You’ve probably heard this story: back in 2005, Lady Gaga’s classmates created a Facebook group called “Stefani Germanotta, you’ll never be famous.”
But we found someone who believed in Gaga when no one else did… in another group with just one member.
A thread 🧵
Back in 2005, when Facebook was limited to US universities, Lady Gaga’s classmates made a Facebook page called “Stefani Germanotta [Gaga’s real name], you will never be famous.”
But not everyone at NYU shared the same views: we found another Facebook group made in April 2005 titled “Stefani Germanotta IS going to be famous and I am going to be able to say I knew her.”
We verified the page’s authenticity and spoke with its creator Mikey.
“Stefani was a friend and classmate of mine at NYU who constantly blew me away with her talents and drive,” he told us. “We shared (and still share today) many of the same views on kindness and community.”
He added: “I continue to be proud of her. She stayed true to herself and is making all the positive changes we used to dream about together.”
The page was started to praise the songs Gaga (then Stefani) used to perform before she signed a record deal, but one of the posts by its only member mentioned her acting in a school play.
Today, Lady Gaga is an Academy Award and 13-time Grammy winner, while Al Pacino calls her a great actress—just like Mikey did 18 years ago.
A wise woman once (?) said, “There can be 100 people in the room and 99 don’t believe in you, but all you need is just one.”
Turns out that for Lady Gaga, that one person was Mikey Gaetano.
Did you know that Lady Gaga was once disqualified from a Grammy category… and helped changed the rules forever? A 🧵
Lady Gaga released her debut single “Just Dance” in April 2008. The song was a sleeper hit and didn’t go number one on the Billboard Hot 100 until January 2009. It was, however, embraced by the dance community and in December 2008, “Just Dance” received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording.
In 2009, Lady Gaga dominated pop culture with “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” “LoveGame,” “Paparazzi,” and “Bad Romance,” and was a favorite to not only be nominated, but win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.