Lady Gaga's Evolution: Music, Fashion, & Impact
Welcome to MsMojo, and today were taking a look at Lady Gagas phenomenal career and her rise to superstardom.
Chapter 1
Lady Gagas most recent era began in October 2024 following the release of her single Disease, which teased her 2025 album, Mayhem. Like all of her albums, Mayhem has been a massive hit, topping charts globally. Its notably a return to her roots, reminiscent of her debut albumand fans love it. Its biggest track has easily been Die With A Smile featuring Bruno Marsanother industry giant. After being released in 2024, it became Spotifys longest-reigning number one song. It was so adored that its gone platinum more than once, alongside winning a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The album as a whole has been received with similar positivity, becoming Gagas highest-rated release on Metacritic. To promote it, shes announced a huge 6-month arena tour titled The Mayhem Ball. In May 2025, Gaga performed to an audience of 2.5 million fans in Brazil. It was the highest-attended concert for a female artist in history. With an estimated 170 million records sold, her career is considered one of the greatest ever. So, how did she get there? The short answer is hard work and dedication.
Chapter 2
For the long answer, we have to go back to when Lady Gaga was more commonly known as Stefani Germanotta. She was born in New York City to parents of primarily Italian descent. Inspired by her father playing Pink Floyds Money, Stefani wrote her first song on piano, called Dollar Bills. Impressively, shed initially learned the instrument purely by ear. She then kept pursuing music, receiving classical piano training and playing throughout school, alongside attending acting classes. She was always passionate about music, joining a classic-rock band as a high-school freshman, as well as frequently writing and going to open mics. This paid off at the age of 17, when she got early acceptance into the prestigious Tisch School of the Artsa feat only achieved by roughly 20 people that year. However, she dropped out in the second semester of her second year there. She felt a burning desire to pursue a music career, so she left her old life behind to make her dream a reality.
She recruited her old college friend Frankie Fredericks as a semi-informal manager. He helped her acquire shows alongside forming the SGBanda short-lived band she fronted from 2005 to 2006. This helped her acquire enough popularity to get invited to perform at the 61st Annual Columbus Day Parade in 2005. By early 2006, the group had quickly become an underground sensation. Not long into the year, she was invited by Wendy Starland to meet with producer Rob Fusari. Together, they came up with the name Lady Gaga, inspired by the hit Queen track Radio Gaga. Fusari actually sent a text calling her Radio Ga Ga, but autocorrect changed it to the name we all now know her by. The pair formed Team Lovechild, LLC, a company intended to promote her. It worked wonders, getting her noticed by the label Def Jam Recordings. They signed Gaga in September 2006, but it only lasted a few months before they mysteriously dropped her. As we now know, that was more their loss than hers. It was a low point for Gaga, who considered quitting the business entirely. Thankfully, she instead decided to get into performance art. This got her more involved in fashion, alongside performance artist Lady Starlight. Together, they performed burlesque shows at various dive bars across New York. The two even played at Lollapalooza in 2007. Gaga acquired her unique stage fashion during this era, which paid off big time. In the same year, her dream came true when she was signed with the label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.
Chapter 3
After landing the deal, Gaga moved to Los Angeles, where she finished making her debut album, The Fame. In just 10 minutes, she wrote her hit single Just Dance. In total, five producers worked on the album, which became one of the best-selling debuts in history. Combined with its reissue, The Fame Monster, it has become one of the best-selling albums of the century. Multiple songs from this era topped charts, such as Poker Face, Paparazzi, Bad Romance, Telephone, and Alejandro. It set a high bar for subsequent albums, which, as we now know, she followed up multiple times. Her 2011 album Born This Way was also extremely successful. Featuring musicians like Clarence Clemons and Brian May, it included a diverse range of genres, from heavy metal to house. Its title track was on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for six whole weeks. Gaga then pivoted to EDM in her 2013 album Artpop. At release, opinions were fairly divisive. But as time passed, fans grew increasingly fond of it. Gaga then collaborated with Tony Bennett to make an old-school jazz album, Cheek to Cheek. It was a huge stylistic departure from her solo work.
In 2016, she released Joanne, her most rock-influenced album yet. She worked alongside rockstars like Tame Impala, Josh Homme, and Florence Welch. This was also the era she appeared on American Horror Story, her first major acting role. Her performance was so impressive that she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries. Gagas acting career went up from there, being nominated for an Academy Award in 2019 for Best Actress. That nomination was for her starring role alongside Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born, a highly praised film that highlighted her incredible acting talent. In the end, it was the lead single Shallow that won Gaga an Oscar for Best Original Song. Shed return to her dance pop roots in 2020 with Chromatica, an album released at the height of COVID. Still, that didnt stop it from becoming hugely successful. Looking at her discography from The Fame to Mayhem makes us think it would be impossible for Gaga to fail.
Chapter 4
Lady Gagas impact on the 21st century is undeniable. Her iconic fashion sense made waves, with outfits like her meat dress becoming unforgettable. Beyond writing music about acceptance, her activism has had an almost unparalleled impact. As a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, shes done tons for the community, including in 2010, when she publicly campaigned for the repeal of the U.S. militarys discriminatory policies against LGBTQ+ service members. Also, in 2012, she founded the Born This Way Foundation, which supports youth wellness and works to end the stigma around mental health. The way Gaga uses her platform is incredibly inspirational.
Her influence on pop music has been immeasurable. Shes constantly pushing the boundaries of her art, bringing avant-garde ideas into the mainstream. Thanks in part to her influence, pop has become way more diverse today, with many artists freely expressing gender and identity. Lady Gaga is one of the few people to win Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs, showcasing her incredible drive and dedication. Throughout all of this, her message has never faltered. In her words, Tonight, I want you to forget all of your insecurities. I want you to reject anyone or anything thats ever made you feel like you don't belong, or don't fit in. Never forget: You were born this way. No one is broken. And were all beautiful in our own ways. This message has been life-changing for countless people struggling to fit in.
What was your favorite Gaga era and why? Let us know in the comments section below!
