Lady Gaga Show: The Making of a Pop Phenomenon

All Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ever wanted was attention. So she decided to turn it into art — and call herself Lady Gaga. Ahead of her concert in Israel, I caught up with my former NYU classmate to talk about drugs, fame, fake notes, Pet Shop Boys, and underwear — and why she feels deeply connected to her LGBTQ+ fans in Israel.

The Birth of a Pop Phenomenon

The story of Lady Gaga — the most talked-about pop star on the planet — is a mix of obsession and design. She didn’t stumble into fame; she engineered it.

From a young age, Gaga absorbed pop culture like oxygen. Today, she sells it back to the world in a spectacle of paparazzi, fame, diamonds, and fashion — a curated New York fantasy she’s both selling and living.

Her rise is staggering:

• Three consecutive U.S. No. 1 singles
• Over four million albums sold worldwide
• Grammy nominations and nine MTV nominations — tying with Beyoncé
• A Rolling Stone cover shot by David LaChapelle, who called her his new muse
• Collaborations with The Pussycat Dolls, Kanye West, and Akon

She’s in the middle of her Fame Ball Tour, performing across continents — and on August 19, 2009, she’ll headline the Non Stop Musix Festival in Tel Aviv.

”I Was 19 — Making Music, Wearing Underwear”

When I reached her in Tokyo, she laughed remembering our NYU days.

“Wow, that feels like a lifetime ago. I was 19 — making music, studying music, wearing underwear. It was another time.”

Even then, Gaga was a fixture of downtown Manhattan — a club performer, a promoter, and a walking provocation. “Those were the nights that made me who I am. And now they’re playing my songs in those same clubs. That’s full circle.”

From Private School to Global Stardom

Stefani grew up in an upper-middle-class Italian-American family in New York. Her father worked in tech, her mother in telecommunications. After Catholic school (where she was classmates with Paris Hilton), she enrolled at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts — before dropping out to chase something bolder.

She signed briefly with Def Jam Records, got dropped, and then turned heartbreak into fuel. She began performing in clubs and burlesques, wearing bubble outfits and little else. “That was art,” she told me. “Anyone who doesn’t get that doesn’t get art.”

Her friendship with drag artist Lady Starlight refined her style and introduced her to the queer underground — the true birthplace of Gaga. “Even my parents started calling me Gaga,” she said. “It started as a joke. Now it’s me."

"Gaga Is Art — But She’s Real”

“Gaga isn’t a character I play. She’s me. She’s a piece of performance art that happens to breathe.”

She speaks like someone who’s perpetually halfway between an art manifesto and a pop anthem. “I always knew I’d be famous. It wasn’t luck; it was design. Gaga is a story — one I tell through sound, fashion, and performance.”

On Fame, Critics, and Control

She rejects the idea that she’s a producer’s puppet. “That’s bullshit. I write my songs. Every lyric, every melody. Sure, I collaborate — but this is my work.”

Her hits — Poker Face, Paparazzi, Just Dance — are less about romance and more about image-making. “My songs are about illusion,” she said. “They’re about the moment when vanity becomes truth. I want my fans to feel like stars.”

What about the nine MTV nominations?

“It’s surreal. But none of this happens without my people — the team, the fans, the weird kids who believe."

"Performing with the Pet Shop Boys Was a Dream”

At the Brit Awards, critics accused her of singing off-key. She shrugged.

“I was emotional. Performing with the Pet Shop Boys was a dream. I grew up on their music — I wasn’t about to play it safe."

"My Dad Gets It Now”

Her parents weren’t always on board. “My dad didn’t talk to me for weeks when I first started performing half-naked. It took time. But now he gets it. He sees the art. He sees me.”

On Rumors and Identity

When rumors surfaced online that she was intersex, she simply ignored them. “People say crazy shit. I don’t owe anyone an explanation. My job is to make art, not to make people comfortable."

"I’m Not Rich — I’m Invested”

“People think I’m rich. I’m not. Every dollar goes back into my art — sets, costumes, videos. I don’t own a house. I own Gaga. That’s where the money goes."

"I Do It for the Kids”

“The kids are my people — the misfits, the dreamers, the ones who feel invisible. I make music for them. Always for them.”

Epilogue

Lady Gaga is her own performance — a living artwork in motion. What makes her fascinating isn’t the spectacle, but the self-awareness behind it. She’s not pretending to be a pop star. She’s constructing one, brick by brick, in real time — and inviting the world to watch.

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Source: Original article on Ynet (Hebrew)