23 year old Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Lady GaGa) won two Grammy's this week. No small feat considering her first album, The Fame, was released in the summer of 2008. It went number-one in four countries, and topped the Billboard charts in the United States. Her first two singles,"Poker Face" and "Just Dance", became international number-one hits. Her album earned a total of six Grammy nominations, and won for Best Electronic Dance Album and Best Dance Recording. Gifted with talent from birth, Lady GaGa could play piano by ear at the age of 4. She wrote her first piano ballad at 13 and was performing open mike nights by the age of 14. She was set to join Julliard in Manhattan at 11 years of age, but instead her parents put her in a private Roman Catholic school. (That could explain some of the rebellious nature of her videos.) When she was 17, she received early admission to the The Tisch School of Arts in New York. At 19, Lady Gaga signed with Def Jam Recordings after their CEO heard her singing down the hall from his office, but was dropped from Def Jam three months later. (another legendary screw up in the music industry)
Ever wonder how she got her name?
One of her first music producers Rob Fusari helped her write her early songs. Every day Stefani came to the studio, and would sing the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" as an entrance instead of saying hello. When Stefani wanted to come up with a stage name, Rob texted her, and typed Radio Ga Ga, but the phone corrected his typing to Lady Ga Ga. That day she became Lady GaGa and told people to never call her Sefani again.
Check out this early performance in her career when she was still Stefani Germanott
