EARLY LIFE
Lady Gaga was born Stefani Germanotta on March 28, 1986. Young Stefani first learned to play piano by ear at the age of four (so she claims) and wrote her first piano ballad at the age of 13.
Gaga's Italian-American father, Joe Germanotta, started a company called Guest WiFi in 2002, which installed wireless internet access in hotels. Germanotta was quite a pioneer as 2002 was the dark ages of hotel WiFi. He eventually got out of the WiFi game to runs his daughter's publishing company, House of Gaga Publishing.
Gaga later wrote the song "Speechless," in which she hoped he would be convinced to seek the medical treatment for her father's longstanding heart condition.
She attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, the same private Manhattan Catholic school that Nicky and Paris Hilton attended.
Gaga went on to study music at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Her classmates made a Facebook group called "Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous" where they bullied her and called her an "attention-whore". She dropped out after a year to pursue her music career.
Lady GaGa appeared in Season 3 of The Sopranos when she was 15-years old.
Other early Gaga TV appearances include a MTV reality show called Boiling Points in 2005, where she failed to win the $100 prize money. She also popped up on MTV's The Hills alongside Lauren Conrad And Whitney Port in September 2008.
Gaga started performing as a burlesque dancer after dropping out of college. She originally made a name for herself playing gigs at downtown Manhattan club venues with a performance art show billed as Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue (co-featuring performance artist Lady Starlight), which was when music industry insiders initially to take note.
The singer is influenced by flamboyant glam rockers such as Freddie Mercury and she took her stage name from the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga." The moniker came about after her former producer Rob Fusari tried to type the words 'Radio Gaga' into his cell phone, but when Stefani received the message, it had been auto-corrected to 'Lady Gaga'. Fusari said, "After that day, she was Lady Gaga. She's like, 'Don't ever call me Stefani again.'"
Before becoming an internationally famous star, Gaga was an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing. After the company was acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga struck a music publishing and was hired to write songs for Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls.
Gaga's debut single was "Just Dance." It was a slow starter, initially becoming a club hit, before debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in August 2008. It finally reached #1 in January 2009. The song not only proved to be the singer's breakthrough hit, but was also instrumental in introducing to the Top 40 a techno-synth sound that had already been popular in Europe for the previous decade.
MUSIC CAREER
Gaga started performing as a burlesque dancer after dropping out of college. She originally made a name for herself playing gigs at downtown Manhattan club venues with a performance art show billed as Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue (co-featuring performance artist Lady Starlight), which was when music industry insiders initially to take note.
The singer is influenced by flamboyant glam rockers such as Freddie Mercury and she took her stage name from the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga." The moniker came about after her former producer Rob Fusari tried to type the words 'Radio Gaga' into his cell phone, but when Stefani received the message, it had been auto-corrected to 'Lady Gaga'. Fusari said, "After that day, she was Lady Gaga. She's like, 'Don't ever call me Stefani again.'"
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| Lady Gaga during her Born This Way Ball Tour. Author Yne Van De Mergel Wiki Commons |
Before becoming an internationally famous star, Gaga was an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing. After the company was acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga struck a music publishing and was hired to write songs for Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls.
Gaga's debut single was "Just Dance." It was a slow starter, initially becoming a club hit, before debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in August 2008. It finally reached #1 in January 2009. The song not only proved to be the singer's breakthrough hit, but was also instrumental in introducing to the Top 40 a techno-synth sound that had already been popular in Europe for the previous decade.
Lady Gaga kicked off her highly anticipated The Monster Ball Tour on November 27, 2009, in Montreal, Canada. The tour, which spanned over two years and encompassed six continents, became a resounding success, grossing over $227.4 million and establishing Gaga as a global superstar. It broke the record for the highest-grossing tour in history for a debut headlining artist.
Gaga's The Fame Monster, was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide.
The Monster Ball Tour was not just a commercial triumph; it was also a critical and artistic achievement. Gaga's theatrical performances, elaborate costumes, and captivating stage presence captivated audiences worldwide, cementing her reputation as one of the most captivating live performers of her generation.
Here are some notable highlights from The Monster Ball Tour:
Record-breaking attendance: The tour grossed over $227.4 million, making it the highest-grossing tour in history for a debut headlining artist.
Gaga wrote a lot of her hit singles with Moroccan/Swedish producer RedOne (born Nadir Khayat). The first song they wrote together was "Boys Boys Boys."
