Crossword Dictionary

LADY GAGA

Lady Gaga, byname of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, (born March 28, 1986, New York City, New York, U.S.), American singer-songwriter and performance artist, known for her flamboyant costumes, provocative lyrics, and strong vocal talents, who achieved enormous popular success with songs such as “Just Dance,” “Bad Romance,” and “Born This Way.”

Germanotta was born into an Italian American family in New York City. She learned music at an early age and was performing onstage in New York City clubs by the time she was a teenager. She attended an all-girls school, Convent of the Sacred Heart, in Manhattan before going on to study music at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She studied at Tisch for two years before dropping out to manage her own career.

After dropping out, she began transforming herself from Germanotta into Lady Gaga, whose style combined glam rock and over-the-top fashion design. In 2007 she and performance artist Lady Starlight formed a revue called the Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow. That same year Lady Gaga, who also wrote songs for other pop artists such as Fergie, the Pussycat Dolls, and Britney Spears, was signed by the singer Akon and Interscope Records and began preparing her debut album, The Fame, which was released in 2008.

In addition to recording music, Lady Gaga made occasional film appearances, notably in Machete Kills (2013) and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014). She played a vampiric countess with no regard for life or suffering in the fifth season of the television show American Horror Story: Hotel (2015–16). For her performance in the anthology series, Lady Gaga received a Golden Globe Award.