Where did Lady Gaga get her stage name from?

In less than 12 hours from now, tickets go on sale for the newest batch of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta concerts in Australia.

Now, you might think this isn’t a big deal. After all, she sounds like a classical musician (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But if I were to share with you the name she’s better known by – Lady Gaga – you would suddenly see my point. And probably my determination to claim a seat.

In background, I must confess I missed out on most of the early buzz surrounding one of the world’s most strangely dressed women. And if I ever gave her a thought, it was probably along the lines of “Who the f**** wastes a perfectly good steak on an outfit for an awards show?”

But I was finally converted to fandom with the double team strike of Paparazzi and Bad Romance. They are awesome songs. Just awesome. And they finally inspired a proper appreciation for the kind of eccentricity and talent so often squished in what can be a one-size-fits-all society.

Anyway, through plenty of revealing interviews, I knew a lot of interesting stuff about the Poker Face-d one, such as why she’s only tattooed on one side of her body (it’s at the request of her father).

But I’d never really paid attention to the inspiration for her name. Given the word ‘gaga’ I assumed there would be a Queen reference in there somewhere. And there was, via a producer called Rob Fusari. I found an explanation straight from the horse’s mouth in Flybe Magazine via Queenzone.com.

“My producer, Rob Fusari, was the first to really bring out both my theatrical and pop elements. I was in theatre for many years, but I was also a pop vocalist. When I auditioned for pop, record labels would say you’re too theatre. And when I auditioned for theatre they’d say you’re too pop. When I met Rob, I discovered David Bowie and Queen, and the more theatrical Beatles records. One day, I played Rob a song called Again Again, and he said, “God that’s so Queen! You’re so Radio GaGa. Very theatrical”. And he started to call me GaGa when I’d come into the studio. When we were getting ready to really start performing, I decided that I’d been playing under my real name for so long I wanted a new way to reinvent myself. So I said, what about Lady GaGa, because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations. I went to a private school but now I was living in this trash glitter environment. So, for me, it was the perfect description of who I had become.”

And thus the legend was born. Now to indulge in a Bad Romance.