Culturebox: The Other Lady Gagas

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culturebox The Other Lady Gagas What does the pop star have in common with an ancient Babylonian, a French-Irish noblewoman, and a fictional flapper? Her name. By Jody Rosen Posted Thursday, June 2, 2011, at 12:56 PM ET "I've always been Gaga," Lady Gaga told Rolling Stone in 2009, and spiritually speaking, she may be right. But for most of her life she was Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta--"Stef" to her friends. It was one of those friends, her ex-boyfriend and former manager, Rob Fusari, who gave the singer her nom de guerre, by accident, in 2004. Fusari sent Germanotta a text message that read, simply, "Radio Gaga," a reference to the 1984 hit by Queen. Or rather, Fusari tried to text "Radio Gaga"--his cellphone autocorrected "Radio" to "Lady." Germanotta had been looking for a stage name, and "Lady Gaga" had the right ring. Fusari told an interviewer: "She texted me back. 'That's it.' After that day she was Lady Gaga. She's like, 'Don't ever call me Stefani again.' " As pop-star aliases go, Lady Gaga is awfully good--an ideal combination of regal and ridiculous. It pays tribute to Queen's Freddie Mercury, the glam rock titan who is audibly one of Gaga's heroes. The honorific Lady strikes the right note of diva-ish pretension; there's a hint of Dada in Gaga. To continue reading, click here. Jody Rosen is Slate's music critic. He can be reached at slatemusic@gmail.com. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Overheard at Sarah Palin's Visit to Liberty Island: "Who's Sarah Palin?" Cellphones Supposedly Are as Big a Cancer Risk as Pickles. How Cancerous Are Pickles? So Much for the Peaceful Division of Sudan	Advertisement
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