Perhaps among the most popular icons of our changing society today is the internationally acclaimed artist known as “Lady Gaga.” She is a woman highly appreciated for her rather exotic expressions in music and the arts. Many of today's generation admire her because of what they see in her and can perhaps relate with the audacity to let out emotions in ways out of the ordinary. Lady Gaga is a persona and not many are aware of who she really is and how did she came to be so popular.
Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga is the eldest among the children of Cynthia and Joseph Germanotta, the latter of whom is an online entrepreneur. She was born on the 28th of March 1986 in New York City. She learned to play the piano when she was four and eventually was able to finish her first piano ballad at the age of 13. A year later, she started to present herself to the public by performing at open mike nights. She attended an exclusively all-girls Roman Catholic school but had it stressed continually that she did not come from a classy family. When in school, she excelled as an actor in various stage shows and lived the usual student life, alongside her extensive love of the music and arts.
When she was 17 years old she was admitted to the Tisch School of Arts at New York University. There, she furthered her musical learning and improved her writing skills through essays and analytical papers in subjects beyond what one would expect; typically, topics regarding religion, art, social issues, and politics. However, she did not last long in school since by the second semester of her sophomore year she quit so that she could give attention to her musical career.
She started her singing career by staging herself in various local studios and clubs. Within a short period of time she got herself involved with a lot of drug taking. She became less principled when doing her stage presentations but it was through this liberated action that she found out she captured the hearts of many youngsters - Gaga now no longer needs drugs so she claimes, perhaps because she has found her image through experimentation, but she hasn't given them up completely and has resigned herself to only special occaisions in the not-so-forseeable future. Further along, she joined several local artists and performed in various entertainment studios.
It was in 2008 when she finally released her debut album “The Fame”, which immediately topped in countries such as the UK, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland. The success of her first album triggered Lady Gaga to pursue her career as an international artist. She continued to become an inspiration to many of today's youth; not just because of her exotic expressions, music and artistry but because of her audacity to present beyond what people were normally used to and beyond what people expected of her. Her future can only be assured through her music however - the constant attempts to surpass the super-ego and ultimately, her persona when she is off-stage do not seem to affect what people think of her music. Through perception we see 4 Gaga's - the business woman, the musician with her onstage persona, the timid, spaced out offstage persona and finally, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta who many believe no longer exists.