Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is born March 28, 1986. She is better known by her stage name Lady Gaga. She is an American pop singer and also a songwriter. After enrolling at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2003 and later performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side, she signed with Streamline Records. During her early time at Interscope label, she worked as a songwriter for some fellow label artists and captured the attention of recording artist Akon who, recognizing her vocal abilities immediately and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution. Her first album, The Fame, was released in 2008 and is famous for the hitsPoker Face and Just Dance.