Lady Gaga: the girl behind the myth
Admired by some and criticized by others ... but her extravagant look and her influence are indisputable!
Just a few years ago, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was a slightly overweight, dark-haired, and not particularly attractive young Italian-American girl from Manhattan, who people rarely paid much attention to when she sang ballads while accompanying herself on the piano. Today she is Lady Gaga, the biggest pop music star in the world, a provocative and controversial blonde, with more than 12 million followers on the social network Twitter. How did the change come about? As explained by Lady Gaga, she was always a misfit, a different girl, misunderstood and freak, whom others made fun of. But some of her former fellow students think very differently. "She was very normal," say her friends at that time. They do not remember her as a rebel, but as a simple, friendly and sociable young woman, obsessed with succeeding in music and raised with all kinds of comforts.
Half truths
Impossible to open a magazine, watch television or surf the Internet without finding Lady Gaga. We're used to her 12-inch platforms and her flashy sunglasses, her quirky hats and wigs, her eccentric masks and costumes. We hummed hits of hers like Bad Romance and Poker Face, and we've seen her Telephone video of her with Beyoncé. But… actually until recently we didn't know much about the girl behind Lady Gaga's character. When she talks about herself, Stefani prefers to emphasize certain "difficult" moments in her career - for example, that she worked as a waitress, that she was a go-go dancer in clubs, that she used cocaine for a time and that her rise to fame It was very hard? to reaffirm her new personality. Instead, she overlooks revealing personal details, such as that she was raised with all manner of amenities in a luxurious and spacious Upper West Side apartment, that she shopped at expensive stores, that she studied at the elite Sacred Heart Catholic College (the same attended by Caroline Kennedy and Paris and Nicky Hilton) and that her idol was Britney Spears. It is true that she worked as a waitress, yes, but it was in her student stage, when she was still supported by her parents… she did not do it out of a real need. The truth, in this and other cases, has been manipulated and put according to the myth.
Determined to succeed
Born on March 28, 1986, Stefani began playing the piano and composing from a young age. When she was 14 years old, her parents Joseph and Cynthia, who have always supported her in everything, hired Don Lawrence - a singing teacher for artists like Mick Jagger, Bono, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys - to help her. teach classes. Around this time, her mother would take her to nightclubs and talk to her managers about allowing her to sing in them.At 17, she was accepted to study music and theater at the Tisch School of the Arts at the University of New York. A year later, in 2004, Stefani dropped out of college and went to live in a microscopic apartment on Stanton Street on the Lower East Side, determined to make her way into the world of music. Her father agreed, but she warned him that if she did not get a contract within a certain period, she would have to resume her studies. At that time, she played in small venues, accompanied by a group of musicians who presented themselves as the SGB (Stefani Germanotta Band). In her performances, her look was not disastrous and she looked more like she was dressed to take a class in a gym. In early 2006, scout Wendy Starland heard her sing at a venue called Cutting Room, realized her potential, and asked producer Robert Fusari, who was looking for a new artist to release, to meet her. Fusari did not like the songs that Stefani had on her website, much less did she like her appearance: small, chubby, with long dark hair and dressed in leggings and a T-shirt, but she agreed to give her an appointment in her studio in Parsippany , New Jersey. Hearing her sing and play the piano, he changed his mind and they began to work together writing and recording new songs. Fusari demanded that she lose weight and showed her a new path: dance music.
Between loves and dances
According to Maureen Callahan in her book Poker Face, in the stage that preceded her fame, Stefani had three romantic relationships. The first, with Tommy Kafafian, a 26-year-old musician, collaborator of Fusari. Later, she had clandestine love affairs with Fusari himself (he was engaged to a young woman named Jane). And, at the same time, with a possessive musician and bartender named Luc Carl, who considered her a "spoiled rich girl" and doubted her talents. This complex relationship had several breakups and reconciliations. By day, Stefani worked on her music in New Jersey; At night, she was a go-go dancer at the Jerome? s and the Slipper Room variety cabaret, which helped him learn to control her body language and uninhibited on stage. Whenever she could, she sang in some club. Her disastrous wardrobe could be a white shirt and a swimsuit bottom.
Lady Gaga is born
They already had the music, but Stefani needed a name that would grab attention. The idea of being called Lady Gaga came from the song Radio Ga Ga by the group Queen. Luck seemed to smile on Lady Gaga when the record label Island Def Jam accepted her music and signed her. Although they did not release her first album and terminated the contract after a year, that gave the artist security. But her image was still a problem. She was sometimes mistaken for Amy Winehouse, which made Stefani furious.She then she signed with Interscope. While performing as the opening act for groups such as the New Kids on the Block and the Pussycat Dolls, she was able to exploit the Internet to spread her music and she became known internationally online. Finally her album The Fame went on sale in August 2008 and received good reviews. In May 2009 she performed her first big concert at Terminal 5, New York. Total success! ”So, she set about creating the visual identity of Lady Gaga. For this, she was inspired by sui generis artists such as David Bowie, Boy George, Madonna, Prince, Nina Hagen and Grace Jones, among others. Creative Director Matt Williams? Who was her boyfriend too? He contributed to her new visual persona of "quirky pop diva." But the singer did not quite feel comfortable with her looks. Who gave the definitive "gaga" touch was Nicola Formichetti. This renowned stylist introduced her to the world of haute couture - to which, until then, Stefani had not had access - and helped her become an icon of her style. The first world-renowned designer to wear it was Alexander McQueen. After her, Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier, Miuccia Prada have done it… Even the legendary architect Frank Gehry designed her an amazing hat.
The rest is history…
Lady Gaga is a superstar and at her concerts, Madonna, Elton John, Sting and Yoko Ono have applauded her. After achieving fame, the singer seems determined to erase the "old Stefani" assuming her Lady Gaga persona at all times. That is why she tries to get photographed playing her role. "I want people to fantasize about how great it can be ... and then fight daily to make that lie come true," she said. The truth is that the global influence of Lady Gaga is indisputable and her legion of loyal followers of her on her Internet does not lose foot or footprint. The question some are asking is: how long will her fame last?
