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Lady Gaga as a baby being carried by her godfather 1986 

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Lady Gaga was born on March 28, 1986, in New York City. 

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Lady Gaga was born on March 28, 1986, in New York City. 

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Her full name is Stefani Joanne  Angelina Germanotta.

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Her full name is Stefani Joanne  Angelina Germanotta.

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She began playing the piano at a young age and showed an early talent for music. At the age of four, she could play piano by ear and she started taking music classes.

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She wrote her first song at the age of four.

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She wrote her first song at the age of four.

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"I still remember the first song I heard. My dad was listening to what I now know was Pink Floyd’s “Money,” and understanding only the sounds of the cash register in the intro, I wrote a song called “Dollar Bills” on my Mickey Mouse staff paper."- Lady Gaga on 60 Minutes

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Lady Gaga Very First Song " Dollar Bills "

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Instead, she decided to attend an all-female  school  in New York’s Upper East Side. It's an expensive private school (presently charging around $30,000–$40,000). Among other alumni from this school are Paris Hilton, Niky Hilton or Christina Miller. From an early age, Lady Gaga was surrounded by people who had been raised in the celebrity culture.

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In  these  early  years, Stefani had a bit part in an episode of the popular television series The Sopranos that aired in April 2001.

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Lady Gaga's appearance on "The Sopranos: The Telltale Moozadell" (2001) HD

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She performed at the NYU talent show UltraViolet Live, where she finished third on the basis of her piano-accompanied singing performances of the ballad “Captivated” and the up-tempo pop-rocker “Electric Kiss.”

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Vintage Lady Gaga Live at NYU - Captivated & Electric Kiss

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New York’s Columbus Day Parade- October 2005

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New York’s Columbus Day Parade- October 2005

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The singer performed under her own name in a nationally televised performance of her ballad “No Floods” at New York’s Columbus Day Parade.

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Stefani Germanotta - No Floods (Brief clip) (Live at 2005 Columbus Day Parade)

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'Words' and 'Red and Blue'- First demo CDs

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'Words' and 'Red and Blue'- First demo CDs

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The five-track demo discs were self-released as unofficial CDs and were sold by her at shows in January and March 2006. None of the music from these early years has ever been officially released.

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Her first producer Fusari coined the nickname “Gaga” for the singer because he thought she was as dramatic a performer as the late Freddie Mercury, which scored a hit in 1984 with the song “Radio Ga Ga.” Stefani would soon adopt the term and eventually turn it into “Lady Gaga.”

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Ever wonder what it's like to perform without anyone knowing your name? That has been the reality for many celebrities in today's generation. Bruno Mars' is a perfect example of a performer who uses a stage name and has a real name many fans did not expect. Lady Gaga is no different. She grew up being known as one name but when she decided to take her music career to the next level she chose a stage name instead.

Lady Gaga has taken the music industry by storm surprising fans when she changed up her sound from heavy pop to a more soulful sound. She even dabbled as an actress starring as the notable role of Ally Maine in the 2018 film A Star Is Born. She also starred in the 2021 film House Of Gucci playing the role of Patrizia Reggiani and has recently expressed her real feelings about the film.

Related: Here's What Lady Gaga Wore For Each 'House of Gucci' Premiere

It is no question that Lady Gaga contributed much to the music industry and to the LGBTQ+ communities. She has proven how talented she is and that she can do it all; act, sing, perform, and be an activist. What many fans still do not know about Lady Gaga is how her stage name came to be and why she created it in the first place.

How 'Lady Gaga' Chose Her Stage Name

Lady Gaga's full name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta or Stefani Germanotta for short. In the early years, before she became a household name, Lady Gaga did go by her real name. The secret behind how Lady Gaga got her stage name is it came from a nickname she had growing up. It started when she was dating music producer Robert Fusari. Lady Gaga reminded Robert of the Queen song 'Radio Ga Ga. This is when the nickname 'Ga Ga' came to be, it started with Robert but soon all her friends were calling her by the nickname.

Related: 10 Things Lady Gaga Did Before Getting Famous

Growing up, Lady Gaga was bullied by many haters and never fit in with those around her. She was left out in many school activities and sports teams. She felt she could never be her true authentic self and struggled to make friends. Lady Gaga tried to embrace that into her music, but she never felt comfortable enough doing so. This is when she decided she wanted to reinvent herself and go by a stage name instead of her real name. She felt 'Gaga' brought a lot of edge and craziness to the persona she wanted to portray. She felt adding 'Lady' ahead of 'Gaga' adding some solid connotations to the name. And just like that Lady Gaga was born.

The stage name 'Lady Gaga' resembles a lot about what she had to go through during her childhood years. Unfortunately, the bullying did not stop completely for Lady Gaga as she did face plenty of insults from another star that fans forget about. Whenever she steps on a stage a Lady Gaga, it brings her great confidence to be able to be her true self name. Yet, it is very well possible Lady Gaga lied about how her name came to be, and it would have costed her millions of dollars.

Robert Fusari Fought Lady Gaga About Her Stage Name

After Lady Gaga shared her story in 2010, Robert Fusari did not hesitate to go against her. According to Robert, Lady Gaga did not tell the full true story. In fact, he claims he had a bigger role towards her stage name being invented then she led fans on to believe. Robert says the stage name came to be over a simple autocorrect. Robert admitted Lady Gaga was right that he gave her the nickname 'Ga Ga' based on the Queen song. However, she lied about adding 'Lady' to create connotations to her stage name. Robert stated he was texting her 'Radio Gaga' but his phone accidentally autocorrected to Lady Gaga.

Related: The Truth About Lady Gaga's Tragic Pregnancy

Robert had sued for $30 million for not only creating her name but for also discovering her talent. He also believed he was entitled to royalties from Lady Gaga's success. The case never did get picked up, so we may never know who did tell the truth in the 'she said, he said' arguments. However, we can not deny that Lady Gaga has made quite the impact over the years and deserves the Pop icon and Gay Icon titles. As for her music royalties, Robert may have discovered Lady Gaga's talent and if he is the reason her stage name came to be, hopefully they can work out a deal. Only time will tell.

Next: Lady Gaga Explains Why She Used To Self-Harm

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The Real Reason Lady Gaga Changed Her Name

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How did she get the name Lady Gaga and why did she stop going by her real-name, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta?

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Lady Gaga(Stefani Germanotta) & Lady Starlight - Lollapalooza 2007 Festival  (live)

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Instead of playing the piano dressed in grungy clothes as she did during her Stefani days, Lady Gaga now performs with an  electronic  keyboard dressed in glitter bikinis, accompanied by Lady Starlight spinning beats, and the two of them dancing to heavy metal songs.

