By Charlene Giannetti
Many TV sets in Manhattan, especially on the Upper East Side, will be tuned into the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, February 8, to see whether Lady GaGa wins her first trophy. This young woman with the long blond hair, powerful voice, and tons of talent is taking the music world by storm. She will be touring Europe opening for the Pussycat Dolls, has appeared on the Jay Leno Show, and had the number one song on iTunes for many weeks. Now she has been nominated for her first Grammy Award as Best Dance Recording for her song, “Just Dance.”
We can say “we knew her when” because before she was Lady GaGa, she was Stefani Germanotta, who went to school with our daughters at the Convent of the Sacred Heart on East 91st Street. What would the nuns say now? Most would probably be applauding. They certainly wouldn’t be surprised.
Everyone knew that Stefani was destined to be a star. Her talent was so astounding, it literally took your breath away. When she was a senior, she appeared as Adelaide in a production of Guys and Dolls staged at Regis High School, on East 84th Street. Since Regis is an all-boys school, it must import girls for its plays. They were fortunate to have enlisted Stefani. Now, the Regis boys are very smart (a rigorous exam and selection process is necessary for admission) and talented. But whenever Stefani was on stage, she stole the show. Many of us thought she would head to Broadway. (In fact, Des McAnuff should have cast her as Adelaide in his production now in previews). She took a different route, however, and the music world, which lately has suffered from a lack of freshness and creativity, should be thankful. There has never been anyone like her and we can only hope those who hope to emulate her will be up to the challenge.
Success like this doesn’t happen overnight. At age four, Stefani learned piano by ear and by age 13 had written her first piano ballad. Stefani’s ability to write her own music gives her an important advantage. She doesn’t have to wait around for someone else to write for her (in fact, she writes for other artists), and can compose to fit her talent and style.
After graduating from Sacred Heart, Stefani attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, one of only 20 to be accepted into her class. She paid her dues by working in some of the seedy clubs, as she calls them. “I played every club in New York City and I bombed in every club in New York City and then killed it in every club and found myself as an artist,” she says on her website. “I learned how to survive as an artist, get real, and how to fall and then figure out who I was as a singer and performer. And I worked hard.”
She “nicked” her stage name from Queen’s song, “Radio Gaga.” Everything else about her, however, is her own and unique. The music world is smart enough to recognize that talent. Stefani comes from a close Italian-American family and those roots keep her grounded while giving her the wings to fly. We know that if she walks away with a Grammy on Sunday night, it will be the first of many awards. And we will continue to cheer her on and say we knew her when.
