Lady Gaga: The master of contrasts

This is the story of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. While most people might draw a blank at that name, the »Little Monsters« – the singer's fans – know exactly who it is: the singer Lady Gaga. Her stage name was the brainchild of one of her producers, Rob Fusari, as he later admitted: »Every day when Stef came to the studio, I would start singing Radio Ga Ga instead of saying hello. Lady Gaga was actually a fluke: I typed Radio Ga Ga in a text, and it autocorrected. Somehow, Radio turned into Lady. She wrote back: That’s it. From that day on, she was Lady Gaga.« And the name fit like a glove, because especially early on, her outfits could only be described as loud, colorful, and completely »gaga.«

Few would have guessed back then that behind the provocative performances lay a poet. On her upper arm is a quote by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke: »Ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig deep into yourself for a true answer.« But how did Lady Gaga manage to harness these vastly different sides of herself for her success?

The Outsider

From an early age, the young Germanotta enthusiastically tinkered on the piano, prompting her parents to enroll her in piano lessons at age four. She later said of her passion: »I was really good at the piano. […] I may not have been a born dancer, but I am a born musician.«

However, her talent found little recognition among her classmates. She was »too provocative and too eccentric«, leading to regular bullying. It was precisely this experience that later inspired her to found her own charity, the »Born This Way Foundation«, which advocates for the mental health of young people.

A Star Is Born

The music studies the aspiring singer began after high school were dropped in her fourth semester so she could turn her passion into a career as quickly as possible. After that, she performed increasingly often in bars alongside performance artist Lady Starlight.

Her performances captivated music producer Vincent Herbert, who immediately signed her. Shortly after, as Lady Gaga, she recorded her debut album The Fame and made her big breakthrough into the public eye. Both the album and her first singles, »Poker Face« and »Just Dance«, immediately topped numerous charts and swept award after award. The music video for »Bad Romance« was also named the most successful YouTube video in April 2010 and received ten nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards, winning seven.

Three world tours followed in just four years, and financially, things looked bright for the new star: the second world tour, The Monster Ball Tour, alone grossed $227.4 million.

This didn’t stop her from changing her style. The turning point came with her first jazz album, Cheek to Cheek – moving away from her provocative image toward heartfelt lyrics. The album won a Grammy for »Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album«, and her subsequent albums revealed more and more sides of Lady Gaga.

After this transformation, her first Oscar nomination wasn’t far behind: her song »Til It Happens to You« from the documentary The Hunting Ground didn’t win an award at the 88th Academy Awards, but the singer’s live performance alongside several survivors of abuse created what was likely the most emotional moment of the event.

Multitalented

Beyond her impressive music career, many people now know Lady Gaga as an actress. She landed her first leading role in the fifth season of the horror series American Horror Story: as the bloodsucking »Countess«, she won over not only her fans but also the Golden Globe jury from 2015 to 2016.

The peak of her acting career so far came in October 2018 with the film A Star Is Born. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she admitted why she felt so connected to her role as the shy singer-songwriter Ally Campana: »When my character talks about how ugly she feels – that was real.« After all, she herself had been reduced to her appearance countless times, even being advised to get a nose job before filming her first music video. But A Star Is Born was different: Bradley Cooper, who directed and co-starred, insisted – to Lady Gaga’s surprise – on seeing her completely makeup-free on camera. The press loved the raw honesty, and the film’s ballad »Shallow« went on to win multiple Grammy Awards and an Oscar for Best Original Song.

LT