Lady GaGa: THE NEW MADONNA

MOVE over Madonna, Lady GaGa is ready to be crowned the new Queen Of Pop. The 23-year-old has stormed the charts here and in America, with sales of more than 8million records, as well as scooping two Grammys and three BRIT Awards. In the 14 months since her debut single Just Dance topped the charts, it’s not only her catchy tunes that have captured fans’ imagination. She wowed us with outrageous outfits which range from high fashion couture to downright bonkers creations. But as she kicks off an eagerly anticipated UK tour, GaGa says her style is artistic, rather than sexy. She says: “The last thing a young woman needs is another picture of a sexy popstar writhing in sand, covered in grease, touching herself." “My image was an issue at my record label. I fought for months, and I cried at meetings. I got criticised for being arrogant because if you’re sure of yourself as a woman they say you’re a bitch, whereas if you’re a man and you’re strong willed, it’s normal.” So instead of skimpy dresses GaGa wears creations such as a coat made solely of Kermit The Frog dolls, a lightbulb-festooned catsuit and a face-obliterating black PVC gimp mask. And it has paid off. Last December’s Royal Variety Performance saw her performing for the Queen atop a 13ft spindle-legged piano wearing a scarlet latex number. But it’s not just her outfits that have been shrouded in controversy. Her gender hit the headlines last year when an internet blogger claimed the “Lady” was in fact a man, or a hermaphrodite. The rumour was false, but GaGa is now desperate to confront her fans on the subject once and for all. She wants to make an explicit sexual statement in a photoshoot, the details of which are a bit too graphic at the breakfast table. Trust me. She adds: “We all know it was one of the biggest talking points of the year so why not give them what they want? I want to comment on that in a artistic way – that would be a real f***ing story, right?” But behind the flamboyance, she is an average girl with traditional all-American family values. Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta to Italian American parents in New York in 1986, she learned to play the piano at the age of four. Her school life was “very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined” but also “a bit insecure”. She explains: “I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn’t fit in and I felt like a freak." “But this is really who I am, and it took a long time to be OK with that. So nowadays I like to create this atmosphere for my fans where they feel like they have a freak in me to hang out with and they don’t feel alone." "The whole point of what I do – The Monster Ball, the music, the performance aspect of it – I want to create a space for my fans where they can feel free and they can celebrate.” The rise to fame was not easy. Stephani worked as a waitress before getting signed to Def Jam records at the age of 19 when a music executive heard her singing in a corridor. She played gigs at downtown New York venues but with long dark hair and understated make-up she was almost unrecognisable from her persona today. But she met producer Rob Fusari who invented her stage name, and introduced her to her current label, Sony. She wrote tracks for label mates Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls, supplementing her income as a burlesque dancer in Lady GaGa and the Star-light Revue. By late 2008 she had given up her party lifestyle and moved to LA to work on debut album, The Fame. But she dreams of being a wife and mother. GaGa says: ‘I am a very sentimental person and family is important to me. In eight to 10 years, I want to have babies for my Dad to hold, grandkids." “I want to have a husband who loves and supports me, just the way anyone else does.” And for now she’s happy to continue working towards world domination. She adds: “I live out of a suitcase, but I love what I do – I’ve worked my whole life to live like this.” For a full interview and pictures of Lady GaGa see the current issue of Q Magazine, out now. Daily Star UK