Thursday, 13 March 2014

Lady Gaga Biography


How did the eccentric singer Lady Gaga become the way she is - was she just born that way?
The eccentric singer, who is known for wearing a dress made from meat to the MTV Video Music Awards 2010 and drinking from a small tea cup, Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on 28 March 1986.

She was born in New York City to Cynthia and Joseph Germanotta, who is an internet entrepreneur. Her younger sister Natali was born in 1992. Of Italian and French-Canadian descent, she was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended the private all-girls Roman Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart from the age of 11 years.

Describing her high school life, Gaga has stated to the Star Tribune that she was very dedicated and studious but also insecure. She added that she was made fun of for being too eccentric or provocative and never felt like she fit in – perhaps this is why she is such an advocate of anti-bullying campaigns especially so-called trolling on social media sites.

From a young age, Gaga started working on the skills for which we know and love her today. From the age of four years she started playing the piano, she wrote her first ballad at the age of 13 years and performed at local open mic nights from the age of 14 years.

She also appeared in several school productions, such as Guys and Dolls and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. In 2001, she also enjoyed a small role in The Sopranos.

After leaving high school, she was encouraged by her mother to apply for the 'Collaborative Arts Project' in New York to boost her music skills. At the age of 17, she became one of 20 students to gain early admission to the establishment and sharpened her song writing skills.

In her second year, she dropped out in order to focus on her music career, with her father agreeing to pay her rent for a year if she promised to return if she failed. Despite being one of the biggest music stars on the planet today, it took a long time of living in a cheap flat and eating rubbish beforehand.

Gaga's first foray into music happened in summer 2005 when she recorded two songs with hip-hop artist Grandmaster Melle Mel for an audio book that accompanied a children's novel called The Portal In The Park. In September that year she also established the Stefani Germanotta Band with some friends from her former university.

They started off playing a mixture of self-penned tracks as well as covers of classic rock songs at bars across New York, which helped them generate a small fan base and drew the attention of record producer Joe Vulpis.

The band reached its peak in 2006 before disbanding. Music producer Rob Fusari had chosen Stefani as the best female singer to front a new band due to her skills and he helped her create the stage name Lady Gaga. Their relationship took a while to become successful but they were soon recording electropop together. Gaga was then signed to Def Jam in late 2006 with the intention of releasing an album in nine months' time but she was dropped after three.

A dark period of Gaga's life then followed as she became more experimental with drugs and became a go-go dancer leading to an alienation with her father who didn't understand. She also became romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer who later influenced some of her hit songs.

In 2007 she performed at 'Lollapalooza Festival' with Lady Starlight whom she had met earlier that year. The show was critically acclaimed and received positive reviews. It also helped Gaga find her musical niche – incorporating pop melodies into glam rock.

Later that year, Fusari helped Gaga get signed to the new Streamline Records run by Vincent Herbert after which she became a songwriter for Sony/ATV. After writing songs for the likes of Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block and the Pussycat Dolls she joined Cherrytree Records.

Gaga then came into her own – she moved to Los Angeles and released her debut album Fame on 19 August 2008. She supported the album through live performances but it wasn't until the lead single Just Dance reached the international charts that she became a star. In January 2009, it topped charts across the globe provoking the instant success of her album. She earned her first Grammy nomination for this track, which became one of the best-selling around the world.

Her next song Poker Face was even bigger selling 9.8 million copies and won the Best Dance Recording Grammy at the 52nd edition of the awards. The album also took home the Best Dance/Electronica Album at the same ceremony. More accolades followed including Bilboard's Rising Star title and three MTV VMA nominations. She took home the prize for Best New Artist for the video of her third single Paparazzi.

She then wrote The Fame Monster, which had eight songs and was released in 2009. Lead single Bad Romance topped the charts in 18 countries and won two Grammys. Her next track Telephone with Beyonce Knowles had a risqué music video full of nudity, prison breaks and poisoning but it became her fourth UK number one single.

Her following single Alejandro was also criticised for its dark and blasphemous music video. Despite this, she became the first musician to attract more than one billion views on YouTube. She also went on to win eight of its 13 nominations at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards to which she wore her now iconic dress made from meat.

Gaga then went on her second worldwide tour The Monster Ball Tour just months after finishing her first. It ended in May 2011 and was one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. This was followed by the release of her second album Born This Way on 23 May 2011 which received positive critical acclaim and sold 1.108 million copies in its first week.

She has gone on to enjoy hits with Judas, The Edge of Glory, Marry The Night and You and I. In April 2012 she started her third worldwide tour The Born This Way Ball Tour.

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