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Lady Gaga(Stefani Germanotta) & Lady Starlight - Lollapalooza Festival  (live)

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Cheek to Cheek (with Tony Bennett)- 2014

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Cheek to Cheek (with Tony Bennett)- 2014

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After 15 years after releasing the album, there is still major recognition for the first album produced by Lady Gaga what could have been seen on the trendings on TikTok.

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15 years of Lady Gaga’s ‘The Fame’ 🪩 We take a look back at the legacy of #LadyGaga’s celeb-obsessed debut album. Read the full feature on the site. #LadyGaga #TheFame

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@crackmagazine
15 years of Lady Gaga’s ‘The Fame’ 🪩 We take a look back at the legacy of LadyGaga’s celeb-obsessed debut album. Read the full feature on the site. #LadyGaga #TheFame
♬ original sound - Crack Magazine

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"The Fame" primarily falls under the dance-pop and electropop genres. It was heavily influenced by the electro and synth-pop sounds of the 1980s.

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"The Fame" explores themes of celebrity culture, fame, love, and self-expression. Lady Gaga's lyrics often delve into her experiences in the entertainment industry and the pursuit of recognition.

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Lady Gaga on Debut Album, ‘Just Dance’ & ‘Paparazzi’ Music Videos (2008) | #TBMTV

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"The Fame" marked the beginning of Lady Gaga's extraordinary career and set the stage for her to become one of the most influential and unique artists in contemporary pop music.

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Each song of the album represents Lady Gaga's fears which shows us very intimate and vulnerable parts of her.

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Each song on The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga represents a monster she has encountered throughout her life.

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Each song on The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga represents a monster she has encountered throughout her life. https://t.co/680rrY25Dy

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Each song on The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga represents a monster she has encountered throughout her life. pic.twitter.com/680rrY25Dy
— Lady Gaga Facts (@LGMonsterFacts) January 24, 2016

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Each song on The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga represents a monster she has encountered throughout her life. https://t.co/680rrY25Dy

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Each song on The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga represents a monster she has encountered throughout her life. https://t.co/680rrY25Dy

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Each song on The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga represents a monster she has encountered throughout her life.

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#TBT: Lady Gaga Opens Up About her Fears on ‘The Fame Monster’ EP - video Dailymotion

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Lady Gaga opens up about her fears and the different monsters that inspired ‘The Fame Monster’ EP in this 2009 Fuse interview.

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''The Fame Monster is the edgy, fashion-forward, Euro-gothic version of that musical ingénue, a frame of reference relevant to the growth of Lady Gaga.''

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This essay is one in a series celebrating deserving artists or albums not included on NPR Music's list of 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women.
The year is 2008. American Idol is still a-truckin', Disney Channel television starlets are climbing up the bubblegum Billboard charts and Britney Spears suffers a major public breakdown followed by a musical breakthrough. So if there ever were a time for a pop-centric commentary on fame and its manufactured, tear-jerking iPod Shuffle of a psychological roller coaster, it was then.

With her unconventional alter-ego Lady Gaga and her debut release The Fame, Stefani Germanotta delivered this commentary. The album featured dance tracks like the fan-crazy love note of "Paparazzi" and self-proclaimed notoriety of "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich." Was it catchy? Most definitely. Repetitive? Yes, as most pop songs tend to be. But there was a carnival mirror quality to this record that reflected a harmless, likable and head-bobble criticism of the lives of the rich and famous.

But I want to focus not on the origin of Lady Gaga, but rather on her transformation. Because this story (and my nomination for a "Shocking Omission" to the Turning the Tables project) takes place in 2009, along with the release of The Fame Monster, the follow-up EP to the album Gaga released a year prior. What we now consider Lady Gaga canon came from this sophomore release of eight original songs, including the Grammy-nominated body confessional "Dance in the Dark" and the Elton John-esque glossy piano lament "Speechless." This release also included the magnum opus of Lady Gaga's career: The howling, snarling and teeth-gnashing "Bad Romance," where the pop star became a pop diva with a primal, full-throated scream that both commanded attention and demanded the love-love-love of those listening, no matter the cost, the disease or even the all-out Rear Window horror. Because in Gaga's world, love is fame and fame is pain and pain is love, all of which resonated with listeners on a global scale.

So if The Fame is a sun-drenched, poppy celebutante, The Fame Monster is the edgy, fashion-forward, Euro-gothic version of that musical ingénue, a frame of reference relevant to the growth of Lady Gaga. In the months leading up to The Fame Monster's release, the singer was dealing with the highs and lows of overnight stardom from her debut, and the variety of struggles that manifest during relentless tours and travel. But Gaga isn't afraid of the public; she's afraid of herself. In songs like "So Happy I Could Die," Gaga simultaneously longs for and fears the escape found at the bottom of the glass "in the silence of the night, through all the tears and all the lies." And in "Alejandro" and "Monster," Gaga attempts to strengthen her resolve against going back to men who show no remorse in eating her heart and soul. Rather than simply show the bright-and-sunny side of fame, The Fame Monster confesses the weaknesses of someone perceived as so strong in the public eye. It's a trait that does not weaken Gaga, but simply makes her music stronger and more human, which is why this beguiling record defined Gaga's career and spawned innumerable Little Monsters.

But there's more to The Fame Monster than its success as an earworm. The recording continues to reverberate through our collective pop culture psyche because Gaga took the visceral and made it visual. When you revisit the clap back banger "Telephone," images of Gaga and Beyoncé riding away in a Kill Bill- mobile and dancing in a vengeful diner spring to mind. And it's difficult to separate art from song in "Bad Romance;" Gaga takes on the appearance of a vengeful Alexander McQueen runway model as she audibly rips out her heart (and that of her suitor) in a setting not unlike a discotheque from hell. Throughout it all, Gaga combined pop culture visuals from the past, present and hyperactive future and created a rock-opera playground for her audience to play in. If fame is a disease spread through envy and pride, Gaga's avant-garde videos most certainly spread the fame of her music even further.

Some might argue that Lady Gaga is too poppy, too referential or over-exposed, to the point where it's pointless to shine a light on her work. But Turning the Tables isn't about that. It's about giving respect where respect is due. When was the last time someone argued against Prince's inclusion on a "Best of..." list? Or brushed off George Michael's contributions to the pop world? Without a doubt, Gaga is just as much of a creator and destructor of fame as artists like Bowie, in piercing through the veneer of celebrity status through music. Because if Gaga's The Fame Monster is just as pervasive on the radio, in record stores and countless other media landscapes as the music of her male colleagues, why can't we accept her as a significant artist in pop canon as much as the others?

When you're asked to name-check contemporary pop stars, Lady Gaga's name is certainly one of the first to pop into your head. From whispers and bellows to monstrous stilettos, Gaga's femme fearlessness left a mark in the music world. And on The Fame Monster, she wasn't afraid to turn Hollywood decadence and dirt into a campy, scathing and, most importantly, audio-visual extravaganza that continues to influence and inspire.

