Real meaning behind Lady Gaga alter-ego and why she ditched unique birth name
Lady Gaga has been the reigning queen of pop for over a decade now, but many fans still don't know the true meaning behind her unique stage name and why she ditched her birth name
Lady Gaga has got everyone's attention at the moment. Not only did she headline at Coachella festival, she's also released a new album and fans are scrambling to see her on tour.
We can't stop listening to her new tracks – 'Abracadabra,' 'Disease,' and 'Garden of Eden' – and to celebrate Gaga's huge success, we've been reading up on her career journey.
It turns out, there's some trivia people are only just learning about the star. They've been interested to learn how she got her stage name.
She was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta but later embraced the moniker Lady Gaga.
While there's some debate over the exact story, it's thought that the name was born out of an autocorrect mishap by her ex-partner and music producer, Rob Fusari.
He reportedly began calling her 'Gaga' after she reminded him of the 1984 Queen song 'Radio Gaga'.
Later, when he tried to text 'Radio Gaga,' autocorrect changed it to 'Lady Gaga'. Since then, she's adopted the name with pride, and in a 2010 tell-all, she revealed her desire to "reinvent" herself.
In that interview, she reportedly stated: "So I said, 'What about Lady Gaga?' because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations."
So why not stick with her distinctive real name? Gaga grew up in a strict Catholic household and started playing piano at age four.
She attended the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University but dropped out to focus on her music career.
Early in her career, she performed in small clubs and as a songwriter for other artists. But people initially didn't get her vision – and picked on her for standing out from the crowd.
When she finally realised it was her differences that made her special, the true persona was born. She left her old life behind and fully embraced being herself.
She said: "I've always been Gaga... I suppressed all those eccentricities about myself so I could fit in. Once I was free, I was able to be myself."
Being herself has paid off – she's won 14 Grammy Awards and sold an estimated 170 million records worldwide. It's seriously impressive!
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