Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986, is an American singer-songwriter and actress whose career has moved between high-concept pop, electronic music, jazz, rock and film. Known for image reinventions and flamboyant fashion, she reached worldwide recognition after signing with Interscope Records in 2007 and releasing her debut album, The Fame, in 2008.

The Fame and its 2009 reissue, The Fame Monster, produced “Just Dance,” “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance.” Those recordings made Gaga one of the few artists with at least three Diamond-certified songs in the United States. Her 2011 follow-up, Born This Way, drew on electronic rock and techno-pop and sold 1.1 million copies in the US during its first week. The title song became the fastest-selling track in iTunes Store history at the time, passing one million downloads in less than a week.

Gaga followed with the EDM-influenced Artpop in 2013, then shifted direction for Cheek to Cheek, her 2014 jazz album with Tony Bennett. Joanne arrived in 2016 with a softer rock approach. She later reunited with Bennett for Love for Sale in 2021, their second and final collaborative album, and released the soundtrack Harlequin in 2024. Her pop-oriented albums Chromatica in 2020 and Mayhem in 2025 included the number-one singles “Rain on Me” and “Die with a Smile,” respectively.

Alongside music, Gaga has built a substantial acting career. She led the 2015–2016 miniseries American Horror Story: Hotel and starred in A Star Is Born (2018) and House of Gucci (2021). “Shallow,” from the A Star Is Born soundtrack, topped the charts and helped make her the first person to win an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and Grammy Award in a single year.

With estimated record sales of 124 million, Gaga has seven Billboard 200 number-one albums and six Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs. She is the first female artist to have four singles sell at least 10 million copies globally, and holds the record for the most-attended concert by a woman. Her awards include 16 Grammys, 22 MTV Video Music Awards, two Golden Globes and a Sports Emmy Award, as well as recognition from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Outside performance, she founded the Born This Way Foundation to support young people’s wellness and has focused philanthropic and activist work on mental-health awareness and LGBTQ rights.