Born Stefani Joanne Germanotta, American singer-songwriter Lady GaGa has been turning heads since the summer of 2008 when she performed for the first time on television during the swimsuit competition of Miss Universe.  Her debut album, "The Fame," was released in late 2008 with mostly-positive feedback, not to mention a string of hits in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe.

Born to an Italian family in Yonkers, New York, on March 20, 1986, Germanotta learned to play the piano by ear as a little girl.  She wrote her first song during her teens and was playing open-mic nights at New York's Bitter End.  Germanotta found herself hanging out with performers in the city's Lower East Side.

Realizing that singers within the scene would write the same style of music, Germanotta decided to do something unheard of in underground rock n' roll:  pop music.  She worked with music producer Rob Fusari in 2006.  It was then when she wrote her early dance tracks, one of which ("Beautiful Dirty Rich") was included in The Fame.  With her performing on a completely different genre, Fusari decided to baptize Germanotta with a befitting stage name:  Lady GaGa, which is a reference to the classic rock song "Radio Ga-Ga" by Queen.

In early 2007, Lady GaGa was offered to work with Interscope Records as a songwriter.  She was partnered with fellow singer-songwriter Akon.  While working on demo tracks for Tami Chynn, an artist signed to Akon's record label Konvict Muzik, Lady GaGa would go into the booth to sing reference vocals.  Realizing GaGa's singing talent, Akon later signed her to a joint deal with his Kon Live distribution label.

It was also during this time when GaGa met Lady Starlight, a DJ and performance artist from Lower East Side.  Starlight helped GaGa create her onstage fashions and the two have collaborated on several projects such as "Lady GaGa and the Starlight Revue," a variety act that featured GaGa on synth, Starlight on the turntable, as well as choreographed go-go moves.

Through her affiliation with Akon, GaGa began working on her own material for her debut album with music producer RedOne.  The material consisted of electro-glam songs inspired from David Bowie and Queen, but GaGa wanted to mix her retro beats with urban melodies, pop choruses, yet retaining that rock n' roll edge.

While working on her debut album and building on her online hype, GaGa toured the world with her two dancers, Tina and Coco, and her fellow Interscope artist DJ-producer Space Cowboy.  Her performances are accompanied by glowing staff, which she calls her "Disco Stick."  GaGa's MySpace page also featured a weekly web video series called "Transmission GaGa-Vision," which highlights her performances and appearances.

Lady GaGa relocated to Los Angeles in 2008 to finalize her debut album The Fame, which was eventually released in August in Canada, Australian, and several European countries.  The album peaked at #5 in Canada and #7 in Australia.  The Fame was then released in the United States on October 2008 and debuted at #17 on the Billboard 200, and #1 on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart.

The album's debut single, "Just Dance," reached #1 in Australia and Canada and has peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The second single, "Poker Face," also topped the Australian and Canadian singles charts, as well as in New Zealand.  Meanwhile, it is on the #81 spot on US singles charts.

(Image courtesy of Daniel Åhs Karlsson)