Update: Lady Gaga’s former producer and songwriter, Rob Fusari, filed a $30.5 million lawsuit Wednesday against Stefani Germanotta, also known as Lady Gaga.
Originally Posted: Oct. 1, 2009 at 12:32 a.m.
After watching the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) the other week, two things kept everyone buzzing: Kayne’s reaction to Taylor Swift’s award and Gaga’s shocking performance and outfit.
Gaga’s character is so strong that, as an audience, we sometimes wonder if she’s real, or what she is like behind her makeup, hair and wacky outfits.
There is someone behind the poker face, and her name is Stefani Germanotta, and many teens and young adults want to know her better.
In March 2006, music producer Rob Fusari was visiting his nightclub, Shine, in Manhattan, when he saw Germanotta perform backed by three men.
When he first heard her, he wondered if it was a No Doubt cover band, but “Much to my surprise”, said Fusari, “five minutes into the set, I realized I had stumbled upon something very special.”
Fusari invited Germanotta to his recording studio in New Jersey the following week.
Her blonde wig and bubble wrap dress were missing. Instead, she looked more like a mobster’s wife.
“Her hair was up high in a bun… She had some strange shade of blue jeans on and a top that looked like she stole it from Cyndi Lauper,” said Fusari.
When she started, Germanotta was a rocker chick with a lack of style, not the entertainer we now know, who takes risks and provides her fans with fearless performances.
She was just a girl with a good voice from New York City, but after Fusari signed her to his independent production label, Rob Fusari Productions, they teamed up to create something unstoppable.
In its beginning stages, her music was not what one would recognize today.
It was less dance and more rock. One day, while in the studio, Fusari picked up a New York Times article describing the difficulty women in rock radio were having breaking into the music industry.
“I had to mention it to her because I knew at that moment what we were doing had to change… and it did,” said Fusari.
That was the day they recorded “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” and Lady Gaga’s music began to transform into what we hear from her today.
Gaga has credited Fusari in interviews for coming up with her stage name, but Fusari explained how it really developed.
“I started to sing the Queen song ‘Radio Gaga’ every time she would enter the studio because she began to remind me of a 2010 Freddy Mercury,” said Fusari. “‘Radio Gaga’ started sounding like Lady Gaga, and I texted her one day and all the text said was ‘Lady Gaga.’ And we both knew at that moment that was going to be her name.”
One of the most intriguing qualities of Lady Gaga is where she gets her inspirations from.
Take the “Paparazzi” performance at the VMAs: a bloody noose, insanity and a shocked audience.
Fans began asking themselves how she came up with these extreme ideas.
Fusari said she used to carry around a scrapbook of everything that inspired her: from shoes and fashion, to streetcars and railroads.
Lady Gaga is a mystery to her fans, but her talent continues to evolve into something many may not fully understand.
Fans can appreciate that Gaga has qualities just like everyday people.
She has inspiration that she bottles up and saves to later reproduce in her own fashion.
Fusari said, “She would show me [the scrapbook] every once in a while and to me it meant very little, but I feel it was her way of finding building blocks that she could use to formulate how she wanted the world to see Lady Gaga. Now, if only fans could get their hands on that scrapbook, they’d really be able to understand her.”
While continuing to build up the persona of Lady Gaga and producing and writing songs together, Fusari introduced Gaga to Jimmy Iovine, president of Interscope Records.
Fusari was executive producer for her first album, “The Fame,” but as the fame grew, so did Gaga’s head.
She started to forget about the people who helped her become who she is.
Fusari said, “I believe that there are certain people that come into our lives that influence us, great or small. Somehow they leave us something… which we either consciously or subconsciously bring into our own style or character. Gaga didn’t do it all on her own, although she certainly may try to paint that picture. There were other people beside myself that played an important role. I think all of those people including myself played a part in the character that is now ‘Gaga. So, Stefani Germanotta, if you’re listening, you should start remembering where you came from and who helped you. Look back in that scrapbook of yours, and keep in mind the influences that made you “Lady Gaga.”
To listen to tracks from her latest albums or to find out more information on this rising star, visit http://www.ladygaga.com.
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