By Kellan King
Lady Gaga grew up in New York, in an upper middle class family. From a young age she practiced music, at the encouragement of her parents, and she performed at many open mic nights. She started her musical career around 2005, and had her breakthrough album, The Fame in 2008. Today, she has numerous hit songs, has had many world tours, and has won multiple Grammys.
Although Lady Gaga is now very successful, she has been through a lot. As a kid in high school, she was bullied a lot of being unique. She was isolated, and all the bullying caused depression, and she “didn’t want to be [herself]” In an interview in 2014, Lady Gaga revealed that she had been raped at 19. This caused her a lot of stress, and today she still has PTSD. She also went through self esteem issues and anorexia. She would go on a strict diet when on tour, and she dealt with trying to be skinny for shows, which wasn’t healthy at all. Lady Gaga has shared a lot of this on social media, and really been open with her fans, really showing that sharing your struggles is ok.
Today, Lady Gaga works with her Born This Way foundation, which focuses on Youth Empowerment, and also works with mental health and bullying. She has visited many schools and talked to students about her own struggles with mental health, and how its important to be open and get help.
Further Information
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lady-gaga-interview-depression-anxiety
https://people.com/music/lady-gaga-on-past-sexual-assault-becoming-pregnant-after-being-raped/