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Shocking Omissions: Lady Gaga's Extravagantly Human 'The Fame Monster'

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The album turned Hollywood decadence and dirt into a campy, scathing and - most importantly - audio-visual extravaganza that continues to influence and inspire.

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''My record label didn't want to put out that photo that's my album cover, with the brown hair. They were like, "It's confusing, it's too dark, you look gothic, it's not pop," and I said, "You don't know what pop is, because everyone was telling me I wasn't pop last year, and now look — so don't tell me what pop is, I know what pop is." Reflects her determination to assert her artistic vision and control over her public image

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Just two weeks after Lady Gaga's Fame Kills Tour with Kanye West was cancelled, the ambitious pop star announced plans for an unprecedented "multimedia artistic experience" called The Monster Ball. The show was originally slated to premiere in London in early 2010, but the singer rallied her Haus of Gaga and is set to launch the trek on November 27th, four days after the release of . Rehearsals for The Monster Ball begin next week and details about the show have been scarce until now. Lady Gaga revealed the tour's theme, stage design and plans for The Fame Monster in an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone. For more details on the tour, see our story in the next issue, on stands October 28th.
Look back at Lady Gaga's most memorable fashion moments.
Can you talk about the songs on The Fame Monster?
This is a new album. It's eight songs, I could have put more songs on it, but I just decided not to because I thought they fit beautifully together. I'm really excited about all my new work, and I've been going through some really wonderful times and some really rough times all at once, so it's been really good for my artistry. On the re-release, I wrote this song called "Speechless,"which I think is the best song I've ever written. It's about my dad, it's a really beautiful ballad. It's piano-driven, and there's no beat on it, it's all live instruments. I produced it with Ron Fair, so we did a full live orchestra, recorded everything with live drums, live guitar and bass with me playing piano. We got that really organic, delicious feeling.

What was the thinking behind The Monster Ball?
I wanted to really put together a show that would be the most beautiful, expensive-looking, delicious show, but that my fans wouldn't have to pay a ton of money to come see. So we're playing a few nights in a row. I've got super loyal fans, so I feel this tremendous obligation to take care of them.

You said it was a pop-electro opera.
Yeah. It's the first ever, so it's really whatever I want it to be. The theatrics and story elements are in the style of an opera. Imagine if you could take the sets of an opera, which are very grand and very beautiful, and put them through a pop-electro lens. The design of the show is very, very forward, very, very innovative. I've been thinking about ways to play with the shape of this stage and change the way that we watch things. So what I've done is I've designed a stage with Haus of Gaga that is essentially a frame with forced perspective, and the frame is put inside the stage.

It's got kind of a triangular inset, like a diamond, and everywhere we're playing, the dimensions fit this box that I'm bringing, so it's this giant box that fits into every show. So no matter where I go, my fans get the same experience. So often you go into theaters and there's ambient light flying in from all sorts of places, and the audience is in different spots, and the stage is in different shapes and lengths and widths and depths, so this is a way for me to control all the light and all of the different elements of the show. The theme of the show is evolution.

How will that theme express itself?
Each one of these songs on my album represents a different demon that I've faced in myself, so the music is much more personal. I don't write about fame or money at all on this new record. So we talked about monsters and how, I believe, that innately we're all born with the monsters already inside of us - I guess in Christianity they call it original sin - the prospect that we will, at some point, sin in our lives, and we will, at some point, have to face our own demons, and they're already inside of us. So we talked about growth, and that led us into this kind of scientific space, and we started talking about evolution and the evolution of humanity and how we begin as one thing, and we become another.

This is the first time you've had the resources to do a tour the way you wanted. You've visualized ambitious things before, but you probably weren't able to do it to this extent.
No, I couldn't, but there was one major ingredient that was missing, and that's my fans. Now, I have the inspiration of my fans, and I know what they want. I think there's a lot of artists that are very self-serving, but I'm not one of them. When I create and make music, I make music that my fans want to hear. My record label didn't want to put out that photo that's my album cover, with the brown hair.

They found it too confusing?
It was World War III. They were like, "It's confusing, it's too dark, you look gothic, it's not pop," and I said, "You don't know what pop is, because everyone was telling me I wasn't pop last year, and now look - so don't tell me what pop is, I know what pop is." It's funny, because I fought and fought and fought, and I actually ended up having two covers, because I wanted to do this yin and yang presentation with the covers. When I go to see what my fans are saying, I go onto GagaDaily - they see the cover and say, "I don't really like the blonde one, but the brown one is fucking sick. They love it, and I know what they love, so I make it for them, I don't care what anybody else wants.

Were there elements of the Fame Kills Tour with Kanye West that were going to be in The Monster Ball?
I'm certainly inspired by what we were doing, but I made a decision based on integrity not to use any of the things that we had designed together.

So it's the great lost tour, then.
Yeah, probably. I guess that's kind of perfectly epic, isn't it, though? Isn't that exactly what's supposed to happen? It just wasn't the right timing. I don't want to embellish on it too much, because I want to respect Kanye's privacy. But we just had our own reasons. We're real friends, real friends can make decisions like that, and we wanted to keep the momentum going in terms of pop music staying innovative with hip-hop and R&B, and we really wanted to do it, and it just wasn't the right time. But who's to say what will happen in the future?

Is this tour going to include the band and dancers we saw on SNL?
It's going to be much bigger, but I love my guys. My dancers that are with me now have been with me for two years. I just shot a music video for "Bad Romance" and the Haus of Gaga did the whole art direction for it. We worked with Francis Lawrence, he's a movie director, and he almost never does music videos anymore, and I'm really impressed, even with myself - it's so amazing. That's another thing that keeps me going, when you have moments of adversity and challenge in your life, you have to dig deep. It's my music and my sadness that runs into one another and mutates and gives me the ability to make new things.

Have you already begun to plan the show's fashion?
The fashion, certainly, is going to be another exploration and another level from where we were with the Fame Ball. The theme of monsters is certainly going to be an influence, as well as the theme of evolution and change. It's going to be a truly artistic experience that is going to take the form of the greatest post-apocalyptic house party that you've ever been to.
More Lady Gaga:

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Inside The Monster Ball: Lady Gaga Reveals Plans for Ambitious New Tour

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Just two weeks after Lady Gaga's Fame Kills Tour with Kanye West was cancelled, the ambitious pop star announced plans for an unprecedented "multimedia artistic experience" called The Monster Ball. The show was originally slated to premiere in London in early 2010, but the singer rallied her Haus of Gaga and is set to launch [...]

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"The Fame" explored themes of celebrity culture and self-expression, "The Fame Monster" delves into darker themes like love, obsession, and the darker side of fame.

