Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (/ˈstɛfəni ˌdʒɜːrməˈnɒtə/ ⓘ STEF-ən-ee JUR-mə-NOT-ə; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is known for reinventing her image and showcasing versatility in entertainment. Gaga started performing as a teenager by singing at open mic nights and acting in school plays. She studied Collaborative Arts Project 21 before leaving to pursue a music career. After a contract cancellation by Def Jam Recordings, Gaga worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing. In 2007, she signed with Interscope Records and KonLive Distribution. Her breakthrough came the following year with her debut studio album, The Fame, and its singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". The album was later reissued along with The Fame Monster (2009), which yielded the successful singles "Bad Romance", "Alejandro" and "Telephone".
For the Peso Pluma song, see Lady Gaga (song).
Lady Gaga
- Singer
- songwriter
- actress
2001–present
- Cynthia Bissett
- Joseph Germanotta
- Pop
- dance
- electronic
- jazz
- rock
- Vocals
- piano
- guitar
- Def Jam
- Cherrytree
- KonLive
- Streamline
- Interscope
Gaga's five succeeding albums all debuted atop the US Billboard 200. Her second full-length album, Born This Way (2011), explored electronic rock and techno-pop and sold more than one million copies in its first week. The title track became the fastest-selling song on the iTunes Store, with over one million downloads in less than a week. Following her EDM-influenced third album, Artpop (2013), and its lead single "Applause", she released the jazz album Cheek to Cheek (2014) with Tony Bennett, and the soft rock album Joanne (2016). She ventured into acting, winning awards for her leading roles in the miniseries American Horror Story: Hotel (2015–2016) and the musical film A Star Is Born (2018). Her contributions to the latter's soundtrack, which spawned the chart-topping single "Shallow", made her the first woman to win an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and Grammy Award in one year. Gaga returned to dance-pop with her sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020), which yielded the number-one single "Rain on Me". In 2021, she released her second and final collaborative album with Bennett, Love for Sale, and also starred in the biopic House of Gucci.
Having sold an estimated 170 million records, Gaga is one of the world's best-selling music artists and the only female artist to achieve four singles each selling at least 10 million copies globally. Her accolades include 13 Grammy Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards, 18 MTV Video Music Awards, awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and recognition as Billboard's Artist of the Year (2010) and Woman of the Year (2015). She has also been included in several Forbes power rankings and ranked fourth on VH1's Greatest Women in Music (2012). Time named Gaga one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010 and 2019 and placed her on their All-Time 100 Fashion Icons list. Gaga's philanthropy and activism focus on mental health awareness and LGBT rights; she has her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which supports the wellness of young people. Her business ventures include Haus Labs, a vegan cosmetics brand launched in 2019.
Life and career
1986–2004: Early life
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on March 28, 1986, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York City,[1] to an upper middle class Catholic family. Both of her parents have Italian ancestry.[2] Her parents are Cynthia Louise (née Bissett), a philanthropist and business executive, and Internet entrepreneur Joseph Germanotta,[3] and she has a younger sister named Natali.[4] Brought up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Gaga said in an interview that her parents came from lower-class families and worked hard for everything.[5][6] From age 11, she attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school.[7] Gaga has described her high-school self as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure". She considered herself a misfit and was mocked for "being either too provocative or too eccentric".[8]
Gaga began playing the piano at age four when her mother insisted she become "a cultured young woman". She took piano lessons and practiced through her childhood. The lessons taught her to create music by ear, which Gaga preferred over reading sheet music. Her parents encouraged her to pursue music and enrolled her in Creative Arts Camp.[9] As a teenager, she played at open mic nights.[10] Gaga played the lead roles of Adelaide in the play Guys and Dolls and Philia in the play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Regis High School.[11] She also studied method acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute for ten years.[12] Gaga unsuccessfully auditioned for New York shows, though did appear in a small background role as a high-school student in a 2001 episode of The Sopranos titled "The Telltale Moozadell".[13][14] She later said of her inclination towards music:
Activism
Philanthropy
After declining an invitation to appear on the single "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", because of rehearsals for her tour, to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Gaga donated the proceeds of her January 2010 Radio City Music Hall concert to the country's reconstruction relief fund.[357] All profits from her online store that day were also donated, and Gaga announced that $500,000 was collected for the fund.[358] Hours after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, Gaga tweeted a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to relief efforts;[359] these raised $1.5 million.[360] In June 2011, Gaga performed at MTV Japan's charity show in Makuhari Messe, which benefited the Japanese Red Cross.[361]
In 2012, Gaga joined the campaign group Artists Against Fracking.[362] That October, Yoko Ono gave Gaga and four other activists the LennonOno Grant for Peace in Reykjavík, Iceland.[363] The following month, Gaga pledged to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS, focusing on educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam.[364] Sales have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.[365]
In April 2016, Gaga joined Vice President Joe Biden at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to support Biden's It's On Us campaign as he traveled to colleges on behalf of the organization, which has seen 250,000 students from more than 530 colleges sign a pledge of solidarity and activism.[366] Two months later, Gaga attended the 84th Annual US Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis where she joined with the Dalai Lama to talk about the power of kindness and how to make the world a more compassionate place.[367]
In April 2020, Gaga curated the televised benefit concert, One World: Together at Home, a collaboration with Global Citizen to benefit the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.[368][369] The special raised $127 million, which according to Forbes "puts it on par with the other legendary fundraiser, Live Aid, as the highest grossing charity concert in history."[370] In recognition of her contribution to the Black Lives Matter movement, Gaga received the Yolanda Denise King High Ground Award from the King Center's Beloved Community Awards in January 2021. In her acceptance speech, she denounced racism and white supremacy and addressed her social responsibility as a high-profile artist and white woman.[371]
