in ,

Lady Gaga Biography: Career, Relationships, Songs, Albums, and Awards

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Singer Lady Gaga (L) performs during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. During today's inauguration ceremony Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images)

Lady Gaga attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts before leaving to pursue her own creative expression. Her debut album, The Fame, was a big hit, and the single “Poker Face” topped charts in nearly every category and region. Lady Gaga has also received praise for her subsequent albums, including a collaboration with Tony Bennett, as well as her acting abilities, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for her contributions to American Horror Story and an Oscar nomination for her co-starring role in A Star Is Born.

Early Life and Career

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born in Yonkers, New York, on March 28, 1986, to Cynthia and Joseph Germanotta. Lady Gaga, as she is now known (her moniker was inspired by the Queen song “Radio Ga-Ga”), has become an international pop success.

Gaga began playing the piano at the age of four. She was invited to the Juilliard School in Manhattan at the age of 11, but instead attended a private Catholic school in the city. She continued to study music and perform, penning her first piano ballad when she was 13 and performing in a New York nightclub when she was 14.

Gaga was granted early admission to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts a few years later, making her one of just 20 students in the world to get the accolade. She studied music and focused on her songwriting skills while there. She later dropped out of school to pursue creative endeavors. She worked three jobs, including a spell as a gogo dancer, to make ends meet while honing her performance-art act.

Lady Gaga was briefly signed by Def Jam Records in 2005, but she was dismissed two months later. After being released by her label, the singer began performing on her own in bars and venues on New York City’s Lower East Side. She worked with various rock bands there and began experimenting with fashion.

Debut Album: ‘The Fame’

At the age of 20, Gaga began working as a songwriter for other Interscope Records singers such as Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block, and The Pussycat Dolls. Akon, an R&B artist, found Gaga while she was doing her own burlesque act, “Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue.” Akon signed the musician to his Interscope label, Kon Live, after being impressed. Gaga created and recorded her debut album, The Fame, in 2007 and 2008. The album earned favorable reviews and was a commercial success in the United States. With the assistance of her own creative team, “Haus of Gaga,” the artist began to build a reputation for herself on a global scale.

‘Just Dance,’ ‘Poker Face’

“Just Dance,” Lady Gaga’s debut single, was released to radio in early 2008 and gained both popular and commercial success. In 2008, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award (for best dance recording). The song lost to Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” but Gaga still topped the mainstream pop charts in January 2009. “Poker Face,” the second single from The Fame, helped Gaga gain even more fame. The song topped singles charts in nearly every genre and in nearly every country. Both tracks were produced by RedOne, an Akon affiliate who also co-wrote the majority of Lady Gaga’s album.

‘Born This Way’

Lady Gaga later opened for the reunited New Kids on the Block in 2008. She also worked with them on the song “Big Girl Now” from their album The Block. The Fame Monster, Gaga’s eighth studio album, was released the following year, followed by Born This Way in 2011. Lady Gaga’s third studio album, Artpop, was released in 2013. The album did not have the same impact on her audience as her prior works. Among the changes in her inner group, she and her manager split up.

Working With Tony and Golden Globe

In 2014, she released Cheek to Cheek, an album of jazz duets with Tony Bennett that won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Lady Gaga remarked of her latest collaboration in an interview with Parade, “Working with Tony has reaffirmed everything I knew but that you start to forget when your life changes and it gets really noisy.” It’s all about beautiful music for Tony.”

At the Academy Awards telecast in February 2015, Gaga continued to demonstrate her range and strength as a vocalist, paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music and actress/singer Julie Andrews by performing selections from the musical.

In 2021, Gaga and Bennett released their second collaborative album Love for Sale, which won best traditional pop vocal album at the Grammys in 2022.

Golden Globe for ‘American Horror Story’

Later that year, Gaga demonstrated her acting abilities by co-starring in American Horror Story: Hotel, for which she won a Golden Globe for her role of The Countess. At the ceremony, a visibly startled and tearful Gaga expressed gratitude to her fellow cast members and producer Ryan Murphy for their support. Gaga returned to American Horror Story: Roanoke for its sixth season, playing a witch.