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"The Fame" explored themes of celebrity culture and self-expression, "The Fame Monster" delves into darker themes like love, obsession, and the darker side of fame.

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The EP was a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in several countries. "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" became massive hits and contributed to Lady Gaga's growing list of chart-toppers.

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THE FAME MONSTER by LADY GAGA has sold 8,298,000 copies in 39 countries. The album sold best in United States (5,000,000 copies), Australia (210,000 copies) and France (200,000 copies).

THE FAME MONSTER certifications and sales

Total sales

8,298,000

(in 39 countries)

Decade-end chart performance for THE FAME MONSTER

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THE FAME MONSTER by LADY GAGA sales and awards - BestSellingAlbums.org

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THE FAME MONSTER by LADY GAGA sales and awards

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Virgin Mobile was a sponsor of The Monster Ball.

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Virgin Mobile was a sponsor of The Monster Ball.

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The Virgin Call Gag is a part of The Monster Ball (North American dates only) where Lady Gaga call one of her fans from the audience. Fans have to fill the form available on the Lady Virgin website and the winner will be selected during the show.

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Lady Gaga talks about Virgin Mobile Charity and calls an audience at The Monster Ball Tour

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Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden

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Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden

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Filmed at Madison Square Garden in Gaga's hometown of New York City, the two-hour special was produced by HBO and first broadcast on the channel on May 7, 2011, a day after Gaga's last date of The Monster Ball Tour. The film captures the energy and enthusiasm of her fans, as well as her rapid rise to fame during that period.

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Shot on February 21 and 22 of 2011 in her hometown of New York City, Five-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga's first concert film, "Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden," spotlights the pop sensation on her sold-out world tour. The concert event features "Born This Way", "You and I", "Bad Romance", "Just Dance", "Poker Face" and more, as well as pre-concert and backstage footage. As first seen on HBOR, the special was nominated for four Emmy Awards. Lady Gaga came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album The Fame (2008), which included the hits "Just Dance," "Poker Face," and "Bad Romance" and sold over 16 million copies worldwide. The album earned her six Grammy nominations and two wins as well as a slew of other awards recognition, including a record setting thirteen MTV Video Music Award nominations. Gaga is the first artist in history to claim four #1 hits from a debut album ("Just Dance," "Poker Face," "LoveGame" and "Paparazzi"). She is also the only artist in the digital era to top the 5 million sales mark with her first two hits. Gaga broke the record when her single "Poker Face" reached 5 million in sales after her debut single "Just Dance" accomplished the same feat the year before. Her third studio album, Born This Way, was released on May 23, 2011. The first single from the album, title track "Born This Way", set a music industry record by becoming the fastest single in history to reach sales of 1,000,000 copies (five days after its February 11th release). Only the 19th single to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (issue date February 26,2011), the recording was Lady Gaga's third #1 on the chart. On iTunes, the song debuted at the top spot in 14 countries, including the U.S., and hit #1 in all 23 iTunes stores worldwide its first week out. "Born This Way" was Gaga's 7th single to hit #1 at Top 40. The singles from the album, including "Born This Way," "Judas," "The Edge of Glory" and "You and I" have sold a combined total of more than 8 million copies in the US alone. Gaga is well-recognized for her outre sense of style as a recording artist, in fashion, in performance and in her music videos. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including five Grammy Awards amongst twelve nominations, two Guinness World Records and the estimated sale of 23 million albums and 60 million singles worldwide. Billboard named her both the "2010 Artist of the Year" and the top selling artist of 2010 ranking her as the 73rd Artist of the 2000s decade. Gaga has been included in Time's annual "The 2010 Time 100" list of the most influential people in the world as well as Forbes' list of the "The World's Most Powerful Celebrities" in the world. Forbes also placed her at number seven on their annual list of the world's "100 Most Powerful Women."

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Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour At Madison Square Garden - Apple TV

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Shot on February 21 and 22 of 2011 in her hometown of New York City, Five-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga's first concert film, "Lady Gaga Presents The M...

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The tour solidified her status as a pop star and cultural icon.

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The documentary segments of the film provide a glimpse into Lady Gaga's life offstage, showing her vulnerability, work ethic, and determination. This adds depth to her star image, revealing the person behind the pop star persona.

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In Lady Gaga's own words the album "much more vocally up to par with what I’ve always been capable of. It’s more electronic, but I have married a very theatrical vocal to it. It’s like a giant musical-opus theater piece.''

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"Born This Way" is often regarded as a celebration of self-empowerment, individuality, and self-acceptance. The title track, "Born This Way," became an anthem for the LGBTQ+ community and a broader message of embracing one's true self. The album's themes encourage inclusivity and diversity.

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How ‘Born This Way’ Was Born: An LGBT Anthem’s Pedigree

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Lady Gaga’s 2011 megahit has been praised as inclusive and criticized as exploitative. But there’s a little history to the song’s origins that isn’t often discussed.

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On May 12th, Gaga and some fan sites set up an agreement called the "Honesty Box". It's an e-mail account (monstermail@ladygaga.com) where fans can send in anonymous tips about leaks from the album to ensure that any leaks don't get widespread distribution. It shows the close connection and partner relationship with her fans.

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In the interview, Gaga tells us that ''Born This Way'' Album and ''ArtPop'' are very different as the albums closely reflect her state. While writing the first one she was overwhelmed with rapid fame and she was in a negative space. ''ArtPop'' on the other hand is a positive album as she was in a better mental place.

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Lady Gaga Interview 2013: Singer Discusses New Album 'ARTPOP', Oz-Styled Performance

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"Artpop" was accompanied by an app called the "Artpop app" that allowed fans to engage with additional content, including interactive elements, videos, and exclusive experiences.

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"Artpop" received mixed reviews from music critics, with some praising its ambition and experimentation while others found it less cohesive than Lady Gaga's previous work.

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Lady Gaga’s fourth album is a mixed affair, neither instant classic nor the expected calamity, writes Kitty Empire

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The album incorporates a wide range of musical styles, including electronic, dance-pop, and R&B. It features bold and experimental production with a focus on synthesizers and electronic elements.

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Collaborative jazz album by American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga and legendary jazz musician Tony Bennett. The project allowed Lady Gaga to explore her deep-rooted passion for jazz and her admiration for classic standards.

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"Cheek to Cheek" was well-received critically and commercially. It earned Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2015.

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Lady Gaga  Tony Bennett Wins Grammy for 'Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

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"Cheek to Cheek" not only appealed to Lady Gaga's existing fanbase but also introduced her to a new audience that appreciated jazz and traditional standards.

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The album represented a reinvention for Lady Gaga, showcasing her ability to cross genres and experiment with different styles of music. It allowed her to showcase her versatility as a vocalist like she did in this performance.

