Lady Gaga is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. In 2019, Gaga’s total revenue was up to $512 million. That year, she was placed 10th on Forbes' list of Top-Earning Musicians of the Decade and was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

In 2020, according to Forbes, Gaga was one of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, and one of the World’s Highest-Paid Celebrities. She earned $50 million from June 2017 to June 2018, $39.5 million from June 2018 to June 2019, and $38 million from June 2019 to June 2020. Gaga owns a $28 million real state portfolio in California, which includes a 10,000-square-foot home in Malibu she purchased for $22.5 million in September 2014, and a 6,700-square-foot home in Hollywood Hills (previously owned by the musician Frank Zappa) she bought for $5.25 million in 2016. Gaga also rents an 11,000 square-foot over six floors penthouse in New York City for $67,000 a month. She has an estimated net worth of $320 million.

Lady Gaga, by name of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, was born on March 28, 1986, in New York City. Her parents are Joseph Anthony Germanotta Jr., an entrepreneur, and Cynthia Louise Bissett, a philanthropist and business executive. She has a younger sister named Natali.

Gaga has been singing and playing the piano since she was 4. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart School, where was bullied for her appearance and eccentric habits. At the age of 14, Gaga was performing at open mic nights. When she was 17, she was admitted to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. By the age of 19, Gaga abandoned her studies and moved out of her parent's home to pursue a musical career, and she started a band that began to gain local attention. She signed with Def Jam Records in 2006 but was dropped from the label after three months. After a performance at the 2007 Lollapalooza Festival, Gaga signed with Interscope Records. Then she made a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV and wrote songs for Britney Spears and labelmates Fergie, New Kids On The Block, and The Pussycat Dolls.

In October 2008, Lady Gaga released her first album, The Fame, an electronic and dance-pop album with influences from 1980s music. It thematizes Gaga's interest in fame, while addresses subjects such as drugs, love, money, and sex. She sold 6 million copies of the album in the United States until March 2020. In order to promote the record, Gaga initiated The Fame Ball Tour around North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia, which generated $45 million in earnings for her. But it wasn’t until the song “Just Dance” became mainstream in 2009 that she drew attention from the music scene. After a while, the single reached number 1 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart. The songs “Poker Face,” “Love Game”, and “Paparazzi” also landed as number 1 on the radio, making her the first artist in the history of that chart to have four number 1 from a debut album. The Fame also led Gaga to five Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year (“Poker Face”), and she received awards for Best Dance Recording (“Poker Face”) and Best Electronic/Dance Album. Rolling Stone magazine included The Fame as one of the 100 greatest debut albums of all-time".

While touring for her debut album, Lady Gaga wrote The Fame Monster, an extended-play (EP) published in November 2009 of which has sold 5 million copies in the United States until March 2020. Then she started her second tour, The Monster Ball, initiated in November 2009 and finished in May 2011. The tour resulted in a $193 million earning for her, making it one of the highest-grossing of all time, and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining performer.

In May 2011, Gaga released her second full-length album, Born This Way. It maintains the characteristics of previous releases but incorporates instruments from rock and techno music. Its lyrics revolve around freedom, feminism, individualism, sexuality, and religion. The first single, the same name as the album, sold more than 1 million copies in its first five days, earning the Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling single on iTunes. Born This Way debuted leading the Billboard 200 chart, and topped the charts in more than 20 countries. Gaga sold 4 million copies of the album in the United States until March 2020 and received three Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year. Rolling Stone magazine listed it among the 500 greatest albums of all time. The Gaga's Born This Way Ball tour started in April 2012, but in February 2013 was canceled due to a medical concern. The tour would last two years and taken Gaga to the five continents. Until January 2013, the tour produced a $168 million earning for Gaga. The shows in Asia, Oceania, Europe, Latin America, and Africa was completed in 2012. The North American leg of the tour, which was almost sold out, was not fully carried out.

Lady Gaga wrote a third album, ARTPOP, an electronic dance music (EDM) long-play released in November 2013. ARTPOP debuted atop of the Billboard 200 chart, sold 258,000 copies in its first week, and 4 million in the United States until March 2020. She made a tour through North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe from May 2014 to November 2014, which generated $70 million in earnings for her.

In September 2014, Gaga released Cheek to Cheek, recorded with Tony Bennett. The album topped the Billboard 200 and the jazz album charts, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Cheek to Cheek was Gaga's third consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200. The recording was sold 500,000 times in the United States until March 2020. The duo embarked on the Cheek to Cheek Tour from December 2014 to August 2015, which produced a $7.5 million earning for Gaga.

In October 2016, she released her fifth album, Joanne, a country pop and soft rock recording that became Gaga's fourth number one album on the Billboard 200, making her the first woman to reach the top of the United States chart's four times in the 2010s. Joanne was sold 1 million times in the United States until March 2020. From August 2017 to February 2018, she made a tour through North America and Europe. Then she released a piano version of the album's title track, which won a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance.

For her sixth studio album, Chromatica, published in May 2020, Lady Gaga returned to electronic pop and dance music. Chromatica sold 274,000 copies during its first week in the United States and debuted atop the charts. This made Gaga author of six consecutive number-one albums in the United States and converted her in the third person to top the country's chart in the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. One of the album’s singles, “Rain On Me”, performed with Ariana Grande, was sold 1 million times until August 2020 and won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammy Awards.

Lady Gaga made her debut as an actress in Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills (2013), and also appeared in Rodriguez's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014). Besides that, Gaga played a role in the fifth season of the television show American Horror Story: Hotel (2015-2016), a performance for which she received a Golden Globe Award. In 2018, Gaga starred with Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born (2018), and obtained her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She co-wrote and produced most of the soundtrack’s movie, and performed many of the songs. The album won four Grammy Awards, and the leading track, “Shallow,” received the Oscar for best original song. Gaga is also involved in House of Gucci, an upcoming biographical crime film directed by Ridley Scott scheduled to be released on November 24, 2021.

In 2012 she founded the Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit focused on empowering youth, improving mental health, and preventing bullying.

Sources: Billboard, Forbes, Variety, Forbes (2), Forbes (3), Forbes (4), Forbes (5), Forbes (6), New York Post, Wealthy Gorilla, IMDB, Money Nation, Britannica, Rolling Stone, Recording Industry Association of America, Live Science, Recording Industry Association of America (2), Rolling Stone (2), Billboard (2), Recording Industry Association of America (3), Huffington Post, Billboard (3), Recording Industry, Association of America (4), Recording Industry Association of America (5), Billboard (4), Hollywood, Reporter, Billboard (5), Recording Industry Association of America (6), Billboard (6), Forbes (7)

This article was updated on March 18, 2021 by Andrés Taurian 

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