Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in Manhattan, New York, Lady Gaga, who named herself after the Queen song “Radio Gaga” is known for her meteoric rise from a songwriter for Britney Spears to a superstar in her own right, both an accomplished singer known for her powerful coloratura contralto vocals, and as a talented actress, starring in award-winning films A Star is Born and House of Gucci. Her provocative costumes (the infamous meat dress) and flamboyant wigs by her creative team, Haüs of Gaga, make her all the more memorable. 

Gaga was discovered while singing to herself in a changing room at a store near her private girls’ school in Manhattan, where Paris Hilton was a classmate. Introduced to Christina Aguilera’s vocal coach, she has since gone on to sing at the Superbowl and at President Biden’s inauguration. At seventeen, she was one of twenty people in the world to have gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Although her family was well-off (her father was an internet entrepreneur) she dropped out of school, left home, and decided to make a name for herself singing in New York nightclubs. Early on, she dyed her dark hair blonde to avoid being mistaken by reporters for Amy Winehouse. 

To earn cash, Gaga wrote songs for the likes of Fergie and Britney Spears. When “Telephone” was passed over for Spears’ 6th album, she recorded it herself (in collaboration with Beyoncé) and it became one of her most famous hits alongside “Bad Romance,” “Poker Face,” “Paparazzi,” and “Born This Way,” an empowerment ballad liked to Madonna’s 1989 hit “Express Yourself.”  Along with Madonna, Gaga cites Spears as one of her idols to this day.

Gaga’s break out song, “Just Dance,” became popular in clubs throughout the United States and Europe and landed at number one on the Billboard Pop Charts making Lady Gaga the first artist in the chart’s 17-year history to have four number one songs from a debut album. She called her fans “monsters” dubbing herself “Mother monster” and her sold-out world tours, lasting more than year, would go on to break records for their gross profits. She now has more than 20 tattoos, each depicting an important moment in her life, including daisies and roses the length of her back with the inscription “La Vie en Rose.”

In her personal life, Gaga has acknowledged her own bisexuality and has been engaged to two men but has thus far never married or had children. She is a dedicated fur mama, once offering a $500,000 reward after two of her French bulldogs were dognapped and her dogwalker shot in Los Angeles while she was filming in Rome. They were safely returned.

Successfully crossing over into acting, in 2019 Gaga won two Grammy’s and an Oscar for Best Original Song for “Shallows,” co-written with Bradley Cooper, from A Star is Born, a film that is a metaphor for her own incredible career.