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Lady Gaga Feat.Tony Bennett - Cheek To Cheek on The View

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The album marked a departure from Lady Gaga's usual pop and dance-pop sound, showcasing her versatility as an artist.

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The album marked a departure from Lady Gaga's usual pop and dance-pop sound, showcasing her versatility as an artist.

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"Joanne" represents a significant departure from Lady Gaga's earlier work and a more personal, emotional, and raw expression of her artistry. The album showcases her ability to reinvent herself and explore new musical territories.

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"Joanne" represents a significant departure from Lady Gaga's earlier work and a more personal, emotional, and raw expression of her artistry. The album showcases her ability to reinvent herself and explore new musical territories.

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"Joanne" is a deeply personal album for Lady Gaga, with the title referring to her middle name, Joanne. The album explores themes of family, loss, and self-discovery, paying tribute to her late aunt, whose name she adopted for the album.

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Lady Gaga on Her Father Hearing “Joanne”

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Lady Gaga on Her New Album — and Everything That Came Before (Published 2016)

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With “Joanne,” the inscrutable pop performer reveals her most arresting character yet: herself.

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The "Joanne" era was marked by a visual and stylistic shift for Lady Gaga, as she adopted a more casual, natural look and focused on the storytelling aspect of her music.

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Lady Gaga - Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?) (Piano Version)

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The album marked a return to Lady Gaga's electro-pop and dance-pop roots after her foray into different musical genres with her previous release, "Joanne".

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The album marked a return to Lady Gaga's electro-pop and dance-pop roots after her foray into different musical genres with her previous release, "Joanne".

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"Chromatica" is a conceptual album with a sci-fi theme. It's described as a planet or realm of its own, with each track contributing to the overarching narrative.

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"Chromatica" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its return to pop's electronic roots and Lady Gaga's ability to deliver catchy and meaningful tracks.

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Lady Gaga Returns to the Dance Floor on ‘Chromatica’

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‘Rolling Stone’ reviews Lady Gaga’s new album, ‘Chromatica.’

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The album features notable collaborations, including tracks with Ariana Grande ("Rain on Me") and Blackpink ("Sour Candy"). These collaborations added to the album's appeal and expanded its reach to a wider audience.

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Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande - Rain On Me (Official Music Video)

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Second album with Tony Bennett. The album serves as a follow-up to their successful 2014 jazz album, "Cheek to Cheek." 

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Second album with Tony Bennett. The album serves as a follow-up to their successful 2014 jazz album, "Cheek to Cheek." 

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"Love for Sale" is considered Tony Bennett's final studio album, making it a bittersweet and poignant moment in his career. The album represents a cherished collaboration between two generations of artists.

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"He Is My Musical Companion" - Lady Gaga On Her Special Relationship With Tony Bennett

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"Love for Sale" is a tribute to the music of Cole Porter, one of the most influential and celebrated composers and songwriters in the history of American popular music. The album features reimagined renditions of some of Porter's classic songs.

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As Tony Bennett celebrates his 95th birthday, and he and Lady Gaga prepare for a two-night stand at Radio City Music Hall beginning tonight, reps for the singer and Lady Gaga have revealed the title, concept and track list for their second collaborative album, "Love for Sale," a Cole Porter tribute. The Oct. 1 release is being billed as Bennett's final recording.

"Love for Sale" is the second album from the duo, following their 2015 chart-topper "Cheek to Cheek."

MTV will premiere a video for the track "I Get A Kick Out Of You" Friday at noon ET.

The Porter tribute album is said to include solo selections from both Bennett and Gaga as well as duets; an initial track list for the digital/CD/vinyl release (included below) doesn't designate which are which. The album cover graphic includes a photo of Bennett, acclaimed for his visual art over the years, holding up a sketch of Gaga.

The Radio City shows happening tonight and Thursday are now being billed as Bennett's final New York City live appearances, as well.

In February, Bennett's family revealed that the singer had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's five years prior, even though he had maintained a touring schedule up to the beginning of the lockdowns early in 2021.

For Bennett's 95th, a number of major celebrities are posting birthday tributes via the singer's Instagram channel or their own, including Paul McCartney, Bono with the Edge and others.

The track list for "Love for Sale":

1 - It's De-Lovely

2 - Night and Day

3 - Love For Sale

4 - Do I Love You

5 - I Concentrate On You

6 - I Get a Kick Out of You

7 - So In Love

8 - Let's Do It

9 - Just One of Those Things

10 - Dream Dancing

11 - I've Got You Under My Skin (DELUXE VERSION)

12 - You're The Top (DELUXE VERSION)

Doesn't get much cooler than Bono & The Edge singing #IGetAKickOutOfYou on my birthday! Thanks, @U2 #Happy95Tony pic.twitter.com/gJONVRCw5V

- Tony Bennett (@itstonybennett) August 3, 2021

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Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Reveal 'Love for Sale,' Cole Porter Tribute Album Said to Be Bennett's Last

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On Tony Bennett's 95th birthday, he and Lady Gaga are revealing details of 'Love for Sale,' said to be Bennett's final album release.

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L. Burns, A. Woods, M. Lafrance (2009) The Genealogy of a Song: Lady Gaga’s Musical Intertexts on The Fame Monster 

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There have been implications that not all songs on this album are written by Lady Gaga and that some of them might be copied. This research paper has the goal of identifying and interpreting the intertextual pathways that led to these works.

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Her shows are meticulously choreographed and designed to create a complete sensory experience.

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Gaga's wardrobe choices are an essential part of her performance art. She has donned extravagant and avant-garde outfits that range from the bizarre to the elegant. Her outfits are often accompanied by striking makeup and hair styles.

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Many of her live performances tell a story or convey a message. For instance, her "Monster Ball" tour was structured like a journey through a dark and fantastical world, while her "Joanne World Tour" had a more stripped-down and intimate feel, reflecting the themes of her "Joanne" album.

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Gaga has used her performances to make bold statements about social and political issues. For example, her "Born This Way" performance at the 2011 Grammy Awards featured a political message of inclusivity and support for LGBTQ+ rights.

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Lady Gaga - Born This Way (Live from The GRAMMYs on CBS)

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LADY GAGA PRESENTS: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden 2011 HBO [Full]

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LADY GAGA - JOANNE WORLD TOUR - THE MOVIE // PRESENTED BY CONCERTS BY YOU

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Lady Gaga - Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl LI Halftime Show

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Gaga has used her music videos to push boundaries and provoke reactions. Her video for "Alejandro," with its religious and military symbolism, was considered controversial but also sparked discussions on sexuality and identity.

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It must be a terrible burden when the release of your new video becomes a big event. Particularly when you're Lady Gaga, and the world's media is perched on the edge of its seat waiting to find out who's going to be most offended THIS time.

