This is the second of a three-part series on Lady Gaga
How much does Lady Gaga owe her meteoric rise to pop icon Madonna?
Let us count the ways.
A 1980s pop-dance sound? Check.
Catholic-baiting imagery? Got it.
A string of media-grabbing controversies? Done.
Brazen sexuality, an emphasis on stylish videos, a strong connection to the gay community? Yes, yes and yes.
The story of Lady Gaga is full of connections to that other driven diva who broke out of New York City.
Back around 2002 and 2003, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, who was born the year Madonna's third major album "True Blue" was released, would drop by Verizon's Manhattan headquarters to visit her mother, Cynthia, a company sales director. Cynthia was forever cajoling, needling, urging and leading fellow cubicle workers to catch her teenage daughter’s music gigs here and there around New York.
Also read Part 1 of our three-part Lady Gaga series: Why Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' May Save the Music Industry
To quote the title of a song from her new album, “Born This Way," Stefani was on "the edge of glory" as Lady Gaga, the 21st century music industry’s first great hope.
By madly mimicking Madge -- from the pop-dance sound to baiting Catholics through verse and video -- Gaga has contrived a constant comparison that perpetually reinforces her persona at the forefront of public awareness, effectively taking a PR shortcut to stardom.
Brilliantly, she has done so while vigorously denying any such connection. When her title tune "Born This Way" raised accusations that it ripped off Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” Gaga bridled at the insult.
"What a completely ridiculous thing to even question me about," she told Britain's NME magazine. "When I homage, I f**king homage with a big sign saying I've done it. Why would I not do that now?"
The "Poker Face" hit maker then wept as she added, "I feel like honestly that God sent me those lyrics and that melody."
Others are slightly more skeptical. “She surely has been able to capture the imagination in a big way much like the superstars of yesterday,” Tom Freston, former CEO of Viacom and its flagship MTV Networks, told TheWrap.
(Judge for yourself: here's a Youtube mashup of the two songs, played together. )
Gaga’s chief career adviser, personal manager Troy Carter, has sought advice in guiding Gaga from none other than Guy Oseary, Madonna’s longtime business partner and manager, one top music industry executive close to all of the parties told TheWrap. Carter declined to participate in this story.
Watch Lady Gaga's Madonna Fixation -- Inspiration or Outright Plagiarism (Video)
And at this early career stage, Gaga has nailed the easy stuff on the trail Madonna blazed, stoking the media-grabbing controversies and Madge comparisons. Like Madonna did with the provocative “Like a Prayer,” for instance, Gaga lured the publicity-fueling wrath of Catholics with “Judas,” from "Born This Way."