In February 2016, Gaga performed an homage to the late David Bowie with guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers. A red-wigged Gaga performed a short medley of David Bowie’s tunes as a tribute to one of her musical inspirations. She also performed “Til It Happens to You” after being introduced by then-Vice President Joe Biden at the 88th Annual Academy Awards. The song was featured in the 2015 documentary The Hunting Ground, which examined the problem of rape on college campuses. Assault survivors were taken to the stage at the end of the song, which received a standing ovation.

Success With ‘Joanne’

Joanne, Gaga’s fifth studio album, was released in October 2016. It was her fourth album to hit No. 1 in the United States and top the charts in nations across the world. Gaga collaborated with producer Mark Ronson on the album, which is named after her aunt and father’s sister, Joanne Germanotta, who died of lupus complications at the age of 19 before Gaga was born. “Returning to your family and where you came from, and your history… this is what makes you strong,” Lady Gaga said in an interview with People magazine. “It’s not looking out that will do it; it’s looking in.”Joanne is a step forward for me. It was about going into the studio and forgetting about my celebrity.”

She also told People that her relationships influenced the stories she tells in Joanne. “When you listen to the album, it’s clear the influence that all the men in my life have made on this record,” she said. “That’s at the center of it, as well: I always wanted to be a good girl. And Joanne was such a good girl. But I have such a rebellious spirit, and my father was always very angry. He drank because of his sister’s death. I was trying to understand him through making this record, and in that, also trying to understand why I love men that are cowboys.”

Gaga launched the Joanne World Tour in support of her latest album in August 2017. She later nabbed a Best Pop Solo Performance Grammy for the album’s title track.

Super Bowl Performances

Lady Gaga sang the national anthem during Super Bowl 50 in 2016, then she returned the following year to host the Super Bowl LI halftime show. She began her electrifying performance on the roof of Houston’s NRG Stadium, singing bits of “God Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land” and delivering an excerpt from the pledge of allegiance before leaping into the air hanging by wires to the stage. Her halftime presentation was a combination of her most famous songs, including “Edge of Glory,” “Bad Romance,” “Poker Face,” “Born This Way,” “Telephone,” “Just Dance,” and “Million Reasons” from her album Joanne.

‘A Star Is Born’

Gaga was cast as Ally in a remake of A Star Is Born in 2016, a role previously held by Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland, and Barbra Streisand. She was set to star alongside Bradley Cooper, who was also making his directorial debut with the film.

After its October 2018 debut, A Star Is Born became a box office success, generating an astonishing $400 million worldwide. Both co-stars received Academy Award nominations for their performances, and Gaga’s film duet, “Shallow,” garnered her Golden Globe, Grammy, and Oscar honors.

Las Vegas Residency

On December 19, 2017, Gaga announced through Instagram that she had agreed to a residency in Las Vegas. She announced in August of the following year that she would begin a residency at MGM Resorts’ Park Theater at the end of the year, performing two separate shows over 27 dates: Lady Gaga Enigma, a collection of her most popular songs, and Lady Gaga Jazz & Piano, which features stripped-down versions of her greatest hits as well as selections from the Great American Songbook.

‘Chromatica’ and ‘One World’

With her sixth studio album, Chromatica, on the way, Gaga released “Stupid Love,” her first new music in three years, in February 2020, along with a typically eye-catching video that featured her overcoming the forces of evil with her “Kindness punks.” “Rain on Me,” her follow-up single with Ariana Grande, was released in late May, one week before the well-received Chromatica.

Meanwhile, in April, Gaga collaborated with the international advocacy organization Global Citizen to produce the “One World: Together At Home” virtual performance. The event, which featured performances by Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Taylor Swift, raised more than $127 million to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Personal Life

Lady Gaga proposed to Chicago Fire actor Taylor Kinney on Valentine’s Day in 2015. After five years together, the pair called off their engagement and separated ways in July 2016.

In the summer of 2017, Gaga married her agent, Christian Carino. A spokesman announced the engagement in February 2019, after the singer attended the Grammys sans her fiancé.

The performer extraordinaire made her relationship with tech CEO Michael Polansky public in early 2020.

Nigerian Startup Dojah Launches New Anti-Fraud Product For Digital Businesses

Profiling Elton John, A British Singer, Pianist and Composer