The New York star often refers to her fans as her "little monsters" and in dedication, she had that inscription tattooed on her left arm. She is very protective of her "little monsters" and once purchased $1,000 worth of pizza for fans who had camped out overnight before a CD signing session.
Gaga has admitted in interviews to being an exhibitionist from an early age. Famous incidents intended to provoke a reaction include arriving at the 2011 Grammy Awards incubating in an egg (see below) from which she hatched to perform "Born This Way."
Lady Gaga is a frequent advocate of gay rights and she attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fanbase. The singer has stated that the song "Poker Face" is about her bisexuality.
In television, Gaga won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her work in American Horror Story: Hotel (2015–2016).
Gaga played the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show delivering a set that featured acrobatics, costume changes, a staged jump from the stadium roof and several of her hits. It was watched by 117.5 million viewers, the second most viewed halftime show of all time, trailing behind Katy Perry's 2015 appearance, which drew in 120.7 million viewers.
Gaga won her first Oscar in February 2019: Best Original Song for "Shallow" from A Star Is Born.
Lady Gaga was the first Twitter user to reach 20 million followers.
Gaga is a natural brunette (see below); she reportedly bleached her hair blonde because she was once mistaken for Amy Winehouse.
Gaga loves heavy metal music and admits to unwinding to AC/DC. Asked by British magazine NME to recommend some music, she went for Australian rock act Airbourne because, "I swear to you they sound just like AC/Dc and the songwriting is just as good."
The New Yorker eats healthily: "I'm on a very strict healthy pop star diet," Gaga said. "I don't eat bread, just vegetables and salad and fish. Eating like that is much better for me anyway but on Sundays I sometimes eat pasta."
Stefani Germanotta is committed to being Lady Gaga 24 hours a day. She told NME: "If you look at every single interview, every single television appearance, every single performance of my life, it's been devoted to who I am. Devoted to my identity, devoted to my craft. And if that isn't f------ art I don't know what is."
Gaga has tattooed only one side of her body out of respect for her father, who asked the singer not to cover her entire body in ink. She also has a tattoo of a heart on her left shoulder which says, 'Dad.'
Lady Gaga suffers from fibromyalgia; a long-term condition which can cause pain all over the body.
The fern genus Gaga is named after Lady Gaga. According to biologists, the ferns bear a close resemblance to Gaga's heart-shaped wardrobe during her performance at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and also bear a distinct DNA sequence spelling GAGA.
Originally written for Songfacts
In television, Gaga won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her work in American Horror Story: Hotel (2015–2016).
Gaga played the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show delivering a set that featured acrobatics, costume changes, a staged jump from the stadium roof and several of her hits. It was watched by 117.5 million viewers, the second most viewed halftime show of all time, trailing behind Katy Perry's 2015 appearance, which drew in 120.7 million viewers.
Gaga won her first Oscar in February 2019: Best Original Song for "Shallow" from A Star Is Born.
PERSONAL LIFE
Gaga is a natural brunette (see below); she reportedly bleached her hair blonde because she was once mistaken for Amy Winehouse.
Gaga loves heavy metal music and admits to unwinding to AC/DC. Asked by British magazine NME to recommend some music, she went for Australian rock act Airbourne because, "I swear to you they sound just like AC/Dc and the songwriting is just as good."
The New Yorker eats healthily: "I'm on a very strict healthy pop star diet," Gaga said. "I don't eat bread, just vegetables and salad and fish. Eating like that is much better for me anyway but on Sundays I sometimes eat pasta."
Stefani Germanotta is committed to being Lady Gaga 24 hours a day. She told NME: "If you look at every single interview, every single television appearance, every single performance of my life, it's been devoted to who I am. Devoted to my identity, devoted to my craft. And if that isn't f------ art I don't know what is."
Gaga has tattooed only one side of her body out of respect for her father, who asked the singer not to cover her entire body in ink. She also has a tattoo of a heart on her left shoulder which says, 'Dad.'
Lady Gaga suffers from fibromyalgia; a long-term condition which can cause pain all over the body.
The fern genus Gaga is named after Lady Gaga. According to biologists, the ferns bear a close resemblance to Gaga's heart-shaped wardrobe during her performance at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and also bear a distinct DNA sequence spelling GAGA.
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| A Gaga (gaga lipfern) by Curtis Clark - Wikipedia Commons |
Originally written for Songfacts
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