Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), who performs under the stage name Lady Gaga, is a singer, songwriter and musician from New York City, New York, United States.

Before Gaga adopted her stage name she was in a band called Stefani Germanotta Band. She released her first EP, "Red and Blue", in early 2006. The following year, music producer Rob Fusari dubbed her Lady Gaga, inspired by the Queen song "Radio Gaga". After this she recorded her first two songs as Lady Gaga (Fever and Wonderful) on Def Jam records, but was later let go.

She began her career as a songwriter for some of pop music's biggest stars, including Fergie, Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears and New Kids On The Block, as well as American singer and producer Akon. After Akon recognized that Gaga also had vocal talent, he signed her to a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution, and then she started to work on her own new material for her debut album.

Gaga released "The Fame" in 2008, which she explained was "about how anyone can feel famous." To date, the album has spawned the international number one hit singles "Just Dance" (nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards) and "Poker Face." The Fame then went Diamond in February 2010, Selling over 12 million copies worldwide.

She then continued to release a new album 1 year later, "The Fame Monster", which she wasn't intending to make at first. She released "Bad Romance" as the first single, and has been nominated for dozens of awards all over the world. After The Fame Monster was released she released two more singles "Telephone (feat. Beyonce)" and "Alejandro". She released "Dance in the Dark" as a promotional single, but only released it in Australia, New Zealand and France. She has been touring almost constantly since "The Fame Monster" was released, referring to her shows as The Monster Ball.

Lady Gaga announced her new album name, "Born This Way" at the 2010 MTV VMAs. It is set to be released in 2011, an official date has not been set yet.


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