With the flamboyance of Madonna, David Bowie, and Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga has become a true pop diva of the post-millennial age, putting out countless hits and pushing the boundaries of fashion through her unique aesthetic.
Gaga initially found a love of performance through drama, pursuing musical theater in high school and at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Gaga initially signed with Def Jam in 2006, but the contract was short-lived. Nevertheless, after gaining positive attention with her act, Lady Gaga & The Starlight Revue, alongside burlesque star Lady Starlight, Gaga garnered the interest of Interscope Record and their subsidiary label Kon Live.
In 2008, her first album The Fame stormed to global success. Featuring the hit singles, “Just Dance,” “LoveGame” and “Poker Face,” Gaga initially found greater success in Europe, dominating club playlists. Gaga soon climbed to the top of the US charts and abroad, achieving several number one singles. With “Poker Face,” she was awarded her first Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
In 2009, Gaga released The Fame Monster, an expanded reissue of her debut album. With new singles like “Bad Romance,” “Alejandro,” and “Telephone,” a duet with Beyoncé, The Fame Monster continued to keep Gaga at the top of the charts.
In 2011, Gaga returned with new music, releasing her second album, Born This Way, featuring the top ten singles “Born This Way,” “Judas,” and “The Edge of Glory.” Gaga promoted the album through extensive tours internationally, as well as appearing on an endless list of television programs.
Gaga followed up Born This Way in 2013 with Artpop, her third studio album, which topped international charts. Gaga’s next move was an interesting change of direction: a collaborative album alongside legendary vocalist and personal friend Tony Bennett. The two released an album of jazz duets titled Cheek to Cheek in 2014.
By 2015, Lady Gaga would level up her career – and her longtime dreams – with a move into a whole new medium. Her debut as a leading lady came in her iconic performance as the vampiric hotelier of American Horror Story: Hotel. Easily carrying the fan-favorite TV show as the owner of a haunted hospitality spot in downtown Los Angeles, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film. This out-the-gate thespian triumph would lead to much, much more.
Lady Gaga released her next album, Joanne, in 2016. The title track, an ode to her aunt, hit number one on the Billboard charts. A few months after Joanne’s October release, Gaga went on to headline the 2017 Super Bowl LI Halftime Show, famously performing with an array of drones in one of her most mesmerizing appearances to date. Two months after bringing the football world to its feet, Gaga headlined the Coachella festival, once again wowing the audience with her power and energy.
Never one to rest, 2018 would find Lady Gaga combine her prowess as a movie star and music superstar with her leading role in the remake of the classic 1937 Janet Gaynor movie A Star is Born. Not only did she deliver a rousing portrayal of a struggling songwriter, she also co-wrote each of the film’s songs with costar Bradley Cooper.
The soundtrack of A Star is Born reached number one on the Billboard charts. For her on-screen performance, Gaga earned Best Actress nominations from the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and BAFTA Awards. On the music side, Gaga won Best Original Song from the Academy Award, Golden Globe Awards, and Critics’ Choice Awards.
Mixing things up once again, Lady Gaga settled into a Las Vegas residency from 2018 to 2022. Here she played selections from the Great American Songbook as well as her own hits to sold-out-crowds performance after performance. Between performances, she still found time to record. She released her studio album Chromatica in 2020, which became her sixth number one record in a row.
At the tumultuous beginning of 2021, Lady Gaga performed on one of the most important stages of her career, belting out “The Star Spangled Banner” at President Joe Biden’s Inaugural Celebration. Later that year, she also released a second jazz collection with Tony Bennett called Love for Sale.
Gaga returned to acting, starring in the biopic House of Gucci in late 202. In early 2022, she the song “Hold My Hand” for the film Top Gun: Maverick. That same year also brought news of an upcoming starring role in the sequel to the Joaquin Phoenix supervillain film Joker, where she will star as the DC Comics’ villainess Harley Quinn, reprising the role made famous by Margot Robbie in the Suicide Squad series.
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