Lady Gaga quickly became one of the most recognizable artists on the planet in 2009, but by the end of that year, relatively few people had seen her perform live. That changed this summer, as Gaga embarked on her first arena tour.

The pop phenomenon hit North American shores on June 28 in Montreal and visited cities such as Boston, New York, Toronto, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vancouver, Edmonton and Philadelphia during the early part of the trek. Gaga will continue to play the nation's largest and most prestigious venues until Sept. 19, when the show heads back to Europe.

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But America has not seen the last of the Monster Ball. The demand for tickets was so high during the jaunt's first leg that in May, Live Nation announced that Gaga will return to the U.S. next February for another run of U.S. dates. The 2011 North American Monster Ball Tour will kick off Feb. 19 in Atlantic City, with 10 arena dates confirmed through April 18. Additional shows are still expected to be announced, and Semi Precious Weapons, the New York rock band that has opened the tour's 2010 dates, will continue on the road with Gaga until the Monster Ball winds down.

Live Nation Entertainment's global touring division, headed by chairman Arthur Fogel, holds the reins as promoter/producer of the Monster Ball tour. The pairing makes sense, given the team's expertise in producing international runs by U2 and Madonna, and considering Lady Gaga's love of spectacular staging and production.

Was Gaga's lack of mega-tour experience going into the Monster Ball a challenge? "It's an opportunity," explained Fogel to Billboard in May. "As an artist with that kind of talent and vision emerges, it creates a lot of excitement, and ticket sales worldwide demonstrate that people are really excited to see the show.

"Over the course of the next many months we're trying to play to as many people in as many places as possible," he added. "It's an across the board home run."

By the time she wraps Monster Ball, Gaga will have grossed close to $200 million worldwide, according to Billboard estimates, and the tour will certainly stand out as one of the brightest feathers in her well-decorated hat. But there have already been plenty of highlights -- both heartwarming and controversial -- along the way. 

NEXT: 'Moster Ball' makes waves at MSG, Lollapalooza, Arizona