Luckily, with Alejandro, which premiered yesterday, there are many groups that could lay claim to be the most offended. Here are just a few of them.

Opening with militaristic men carrying giant set squares and other technical drawing equipment, the first group to take offence will be the League of Engineering Draftspeople, for suggesting that not only are they on some kind of violent rampage led by a recently unseated parliamentary representative from the Ministry of Silly Walks, but that women are grossly under-represented in their field. Shocking.

Happily, the next thing we see is Gaga, dressed in typically high-concept fashion.

For the next minute, Gaga is mostly dressed as a giant leather bluebottle.

As she peels back one large fly-like eye, then the other, entomologists will be up in arms, particularly fly enthusiasts (or "muscaphiles"), who will be rightfully concerned about this seeming advocation of insect cruelty.

Ardent fans of choreographer Bob Fosse, veteran performer Liza Minnelli, the film version of the musical Cabaret, Madonna, voguing or Marlene Dietrich could also be offended, as could supporters of wigs, black and white films, original thinking and, possibly, fans of television show Glee. Yes, they could all decide to be offended by Gaga's tribute to one (or perhaps all) of the above, while flanked by a pair of mincing ninnies.

A buff gentleman wearing a policeman's helmet studded with pointy nubbins and sporting little apart from a confused look should be enough to elicit complaint from some Scotland Yard spokesperson or other.

And the image of a stone-faced soldier of apparent ill intent, set against a backdrop of rioting and destruction, is offensive to - well, mainly to people who saw and/or loved Gaga's last video, Telephone, and were hoping for a similarly entertaining experiment in linear storytelling. This is one of the sections of the video that feels thrown in because they wanted it to be almost nine-minutes long, rather than because it adds anything, or makes much sense.

The "men in enormous undercrackers dance routine" - which takes place somewhere in the middle of the completely predictable five-minute bondage/S&M mid-section - is offensive both to people with a distaste for "nude" underwear, and to those who think that wearing slimming support garments is restrictive of the natural human form.

There is certainly an argument that any offence taken by the Catholic church may be warranted, given the conflagration of imagery including (clockwise from top left); the burial of a heart surrounded by barbed wire, pierced with a nail, reminiscent of the sacred heart iconography; Gaga dressed as some kind of crusader; Gaga's crusader raised above head height to wear an inverted cross at penis level; and, of course, Gaga dressed as a red-rubber nun and deep-throating an entire rosary, which is not only irreligious, but also a possible choking hazard.

These haricuts are offensive. Even the people with the haircuts think so.

Giving new meaning to "having bullets for nipples", Gaga is raising the bar in bra art by adding rifles to the cup tips. The number of groups of people that could plausibly be offended by this runs so high that, at this point, it's possible for the mind, and the eye, to wander and realise that actually, as overdressed, crazy-dressed and underdressed as she is in this video, for once, Gaga really isn't the one worth watching here.

Look at the man to her right. No more expressive a pout has been seen on a dancer since Madonna decided to go on tour supported only by a troupe of angry giant ducks in spandex.

And if you go back and watch the whole thing again, you realise that while you were distracted by the face of Gaga, there were many more entertaining faces in the background.

These dancers, in fact, are the most impressive bunch of gurning hoofers that have ever graced a music video.

In fact, while there were elements of other Gaga videos that merited rewatching, the only thing that makes repeated viewings of Alejandro inoffensive is the fact that with each viewing comes a face more impressively pouty and ridiculous than the last.

And if there was any justice in this video, it would end in a glorious celebration of everyone pulling their best face, in the worst pudding-bowl haircut they've ever been made to wear. But there isn't, because it's been directed by a fashion photographer. So it ends like this instead:

Which is frankly offensive.

Yes, I wish to add my name to the list of the offended. I'm offended that Lady Gaga and Stephen Klein have decided that what it takes to make a publicly loved, critically lauded nine-minute "event" video, is just to make a nine-minute video, and that the rest will fall into place. Not so.

Making nine-minute videos is fine. The offence is in wasting my time when they turn out to be as dull as this one.

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Who's most offended by Lady Gaga's Alejandro?

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The church? Madonna fans? The League of Engineering Draftspeople? It seems everyone has a claim to be outraged by Lady Gaga's latest video

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Gaga's music videos are known for their cinematic quality and visual extravagance. They often feature intricate sets, elaborate costumes, and cutting-edge special effects.

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Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (Official Music Video)

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Some of her music videos are interconnected, creating a cohesive narrative across multiple songs. The videos for "Marry the Night" and "G.U.Y." are part of this storytelling approach.

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Lady Gaga - G.U.Y. (An ARTPOP Film) (Broadcast Edit)

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Lady Gaga - Marry The Night (Official Music Video)

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Yebra, J.M. (2018) ‘Camp revamped in pop culture icon Lady Gaga: The case of “Telephone” and “Born this Way”’, European Journal of American Culture, 37(1), pp. 39–55. 

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Yebra, J.M. (2018) ‘Camp revamped in pop culture icon Lady Gaga: The case of “Telephone” and “Born this Way”’, European Journal of American Culture, 37(1), pp. 39–55. 

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Gaga has used her videos to challenge conventional ideas about gender and identity. In "Telephone," for instance, she plays with themes of female empowerment and sexual liberation.

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Gaga's presence on red carpets is always a highly anticipated event. She consistently surprises and challenges the status quo, making her a staple in best-dressed and most-talked-about lists. She has worn everything from meat dresses to orbiting headpieces. Her willingness to embrace the bizarre and the extraordinary has made her a fashion trailblazer. Gaga has consistently played with concepts of gender and identity through her fashion choices. She blurs the lines between traditional male and female attire, helping to advance discussions on gender fluidity and self-identity. Her fashion is often a rich tapestry of cultural references, drawing inspiration from art, history, and subcultures. This adds depth and meaning to her style, making it more than just surface-level extravagance

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This summer, Lady Gaga is returning to the stage when she kicks off her highly-anticipated Chromatica Ball tour (her first show kicks off in Germany on July 17). While the pop star will be playing new songs from her sixth studio album, fans can also expect Gaga to pull out some major performance looks on stage. After all, Gaga is one of the world's most fashion-forward, risk-taking celebrities (remember the meat dress?). In anticipation of her tour, Vogue is taking a look back at some of the star's best ensembles over the years-the best 73 of them, to be exact.

Since bursting onto the scene in 2008 with her critically-acclaimed album The Fame, Gaga's fashion evolution has kept us guessing along the way. She's the queen of eras-drastically transforming and changing her look with each album release. When she was first starting out, for one, Gaga was all about a futuristic disco look, wearing pieces such as hooded bodysuits and architectural dresses. This is the year she also introduced The Haus of Gaga to the world-her small creative team who would be responsible for her costumes, props, and sets for many years to come.

