Lady Gaga (born March 28, 1986, New York City, New York, U.S.) is an American singer-songwriter and performance artist, known for her flamboyant costumes, provocative lyrics, and strong vocal talents, who achieved enormous popular success with songs such as “Just Dance,” “Bad Romance,” and “Born This Way.”

Germanotta was born into an Italian American family in New York City. She learned music at an early age and was performing onstage in New York City clubs by the time she was a teenager. She attended an all-girls school, Convent of the Sacred Heart, in Manhattan before going on to study music at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She studied at Tisch for two years before dropping out to manage her own career.