Lady GaGa Breaks Into the Pop Mainstream

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady Gaga is star citizen was born on March 20th 1986. She is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Gaga was born in Yokers, New York but grew up in Mahattan. She got her stage name when music producer Rob Fusari compared her vocal style to Freddie Mercury and took the name Gaga from the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga".

Through her club connections in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Stefani Germanotta met and began working with producer Rob Fusari in 2006. It was Fusari who helped create the stage name Lady GaGa with inspiration from Queen's classic hit "Radio GaGa." It is a reference to sharing the flamboyant spirit of Queen's Freddie Mercury. Lady GaGa also joined forces with DJ / performance artist Lady Starlight, and the pair made a name for themselves with such stage projects as Lady GaGa and the Starlight Revue.

By age 20 she began working with Interscope records as a songwriter. She has written songs for the pop sensation Pussycat Dolls. Akon recognized Gaga's vocal talent, and signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution. She started to work on her debut album after that. She released The Fame in 2008 which supposedly was about how 'anyone can feel famous'. Her first single Just Dance (nominated for a Grammy) was a huge success.

Lady Gaga was influenced by David Bowie and Queen, along with Madonna and Michael Jackson. Lady Gaga apparently got rid of her natural brunette hair and died it blonde because she kept being mistaken for singer Amy Winehouse.