate, is he just blaming someone else for his own mistakes, or a mix of both? From an unbiased standpoint please, if it's just Gaga fangirl/boy-ing don't even bother tbh.

Bob Leone voluntarily managed Gaga on a part-time basis for a good six months in 2006 during which he would book small shows for her, but mainly served as her mentor and consultant on her way into the industry. He had introduced her to a variety of people, Wendy Starland among them, who eventually introduced him to Rob Fusari, a relatively famous producer. Bob Leone helped Gaga and her father negotiating the recording deal with Fusari, successfully. Rob Fusari demanded song writing credits and royalties he did not deserve. This demand got dropped thanks to Leone. One of the songs from that collaboration was "Paparazzi," for instance.

 

Short while after Gaga signed with Def Jam, and this is where Leone's and Gaga's paths split. There has never been a business arrangement between them, as Leone had different professional commitments at the time and also felt overwhelmed managing her. She therefore doesn't owe him anything legally. Def Jam Records dropped Gaga after just three months, and Leone has had no influence at all with Gaga being signed by Interscope Records, and the following debut album The Fame. In fact, he has been in money trouble for quite some time which is why he desperately sold numerous early Gaga recordings in 2010, which Gaga ended up buying herself. 

 

Now what I wonder, if virtuous Lizzy was so upset back then about Gaga's allegedly ruthless behaviour, why isn't she helping Leone now paying his rent? Now that she's a platinum-selling superstar herself...

 

Edit: I just read the full article and it basically says the same things I included in my post, but there are two things in particular I find very very ridiculous. First, his comment on Gaga's father being offended by not being her manager is so stupid. And second, does Bob Leone actually think he should be rewarded for landing her a major label deal that was withdrawn three months after and saw no actual results? He probably does now that he's in need of money. Him quoting Gaga at 17 years old saying she wanted to rule to world and whatnot... that sounds very inspired by a Madonna quote. And I doubt she ever said that. 

[TIARNZUS 4,591]

What a fucking idiot. 

[Jord 3,477]

Oh... Well, if Bob sold some old demo CDs he has with songs by Gaga he'll probably be able to have a few thousand dollars that'll keep him going for some more months.

[DUKE 2,526]

Oh... Well, if Bob sold some old demo CDs he has with songs by Gaga he'll probably be able to have a few thousand dollars that'll keep him going for some more months.

That's what he did. By extended logic, Gaga paid him really well for everything he did for her, considering she bought the tapes back. 

[Jord 3,477]

That's what he did. By extended logic, Gaga paid him really well for everything he did for her, considering she bought the tapes back. 

 

Yep, I remember the website with the auctions...  I really wish someone like Matthew from Gaga Front Row had bought it so we could have a better chance of listening to the songs, like he did with the "Kandy Life" leak.

 

I am ∞% sure he kept copies of the CDs, though, otherwise he'd be the dumbest person in the universe.

[lostindarkparadise 1,927]

god bless bob

[Creyk 11,495]

LoL, some people can interact with the greatest artists of our time and still be dumb enough to end up as failures

[lola 6,616]

i feel sorry for bob, he sounds like a nice guy who just wanted to help young artists. maybe gaga wasn't contractually obliged to pay him but i understand that he's disappointed after mentoring her for so long. i expected lana to give him some $$ too though, she has plenty. i hope they're in contact.

[YUNGKALIMXEL 88]

Wait so this guy is bitter because he got sued for releasing unreleased Stefani songs without her permission?