A Look at Lady Ga Ga’s Rise to Fame

It may feel like Lady Gaga has been around for years, but it’s only since 2008 that her debut single ‘Just Dance’ peaked at almost all charts. Although many people believe that Lady Gaga’s rise to fame is an overnight success, it has taken Stefani Germanotta a lot of sweat and effort to become the absolute pop phenomenon of the new decade.

Lady Gaga is nothing like anybody else. She is nothing like Madonna or Christina Aguilera; nothing like Britney Spears or Jennifer Lopez either. She claims Madonna is her fan and she really believes it. And this belief is inevitably justified by her remarkable songwriting abilities and her long-standing affair with music and the arts.

She learned to play the piano at the age of 4. She acted on stage at the age of 11. She wrote her first piano ballad at the age of 13. She performed with a microphone at the age of 14. As a high school kid, Stefani was dedicated and disciplined, but also eccentric to the extent she was made fun of by her classmates. Feeling like a freak, she changed several schools until she finished high-school to be admitted to the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts at the age of 17. At the New York University, Stefani studied music and honed her songwriting skills focusing solely on following a career in music. However, this hasn’t been an easy decision at all. She left her family, went to live at a cheap apartment and wrote music until she would convince an agent to listen to her art.

She signed her first contract with Def Jam Recordings and released ‘Boys Boys Boys’ at the age of 19. Then, Stefani took drugs, performed at burlesque shows, improved her vocal style and came up with the stage name ‘Lady Gaga’ after the Queen song ‘Radio Ga Ga’ and Rob Fusari’s, her producer’s idea.

The rest was quite easy. During 2007, Lady Gaga created her unique style and own fashion cooperating closely with Lady Starlight. Soon they became known as ‘Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue’ by performing live at famous downtown New York club venues. The Bitter End, the Rockwood Music Hall and the Mercury Lounge were too lucky to have Lady Gaga on their stage, only they didn’t know yet. Then, the duo performed in Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago receiving positive reviews.

What makes Lady Gaga worth noticing is the fact that she mingles electro dance tunes with the glam rock of Queen and David Bowie that she adores. Hew music is not just plain pop singles, easy to sing and forget after a while. It is a massive pack of addictive melodies that hook audiences up and sound nothing like any other hit single.

Her first album ‘The Fame’ (2008) produced numerous singles.

Just Dance’, widely regarded as a club anthem, achieved commercial success in the United States and Europe. The single peaked at #2 on both the Hot Dance Airplay and Hot Dance Club Play and #1 on both the UK Singles Chart and U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Grammy Award in the Best Dance Recording category.

‘Poker Face’ peaked at #1 on both the UK Singles Chart and U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and actually achieved greater success than ‘Just Dance’ in the United States and Europe. Nominated for Grammy Awards of Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Dance Recording, ‘Poker Face’ won the Grammy Award for the Best Dance Recording of 2010.

‘Paparazzi’ is another great hit of ‘The Fame’ widely appreciated for its nice rhythm and sweet vocals of Gaga. The single peaked at #4 on UK Singles Chart and #6 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top five in Australia, Canada and Ireland.

Lady Gaga is also unique in her stage performance and appearance. She is also a very smart professional who uses symbolism in her videos and comments on fame because she loves fame. She is a persona, dresses in her own, eccentric way, and loves to be different.

Overall, Lady Gaga is a phenomenon in all rights. She takes something people do not call art and makes it art. She comments on pop culture and she lives in fame. For some people she may be evil and weird. But, there should be no reasonable person believing that Lady Gaga is not creative and a gifted song writer who has managed to become an international superstar.