00:00Hi, everyone. Hello. Are you in my dressing room?
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo. And today, we're taking a look at Lady Gaga's phenomenal career
00:07and her rise to superstardom.
00:09On the one hand, I feel like I've been doing this forever. And on the other hand,
00:14I know I'm just getting started.
00:17Chapter 1
00:18Lady Gaga's most recent era began in October 2024 following the release of her single Disease,
00:24which teased her 2025 album Mayhem. Like all of her albums, Mayhem has been a massive hit
00:29topping charts globally.
00:39It's notably a return to her roots, reminiscent of her debut album. And fans love it.
00:44Its biggest track has easily been Die With a Smile, featuring Bruno Mars, another industry giant.
00:50After being released in 2024, it became Spotify's longest-reigning number one song.
00:59It was so adored that it's gone platinum more than once, alongside winning a Grammy for best
01:06pop duo group performance. The album as a whole has been received with similar positivity,
01:11becoming Gaga's highest-rated release on Metacritic. To promote it, she's announced a huge
01:16six-month arena tour titled The Mayhem Ball. In May 2025, Gaga performed to an audience of 2.5
01:24million fans in Brazil. It was the highest-attended concert for a female artist in history.
01:35With an estimated 170 million records sold, her career is considered one of the greatest ever.
01:41So how did she get there? The short answer is hard work and dedication.
01:45I said it in my speech, and I'll say it again. If you work hard and you don't give up, you can do
01:50anything.
01:51Chapter 2. For the long answer, we have to go back to when Lady Gaga was more commonly known as
01:56Stephanie Germanotta. She was born in New York City to parents of primarily Italian descent.
02:01Inspired by her father playing Pink Floyd's Money, Stephanie wrote her first song on piano,
02:06called Dollar Bills. Impressively, she had initially learned the instrument purely by ear.
02:11Just four years old, I was four the first time I began to play piano. And I would just sit there
02:18for hours and play, play, play, and I would sing in my own little way.
02:22She then kept pursuing music, receiving classical piano training and playing throughout school,
02:27alongside attending acting classes. She was always passionate about music,
02:31joining a classic rock band as a high school freshman, as well as frequently writing and going
02:35to open mics.
02:36This paid off at the age of 17, when she got early acceptance into the prestigious Tisch School of the
02:48Arts, a feat only achieved by roughly 20 people that year. However, she dropped out in the second
02:53semester of her second year there. She felt a burning desire to pursue a music career,
02:58so she left her old life behind to make her dream a reality.
03:01She recruited her old college friend Frankie Fredericks as a semi-informal manager. He helped
03:12her acquire shows alongside forming the SG Band, a short-lived band she fronted from 2005 to 2006.
03:18This helped her acquire enough popularity to get invited to perform at the 61st annual Columbus Day
03:23parade. By early 2006, the group had quickly become an underground sensation. Not long into the year,
03:39she was invited by Wendy Starlin to meet with producer Rob Fusari. Together, they came up with
03:44the name Lady Gaga, inspired by the hit Queen track, Radio Gaga.
03:57Fusari actually sent a text calling her Radio Gaga, but autocorrect changed it to the name we all now
04:02know her by. The pair formed Team Love Child LLC, a company intended to promote her. It worked wonders,
04:09getting her noticed by the label Def Jam Recordings. They signed Gaga in September 2006, but it only
04:15lasted a few months before they mysteriously dropped her. As we now know, that was more their loss than
04:20hers. It was a low point for Gaga, who considered quitting the business entirely.
04:25I don't like being used to make people money. I feel sad when I'm overworked, and that I've just
04:35become a money-making machine, and that my passion and my creativity take a backseat. That makes man
04:39happy. Thankfully, she instead decided to get into performance art. This got her more involved in
04:45fashion, alongside performance artist Lady Starlight. Together, they performed burlesque shows at various
04:51dive bars across New York. The two even played at Lollapalooza in 2007.
04:55How many bags would you say you had? Well, I had two checked bags. I had my prop bag, my disco ball,
05:04and I had my purse. I had a lot. I had a lot in five bags, I guess. I bought a lot of stuff.
05:12Well, I predicted I would do about four costume changes a day. Gaga acquired her unique stage fashion
05:18during this era, which paid off big time. In the same year, her dream came true when she was signed
05:23with the label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.
05:27When I met her, it was crazy, because I was like, wow, she's an incredible writer.
05:31Right.
05:31And then the next day came, and I realized that she's an incredible vocalist.
05:36And then the next day came, and I was like, she looks different every day.
