LADY GAGA 

 

 

Lady Gaga was not always known as Lady Gaga. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born in Manhattan, New York on March 28th 1986. Born into a Catholic family, she was raised as a Catholic and attended the Convent of the Sacret Heart, an all-girls Roman Catholic school located in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When she graduated high school, she enrolled in the CAP21 program at New York University's Tisch School for the Arts, a musical theatre training program. During this time, she worked on her vocal skills, as well as other forms of art, music, religion, politics and social issues. During the second semester of her sophomore year, she dropped out and decided to focus on a music career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for one year, and if she wasn't successful she had to re-enroll at NYU. This marked the beginning of her journey in the music industry.

 

Once she found an appartment, she became Lady Gaga, formed a band and began recording music. She eventually met a music producer with whom she formed a relationship with. They created music together and began sending this music to record label executives, attempting to truly break into the music industry. As a result, she was eventually signed to Def Jam Records. However, she was dropped by the label just three months after being signed. This event in particular inspired the next period of her life.

 

Following being dropped from Def Jam, Gaga was devastated. She entered a dark period of her life following what was, at that point, the biggest form of rejection she had ever faced in her life. She completely abandoned her religious upbringing and her Catholic roots, and disappointed her family through her actions. This was a major rebellion in Gaga's life. She returned home for the Christmas season, and became very experimental in all aspects of her life. She ended her relationship with the music producer she had met earlier that year, started to experiment with drugs and became a go-go dancer at a local bar on the Lower East Side. In an interview with The Telegraph, she spoke about this time in her life:

 

"I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to Black Sabbath and singing songs about oral sex. The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself." 

 

Despite this dark period, she eventually found herself again. She met a performance artist named Lady Starlight, and they began performing together. Through their gigs, they gained a fanbase and some popularity, and she was eventually signed to Interscope Records, the label she remains signed with today. This influential period of her life; being dropped from one label, losing herself, experimenting, rehabilitating herself, and in turn, finding herself, and being signed to another record label, was the main source of inspiration for her self-directed and self-written music video for her song "Marry The Night", which can be seen below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following being signed to Interscope Records, Gaga proceeded to release her debut album, The Fame, for which she achieved both commercial and critical success. Ever since, she has been a dominating force in the music industry, and continues to lead in the industry as an innovator and artist. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lady Gaga often uses religion in her art, whether it's in her songs, albums, performances, concert tours, music videos or even her fashion choices. These symbols are almost always Roman Catholic references and are reflective of the religion she practiced growing up, both at school and at home. As a result, I believe that an artist can personally have the same religious beliefs in their inner life as they do in the persona they portray in the media and their art. I will examine several elements of Lady Gaga's work in order to prove my argument.