If you’re in need of a little Monday motivation, look no further than the incomparable Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (aka Lady Gaga), who turns 30 today. The multi-hyphenate’s Wikipedia page reads like that of someone three times her age, and we have a feeling Gaga’s just getting warmed up. This list of her 10 most unbelievable accomplishments goes down best with a shot of coffee and this amazing Gaga quote: “I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail. I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the f*cking deli without hearing or seeing me.”
She Earned 11 Grammy Nominations by Age 23
Gaga's 2008 debut studio album The Fame was nominated for five Grammy Awards. Her 2009 re-issue of the album, The Fame Monster, was nominated for six Grammy Awards. Here is what Pitchfork said about The Fame Monster in their initial review: "And yet, unlike the empty famewhores climbing atop the shoulders of reality TV and tabloid journalism to notoriety, we know next to nothing about her personal life. In that sense, she's the anti-Kanye, the anti-Eminem, and the anti-Winehouse--the twists and turns of her private life don't inform her art. Rather, she is whoever she wants to be at any time, and her art is as much the manipulation of that image and notions of modern celebrity as it is music or fashion. And it's refreshing to have a big pop star communicating to us from afar, like pop stars used to."
She Crushed 2016
She is the first artist to play the Grammy Awards, the Super Bowl, and the Academy Awards in the same year.
Even Her Music Videos Break Records
In 2016, Billboard named “Telephone," her collaboration with Beyonce, its "Best Video of the Decade." The epic video beat out other notables like Rihanna & Calvin Harris's collaboration "We Found Love," Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball," Gotye's "Somebody I Used To Know," and Sia's "Chandelier" for the title. Watch it here.
She Proved The Creme Still Rises To The Top
Gaga was the first person to be reach a billion views on YouTube, beating out Bieber for the honor.
She Collaborated With Her Biggest Idol
Her collaboration with Tony Bennet, Cheek to Cheek, won a Grammy Award in 2014. Of Gaga, Bennett told Rolling Stone, "she could become America’s Picasso." Watch the two legends perform together here.
She Proved People Will Still Pay For Music
She is the only artist with two 7-million selling downloads, "Just Dance" and "Poker Face." If you haven't already, buy them both here.
She Had An Award Created For Her
The Songwriters Hall of Fame invented a new award just so it could honor her. It’s the “Contemporary Icon Award.” In her acceptance speech, Gaga said she felt "extremely unaccomplished as a songwriter."
She Made The Guinness Book of World Records
She was the most-searched woman on the internet in 2011, and has a Guinness Book of World Records title to prove it. According to Wikipedia, this is just one of twelve Guinness Book of World Records titles Gaga's accumulated.
The Size Of Her Following Of "Little Monsters" Broke Records
She was the first living person to boast 10 million Facebook fans--beating out Obama in doing so--and the first person to accumulate 10 million Twitter followers. She currently has 61 million fans on Facebook and 57.6 million followers on Twitter.
She Basically Broke The Internet
Her 2011 single, “Born This Way” was the fastest-selling single ever on iTunes. Watch the video for "Born This Way" here.
She Set The Standard For Our #RelationshipGoals
As an added bonus, she has one of the sweetest, most supportive relationships we’ve ever been lucky enough to witness.
