Lady GaGa (real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) is a singer and songwriter who makes pop, electro, glam rock and R&B influenced music. The 'GaGa' part of her name comes from the Queen song 'Radio Ga-Ga', after producer Rob Fusaru compared her to Freddie Mercury.
She was born March 28, 1986 in Yonkers, New York and attended private Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart. GaGa taught herself piano at an early age, began writing songs aged 13 and was performing on stage by 14. Later she enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied music.
Her career in music began when she signed to Def Jam Records aged 19, but was dropped three months later. She was them employed by Interscope Records as a songwriter where wrote tracks for Pussycat Dolls, Fergie, Britney Spears and New Kids On The Block.
After working with Akon in 2007, he signed Lady GaGa to his Kon Live Distribution label, in conjunction with Interscope. During this time, she was performing in New York, building up a following in the underground music scene.
In 2008, she then headed to Los Angeles where she recorded debut album 'The Fame'. The record received worldwide critical acclaim - thanks largely to lead single 'Just Dance' - which topped the singles charts in seven different countries. 'The Fame' was first released in the US and Canada in 2008, before reaching the UK and Europe in 2009.
Lady GaGa is also known her out creative and provocative fashion sense. She can often be seen wearing outrageous outfits in public, which even led to her being warned for indecency by police in Chicago, in 2009.