In the 2010s, however, is when Lady Gaga emerged as the flamboyant red carpet dresser we know her as today. At the 2010 MTV VMAs, she paid tribute to Alexander McQueen in a custom bosch-print gown, gold feather mohawk, and staggering armadillo shoes (she loves death-defying shoes). "I've always been inspired by Alexander McQueen-I think he's potentially the greatest designer of all time," Gaga shared in her Vogue "Life in Looks" video. That same night, she switched into her infamous meat dress, which was designed by Frank Fernandez but envisioned by her Haus of Gaga-complete with a meat hat and meat purse, of course. (Fun fact: In her Life in Looks video, Gaga shared there was actually a corset sewn underneath the meat, to give the garment some much-needed shape.)

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These 73 Looks Prove That Lady Gaga Is Fashion's Ultimate Shapeshifter

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Look back at some of the most iconic Lady Gaga outfits throughout the years-from the famous 2010 meat dress, to her showstopping House of Gucci premiere look just last year.

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Scroll down for live stream of New York Fashion Week and Fashion Media Awards
Huge voluminous puffy sleeves added some flair to the double-breasted suit attire, which she wore over a high-neck white shirt.

Giving the fashionista a run for her money in the style stakes, Jessica Biel wowed in her optical illusion dress.
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The 31-year-old showed off striking new sleek ombre locks, which were enhanced by bronze eyeshadow and nude lips.

The mom-of-four went braless in her unusual striped ensemble, which she teamed with snakeskin pumps as she walked in on the arm of good pal Tim Gunn.

Also adding some glamour to the night's proceedings was Kate Upton.

The blonde beauty wore her hair up in a chic 'do and accentuated her stunning features with striking feminine make-up, while she accessorised with a simple black clutch and strappy stilettos.

Watch Fashion Media Awards live stream here

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Lady Gaga steals the show at Fashion Media Awards in bizarre jumpsuit

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The quirky popstar went with the motto 'bigger is better'

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Lady Gaga MOST INCREDIBLE dress ever in Paris

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Lady Gaga is not only a globally renowned pop artist but also a passionate and committed advocate for various social and political causes. Her activism has extended beyond her music and performances, making her a prominent voice for change in several key areas.

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Gaga has been a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance. She has used her platform to promote equality, raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues, and support organizations that provide services to LGBTQ+ youth. She was opposed to the 'Don'y Ask Don't Tell' campaign and garnered a lot of publicity from her efforts.

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For over a decade, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga for short, has had one clear objective in mind: to promote the gay agenda. And The Lady is the first one to admit it: in one of her first cover story interviews ( Out, September 2009), Gaga said that she wanted to "inject gay culture into the mainstream. It's not an underground tool for me. It's my whole life. So I always sort of joke the real motivation is to just turn the world gay." But now, it seems, Mother Monster has escalated her own ambitions for a queerer world: she has managed to turn an epic pillar of queer culture - a classic musical movie whose main character has been portrayed by both Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand - into an even gayer film.

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After director and co-star Bradley Cooper cast Gaga in the upcoming remake of A Star is Born, she told him about the venues she used to perform in Manhattan as an undiscovered artist, prompting him to change the location of their characters' first meeting to a drag bar. To keep things in the family, Gaga handpicked Drag Race alum Shangela to play her drag mother - and even insisted when the drag superstar initially declined to audition for the role.

Lucky for us, the tools that Gaga uses to achieve her life aspirations are art, drama, humor, and fashion. Here's a look at other winks at the LGBTQ community by the mother of all Little Monsters - some subtle, some scandalous - but all deserving of our applause.
1. She showed her commitment to the LGBTQ community from her early days of über stardom.
In the summer of 2009 Gaga won one of the first of the many, many awards she's received in her career. When the video for her second single "Poker Face" beat out Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" and won International Video of the Year at Canada's MuchMusic Video Awards, Gaga gave a short, sweet, and sincere acceptance speech: she gave thanks "to God and the gays," sending the LGBTQ community a sign of what was to come.
2. She read the U.S. President for his administration's treatment of the LGBTQ community. (And that is not the president you are thinking.)
In that gaylaxy far, far away, when same-sex unions still felt like an impossible dream, and LGBTQ Americans couldn't serve openly in the military, the then-23-year-old overt-the-top singer went to Washington, D.C. to participate in the National Equality March. At a rally held on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building, Gaga was feisty: "ARE YOU LISTENING?" she screamed demanding action from President Obama. "We will continue to push your administration to bring your promise to reality."

In that same weekend, she attended the Human Rights Campaign gala and took a stand when she took the stage. "I'm not going to play one of my songs tonight because tonight is not about me. It's about you," she told the black-and-tie crowd. She then sang John Lennon's classic "Imagine," acknowledging the music industry's "tremendous amount of accommodation of homophobia."
3. She went from wearing haute couture to wearing raw meat to protest against Don't Ask Don't Tell
At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, the most nominated artist of the evening arrived at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles wearing "the number-one look in my career" as she recently revealed (a stunning gown from the late designer Alexander McQueen's final collection) accompanied by four members of the U.S. military who had been discharged or resigned because of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Later in the show, when she went back on stage to receive the award for Video of the Year for "Bad Romance," Gaga had changed into the now-infamous "meat dress," as a way to show her anger about the military's anti-LGBTQ policy. "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones," she later explained to Ellen DeGeneres. The fight for the repeal of DADT, in fact, became a constant in her career - she urged senators to act, she headlined rallies, she made videos that went viral - until it finally became a reality in 2011. And when Donald Trump decided to implement his own trans military ban in 2017, she was quick to react: "The message you have just sent has endangered the lives of people all over the United States and overseas bravely serving our nation," she tweeted.
4. She went off Target
For the much anticipated follow-up to her massively successful first studio album The Fame (and its subsequent multi-Grammy-winning reissues), Gaga struck a business deal with Target: An exclusive edition of her sophomore album, Born This Way, with remixes and additional studio cuts, to be sold exclusively by the retailer. "Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they've made in the past... our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they've made supporting those groups," she told Billboard in an interview in February, 2011. Apparently they didn't do enough. A month later, Gaga made news when she announced that the partnership was off.
5. She made history with Billboard's Hot 100's 1,000th No. 1
Sir Elton John gagged when he first heard "Born This Way." Gaga's third No. 1 single was "the new 'I Will Survive'," he told Entertainment Weekly, "the new gay anthem." Released in early 2011, as the first single of the eponymous album, the club-ready banger was a celebration of queerness, self-acceptance and empowerment. It instantly became a favorite Gay Pride classic: "No matter gay, straight, or bi/ Lesbian, transgender life/ I'm on the right track, baby/ I was born to survive" were words that became as radio mainstream as possible. The following year Gaga, along with her mother Cynthia Germanotta, created the Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit committed to "supporting the wellness of young people and empowering them to create a kinder and braver world."
6. She rocked the vote, for the social media generation.
In 2012, when the presidential ballot in four U.S. states also contained marriage-related measures, Gaga participated in a social media campaign that urged people to get out and vote. The initiative called "The Four 2012" was modeled after MTV's iconic Rock the Vote campaign from the 1990s, with it aimed to increase awareness and vote participation. Gaga recorded a video message to explain how voters could make a difference, and how crucial vote participation was: "I just wanted to remind those of you who live in Maine, Minnesota, Washington, or Maryland that you can actually vote for marriage equality on the ballot this year."
7. Mother Monster takes on Mother Russia!
When the Born This Way Ball Tour hit Russia at the end 2012, Gaga was accused of breaking the city's anti-gay propaganda law. She was threatened with arrest and a $50,000 fine, as Reuters reported, but that didn't stop her. The show went on as planned, to the delight of her Russian fans, and a few days later she brought her message of inclusiveness to Moscow. Less than a year later, Russia's lower house of parliament passed a similar law that criminalized any form of pro-gay speech or public display of affection anywhere in the country, and Mother got pissed. Gaga took to Facebook and Twitter to express her anger, and vowed to fight for her Russian fans. "The Russian government is criminal. Oppression will be met with revolution. Russian LGBTs you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom," she wrote.
8. She helps LGBTQ homeless youth.
Over the 2016 holidays Gaga paid a surprise visit to LGBTQ homeless youth at New York's Ali Forney Center. "I spent a beautiful morning w/[LGBTQ] youth @AliForneyCenter the largest drop-in center in the [world]. I brought [presents] & led them in a group meditation," she later tweeted in an emoji-filled message. That wasn't the first time that Gaga had used her voice and star power to bring attention to this cause. During the Monster Ball Tour she paired up with Virgin Mobile to recruit volunteers to help.