05:41Chapter 3
05:42After landing the deal, Gaga moved to Los Angeles, where she finished making her debut album,
05:47The Fame. In just 10 minutes, she wrote her hit single, Just Dance.
05:51Keep it cool, what's the name of club? I can't remember, but it's alright, I'm alright, just dance.
06:00In total, five producers worked on the album, which became one of the best-selling debuts
06:04in history. Combined with its reissue, The Fame Monster, it has become one of the best-selling
06:09albums of the century.
06:10Chase you down until you love me, Papa, paparazzi.
06:16Multiple songs from this era topped charts, such as Poker Face, Paparazzi, Bad Romance,
06:23Telephone, and Alejandro. It set a high bar for subsequent albums, which, as we now know,
06:28she followed up multiple times.
06:38Her 2011 album, Born This Way, was also extremely successful. Featuring musicians like Clarence
06:43Clemens and Brian May, it included a diverse range of genres, from heavy metal to house. Its title
06:49track was on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for six whole weeks.
07:00Gaga then pivoted to EDM in her 2013 album, Art Pop. At release, opinions were fairly divisive,
07:07but as time passed, fans grew increasingly fond of it.
07:17Gaga then collaborated with Tony Bennett to make an old-school jazz album, Cheek to Cheek.
07:21It was a huge stylistic departure from her solo work.
07:24In 2016, she released Joanne, her most rock-influenced album yet. She worked alongside rock stars like
07:38Tame Impala, Josh Homme, and Florence Welch.
07:40This was also the era she appeared on American Horror Story, her first major acting role. Her
07:54performance was so impressive that she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a miniseries.
07:59I feel like Cher in that John Patrick Shanley film Moonstruck right now. It's like one of the
08:06greatest moments of my life. Gaga's acting career went up from there, being nominated for an Academy
08:12Award in 2019 for Best Actress. That nomination was for her starring role alongside Bradley Cooper
08:18in A Star is Born, a highly praised film that highlighted her incredible acting talent. In the
08:23end, it was the lead single, Shallow, that won Gaga an Oscar for Best Original Song.
08:37She'd returned to her dance pop roots in 2020 with Chromatica,
08:40an album released at the height of COVID. Still, that didn't stop it from becoming hugely successful.
08:50Looking at her discography from The Fame to Mayhem makes us think it would be impossible for Gaga to fail.
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09:12Chapter 4
09:13Lady Gaga's impact on the 21st century is undeniable. Her iconic fashion sense made waves,
09:19with outfits like her meat dress becoming unforgettable.
09:22It has many interpretations, but for me this evening, it's as if we don't stand up for what we
09:26believe in, if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights
09:30as the meat on our buns. Beyond writing music about acceptance,
09:34her activism has had an almost unparalleled impact. As a supporter of LGBTQIA plus rights,
09:40she's done tons for the community, including in 2010, when she publicly campaigned for the repeal of
09:46the US military's discriminatory policies against LGBTQIA plus service members.
09:51I'm here today in this park in Maine to say that if the Senate and the President are not going to
10:01repeal this don't ask, don't tell policy, perhaps they should be more clear with us about who the
10:08military is fighting for. Also in 2012, she founded the Born This Way Foundation, which supports youth
10:15wellness and works to end the stigma around mental health. The way Gaga uses her platform
10:20is incredibly inspirational.
10:21That's kindness. That's how kindness heals things. And to me, kindness heals all things.
10:27Her influence on pop music has been immeasurable. She's constantly pushing the boundaries of her art,
10:32bringing avant-garde ideas into the mainstream.
10:35There's moments where, you know, we are, like, sonically just doing things that, like,
10:40we're just trying to push sound as much as possible. There's other moments where it's all about love,
10:46and it's, like, super dreamy. And that, to me, is true chaos. True chaos is, like, all of it.
10:53Thanks in part to her influence, pop has become way more diverse today,
10:57with many artists freely expressing gender and identity. Lady Gaga is one of the few people to win
11:03Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs, showcasing her incredible drive and dedication.
11:09Throughout all of this, her message has never faltered. In her words,
11:13Tonight, I want you to forget all of your insecurities.
11:17I want you to reject anyone or anything that's ever made you feel like you don't belong or don't fit in.
11:24Never forget, you were born this way. No one is broken, and we're all beautiful in our own ways.
11:29This message has been life-changing for countless people struggling to fit in.
11:39What was your favorite Gaga era and why? Let us know in the comments section below.
11:43You are so beautiful. I've loved you for so long.
11:46Thank you for bringing us back here. We're so happy to be here.
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