Who is this human mortal, with the long dark hair and the Yamaha keyboard and the … regular-people pants? Surely, not Lady Gaga as we know and love/loathe/love to loathe (multiple choice!) her.
Where is the red lace face monster? The goth-Victorian Phantom of the Opera with the friendly neck pigeons? Nary a casual-Friday hair-bow ‘n nipple-tape combo to be found here, friends.
Watch the Artist Formerly Known as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta performing the song “Hollywood” at a small New York Club in January 2006, and marvel at the transformative power of leotards, peroxide, and major-label dollars:
What do you think, Music Mixers — can you read her Poker Face better now, or back in the brown-haired, basement-y days? (Spoiler alert: She still says “F—” a lot.)
More from EW’s Music Mix:
Morrissey reveals U.S. tour, creepy album cover
Is Lily Allen done with the music biz?
Natalie Imbruglia is back…Let the music (Cold)play
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees
Ummm….yeah. Interesting. I guess this is before she and Lady Starlight got together and stole from Roisin Murphy’s fashion ideas.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the whole Roisin Murphy thing…what a shame, especially considering that she’s about 1000x better than Lady Gaga.
she’s MK. Google: Psedo occult media GaGA.
she’s MK. Google: Pseudo occult media GaGA.
WAY better than Brittney Spears! She should’ve taken that contest on Whitney Pastorek’s “Guilty Pleasure” tournament. I wonder which supergroup that drummer’s playing for now?
wow, I can actually respect this performance and her as a musician. But now she’s just whacked
i still think shes whacked even here. it kinda hard for me to distinquish this version of gaga as her now.
Um – this is actually WORTH listening to. Waaay better than her current stuff. What a shame.
wow, she doesn’t look interesting at all. i’ve seen tons of these lades in random bars in PA. wow, major transformation. so who’s the real person?
Kinds of looks like Jaymie Lynn Sigler ( sp?)
You are absolutely right. This video is nothing special. I think she’s talented and brilliant at self-promotion. But you could never have guessed back then, not from something like this.
The look she was sporting in this video is a dime a dozen among female singer-songwriters. Today she is original and (intentionally or not) hilarious in her style choices. Bring on the performance art, Gaga!
I do love her rendition of this song, though(-: So talented!
Well, I kind have always suspected the blonde hair is a wig actually, there are too many variations of it and she goes to so much effort, well, I might look for this girl at your local Starbucks instead of Lady GaGa and she probably still looks like this.
What happened is she looked at MTV and realized that gimmicks get singers farther than talent and Lady Gaga was born. Btw.. I have alway found her very talented and found it strange how she more promoted for what she’s wearing than how she sounds.
I have less respect for her now, seeing that she came from something that is somewhat respectable.
Oh yeah… WAY better back in the day, as opposed to the Dennis Rodman freak show she had to resort to just to become “famous”
I don’t know why people are knocking her eccentricities.. she’s a performance artist — it’s not always about the lip gloss and the coordinated dance routines. Time and time again her live stuff shows she’s got real musician chops, which I think is quite refreshing. You can already tell from this video that she has confidence in her talent. I would take her over any other Britney, Amy Winehouse or Miley Cyrus any day. I’m excited to see what she comes up with next.
You people’s comments suck, btw. I like her then and now. It’s hard pre-fame to be who you really are because you actually have to win people over. She’s amazing no matter what she wears, says, does, etc. She’s a singer…a performer…and as long as she’s doing it…she’s got me as a fan.
I always thought all the costumes and theatrics were a big show and as a consequence, never paid attention to her music! I wish there were more of this video. This is an artist I would pay attention to. I always tell my husband that the reason she dresses like that is so that no one will know what she really looks like and she can take off the wigs and go to Wal-mart and not get mobbed!
I totally agree. She puts on a show, but she knows who she is, regardless of whether we like her, get her or respect her.
Dammit… I was certain she was a man under all those silly costumes. I hate being wrong.
umm, you are almost correct. they say that she is a hermaphrodite…
Hermaphrodites are rare in the U.S. so that is not true
I think she’s brilliant then and now. The Fame is one of the best records I’ve bought in ten years.
i really like her singing on this clip. dont think her voice is as strong today, what with all the smoke and mirrors of today. sad what someone with talent has to do to make it in music these days.