Lady Gaga & The Muppets to Team Up for Holiday Special on ABC

On Thanksgiving night, NOVEMBER 28 (9:30-11:00 p.m., ET), the ABC Television Network will air the 90-minute special, "Lady Gaga & The Muppets' Holiday Spectacular." The broadcast offers an avant-garde twist on the classic holiday variety show as Lady Gaga goes backstage with The Muppets, making a performance dream come true for the multi-platinum singer songwriter when they combine forces to sing holiday favorites and Lady Gaga hits.

"I was so excited when ABC called me about doing a holiday special this year," said Lady Gaga. "I knew it just wouldn't be a complete night of laughter and memories without The Muppets! Can't wait to see the gang again and I hope Miss Piggy's still not mad about Kermit. We're just friends!"

"What an incredible opportunity!" said Kermit the Frog. "We have a long history with Ms. Gaga, so we jumped at the chance to do a holiday special with her. We won't even mind if she mistakes some of the Muppets for pieces of her wardrobe-again."

The special features Lady Gaga performing songs from her new album, ARTPOP, available Monday, November 11 on Streamline/Interscope Records. Performance highlights include a duet between Lady Gaga and Kermit the Frog, a dazzling rendition of Gaga's hit "Applause" with special Muppet guests, and performance duets with Sir Elton John, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and RuPaul. Kristen Bell appears in a special sketch alongside the Muppets and Lady Gaga. In addition, Swedish Chef, Beaker and Animal will perform special Muppet renditions of the holiday classics "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells."

The program will also feature a sneak peek from the upcoming Disney movie "Muppets Most Wanted," which features Lady Gaga herself in a spectacular cameo performance. Disney's "Muppets Most Wanted" hits theaters March 21, 2014.

This is Lady Gaga's second Primetime Thanksgiving night special for ABC. "Lady Gaga & The Muppets' Holiday Spectacular" is produced by Sunset Lane Entertainment, in association with ABC's Lincoln Square Productions, with Salli Frattini as executive producer and directed by Gregg Gelfand.

LADY GAGA came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album The Fame (2008), which sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including five Grammy Awards amongst fifteen nominations, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards amongst twenty-six nominations, and the estimated sale of 24 million albums and 90 million singles worldwide. She has travelled the world on numerous tours including 2008's The Fame Ball, 2009-2011's The Monster Ball and 2012-2013's Born This Way Ball. An HBO television special titled Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden earned an Emmy Award amongst its five nominations. Her third studio album, Born This Way, broke the iTunes record for the fastest rise to #1 on release day. In 2013, Time Magazine named her the second most influential person of the decade. With over 2.5 billion combined views of all her videos online, Lady Gaga is one of the biggest living forces in social media with over 60 million likes on Facebook and over 40 million followers on Twitter. She is also a global activist and philanthropist, having been an outspoken supporter of many important issues including LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS awareness, body image issues, and youth empowerment. In 2011, she launched her own Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to empowering youth and creating a kinder and braver world. In 2011, she also built & launched a social network just for her fans, LittleMonsters.com. Lady Gaga is the only artist in the digital era to top the 5 million sales mark with her first two hits. Lady Gaga's fourth studio album, ARTPOP, will be released on November 11, 2013 in conjunction with an app developed by TechHAUS, the technological branch of HAUS OF GAGA. On this day, HAUS OF GAGA verges with forte to bring the music industry into a new age; an age where art drives pop, and the artist once again is in control of the "icon." ARTPOP could mean anything. But for Lady Gaga, this is a celebration of obsession.

Disney's "Muppets Most Wanted" takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe's most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine-the World's Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit-and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais. The film stars Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard, and Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon. Disney's "Muppets Most Wanted" is directed by James Bobin and produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Bobin co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Stoller, who is also executive producer with John G. Scotti. Featuring music from Academy Award-winning songwriter Bret McKenzie, "Muppets Most Wanted" hits the big screen March 21, 2014.

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