"More than 2 million young people will experience some form of homelessness this year. One in every five homeless youth in the community identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender," she said. "This makes me very angry. Now it's time for us to fight back. Thanks to my partnership with Virgin Mobile and the Re*Generation Campaign, hundreds of my fans have donated their time working at homeless youth shelters over the course of this year's tour, and have all gotten free tickets to see the show. But we still need to do more."
9. She performed "Born this Way" in front of Mike Pence (and over 115 million people)
Just a few weeks into the Trump presidency, Lady Gaga took the stage at halftime of the Super Bowl, after weeks of speculation: how would the left-leaning, Hillary supporter, and LGBTQ rights advocate use her voice in the world's biggest platforms? While the general consensus was that Gaga toned down the politics and focused on delivering a stunning, highly entertaining and memorable - but politically tame - all-American performance, she did manage to sing "God Bless America" as a subtle message of inclusion and unity, and sang the chorus of "Born this Way" to one of the nation's most prominent anti-equality politicians.
10. She made us go: Oh. My. Gaga!
There's a very real possibility that the premiere or RuPaul's Drag Race season 9 left you gagging until way after Untucked. Mother Monster herself appears as Ronnie, "New Jersey's #1 Lady Gaga impersonator." The moment the queens realize the real T is cathartic. Eureka tells Gaga what so many in the community have experienced: "I've been the closest to death, and you've pulled me out of it. You don't realize what you do for people, and how much you inspire people like me and all of us," she said fighting tears. "You allow us to be who we are."
11. She gave us a "Come to Mama" moment.
At the opening night of the Joanne World Tour in 2017, Gaga was visibly surprised when a fan threw a pride flag onto the stage. "Excuse me sir," she asked one of the security people guarding the stage. "May I have that gay pride flag?" She then picked it up and held it like a trophy as more than 15,000 concertgoers screamed in pure gay ecstasy at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada. "I have a lot to say about this issue," she said before reciting a few verses from her song "Come to Mama:" "But the most important thing that I've got to say about it is that everybody's got to love each other," she said. And in the unlikely event that an anti-LGBTQ person happened to be in the venue dancing to Poker Face, she covered all of her bases: "So for any of you who don't believe in equality that are here this evening, come to mama."
12. She still likes to dress up in rainbow colors and celebrate Pride on the streets of her hometown.
Mother Monster doesn't forget her roots. On Pride Day this year she posted a picture on Instagram, posing in front of her pre-fame job (an Italian Trattoria on located Manhattan's Upper West Side and owned by her parents.)

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12 Times Lady Gaga Showed Love for the LGBTQ Community

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Here's a look at the winks at the LGBTQ community from the mother of all Monsters - some subtle, some scandalous - but all deserving of our applause.

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She has also been vocal about her own bisexuality, contributing to greater visibility and understanding of sexual diversity.

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PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news

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Iconic Gaga song is about ‘thinking of women while sleeping with your boyfriend’

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One of Lady Gaga’s biggest hits is actually an ode to bisexuality: she wrote Poker Face about “thinking of women”.

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In 2012, Lady Gaga co-founded the Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering young people. It provides resources, promotes positive online environments, and organizes events and campaigns to encourage kindness and self-expression.

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Born This Way Foundation is committed to supporting the wellness of young people, and empowering them to create a kinder and braver world.

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Gaga has been an outspoken advocate for survivors of sexual assault. Her Oscar-nominated song "Til It Happens to You" (2015) was featured in a documentary about campus sexual assault and became an anthem for survivors. She has used her influence to call for changes in how society responds to and supports survivors of sexual assault.

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Lady Gaga - Til It Happens To You (Official Music Video)

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Gaga has actively engaged in political activism, particularly during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. She used her influence to encourage people to vote, campaigned for Joe Biden, and performed at the Biden-Harris inauguration ceremony.

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Lady Gaga, who performed the National Anthem, has longstanding ties to Biden. (Published 2021)

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Lady Gaga performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at President Biden’s inauguration.

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Gaga has been open about her own struggles with mental health, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that she developed after being raped at the age of 19. Her candid discussions about mental health issues have helped reduce the stigma surrounding them.

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Lady Gaga's Emotional Speech on Surviving Sexual Assault and Mental Health | ELLE

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Gaga has expressed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and has advocated for racial justice.

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Gaga's ability to excel in both music and acting highlights her versatility as an artist. Gaga's acting roles have allowed her to showcase a more vulnerable and emotional side. This has added depth to her star image, demonstrating her ability to convey complex emotions and narratives in a way that complements her music career.

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Gaga's star image is often associated with empowerment and resilience. Her role in "A Star Is Born," where she plays a character navigating the complexities of the music industry, resonates with her own journey as an artist who faced challenges and triumphs. This connection between her personal narrative and her acting roles contributes to her star image.