Why did you become a stan?

[LadyLuca 2,541]

because I was in a miserable situation. and then lady gaga dropped born this way. which really helped me. this song was not a cure but it was really good for my soul. and it helped

I love how diffrent she was to others and i could identify..

[Renie 7,909]

I’m envious of those who have been a stan from the beginning! I’ve always been a fan but ASIB put me over the edge! In just the few short months that I’ve been soaking up everything and anything she’s ever said, I feel like I’ve become a better person. I look at situations and people and life differently. I can’t imagine how my life might be different if I had discovered the depths of her a few years earlier. I’m glad I found all she has to offer now though!! Also being around for all the new exciting things, Enigma live-streams, Golden Globes... I wish I was there for all the other opening nights and getting to go to all the tours! At least I have Vegas to look forward to!! 

[Ladey Gaygay 9,321]

When first heard applause  (i was 9)

[DSK 611]

I became a fan when the Bad Romance video came out. As soon as I watched it for the first time I was like DAMN SHE'S WEIRD I LOVE THAT. I was really into Rammstein and Marilyn Manson at the time, and seeing a pop singer being weird like that made me connect with her instantly

 

Then the whole Fame Monster era came and she started being an activist about self love, self acceptance, and I was exactly at that point in life when I thought being gay was a phase that would go away. So once again I connected to her message.

 

And then Born This Way came out and I knew she would forever be my favorite artist alive. The album and song have literally saved me more than once.

 

[Siena 6,213]

I honestly have no idea why! I just remember being 10 years old in 2009 and being OBSESSED with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. One day on a school field trip to the pumpkin patch I heard Just Dance on the radio and something about it intrigued me. The older girls in the car told me it was Lady Gaga and I immediately made my parents look her up when I got home ( I didn’t have my own laptop or phone unlike most 10 years old do today). The first pic that came up was the one where she’s wearing like a shiny pink or purple tube top with the Fame wig. I don’t know what came over 10 year old me but something about her look intrigued me and I’ve been obsessed ever sense  I stopped listening to Disney music that day and scared my teachers by singing Lovegame to my classmates  

[BibleThisWay 4,370]

2009 VMAs. Loved all her songs up until then but I think that was the first period where I was actively getting excited for anything she put out

[gumzy3000 7,170]

She actually stuck up for gay rights like when she went to the march in Washington in her early career. She always talked about the LGBTQ+ community and I respect her so much for that. When I realized she can actually sing, I became crazy for her. I honestly love her and I think she has a unique artistic spirit that is not common amongst her peers

[LaLa 19,540]

Her first SNL appearance is what got me. That second set where she sang at the piano, I can vividly remember thinking ‘oh sh!t, so she’s like an ACTUAL musician’. I’d heard her stuff on the radio and liked it, but watching her play while wearing that crazy orbit thing blew me away lol

Then I started learning more about her as a person, and she’s been my number one ever since 

[Bella Goth 1,149]

start by liking the fame, became a stan by her music, artistry, and meaning on the fame monster, and love & treasure her by her doing on born this way era and the rest is history. she's one from many people that shaping me to be a human till now

[Widows Kiss 7,818]

As a child, I really liked her songs, they were definitely the most memorable ones on the radio. But it wasn't until 2016 when I became a bit obsessed with TF/M out of the blue and was really looking forward to her new single/album. At that point I became a fan. Unfortunately, I really hated PI back then, so I ditched her and didn't even bother listening to Joanne. To my 16 year old self it was a very big mystery why she'd make a jazz album with some old guy followed by a song that sounded nothing like her older music.  I also found this cult site back then because I wanted to know why she stopped putting out pop music. After watching the Super Bowl, she captured my attention again and two months later she released The Cure which was absolutely surprising to me because I thought she'd quit making such music. I loved it and was really looking forward to the music video.  In early 2018 I started lurking here for some reason and eventually signed up. That's how I became a stan. Basically, I came for the bops and stayed for her talent, art and message. Nowadays I love Joanne as much as her other albums. It made me appreciate different kind of music.

[babymonster 127]

I had always loved her music but didn't know much about who she truly was. And as weird as it sounds now, until I looked it up for myself, I had never heard Applause or Joanne...

So, I saw the trailer of ASIB and wanted to go because Gaga was in it. After seeing it, I texted a friend about it and she advised me to watch Five foot two. I did, and then I became obsessed with her. What really won me over is the love she seemed to have for her fans, how nice and protective she seemed to be. More than the artist (who I still admire more than anything), it's the person who really touched my heart.

And I will always regret and feel bad that I didn't get to be a stan since the beginning and missed so much, but now she has my full heart and always will. I have so much love for her, the thing I want most in the world is for her to be happy. Every mean or rude thing that is said or done to her hurts me, I just wish I could protect her from every bad stuff.

[Nosferatu 1,212]

I was kind of obsessed with LoveGame and Paparazzi back in 2009 so I started joining groups and stuff about her online. At some point I listened to a leaked demo of Bad Romance (and Alejandro I think) and got even more into her... Then a little while after that the music video for BR was released and I mean how can you not stan THAT. 
I remember showing the BR music video to my friends in school and they all being like "wtf is that"... I was like 11   Then I got The Fame for christmas (the first record ever I owned ) and yeah... Been with her ever since!

[GypsyBabe 22,836]

So here is my story. I was 18 when Gaga debuted and I was initially not into her. I was into my whole “I only listen to REAL music like Fleetwood Mac, Springsteen, Dylan, The Rolling Stones and current music is bullsh*t phase”...she was the epitome of everything that I didn’t like. The over the top and electronic sound that I deemed “superficial” in my eyes. However, I did find her hits catchy and we used them remixed into a lot of our cheerleading routines. But The Fame as a whole still is my least favorite record of hers. 

Then comes TFM and the Bad Romance video had me shooketh to the core. I was so excited to see glimpses of her real face and I just loved the whole macabre music industry theme to it. So I started to pay attention to her more, especially her videos and became a very casual fan who would wait to see her videos premiere on MTV. 

Then came BTW and I was jiving more with the music but her persona (the horns and stuff) turned me off.

It was Thanksgiving and my mom, who had been a huge Gaga stan throughout, wanted to watch her special and I was sooo not into it. My aunt and I were like expecting the worst thing ever. So we were half watching and kind of ignoring the whole thing and talking in the kitchen. Then I went outside with her while she smoked a cigarette and Gaga started performing “Yoü and I” on the piano. I will never forget it because we could hear it through the window and my aunt looks at me and goes “IS THAT HER VOICE?” and we both ran inside to watch.  I had always been into singer songwriters and I had never seen Gaga just sitting at the piano. I gained so much respect for her that night. I just thought she was a spectacle, and it was then that I realized how talented she was. 

That made me more than a casual fan and I began to listen to her music a lot more...and with a new perspective on her artistry. 

Then came Joanne and that album turned me into a f*cking STAN. I made an account here and began going to her shows, travelled to Vegas, and now consider myself a Little Monster.

Sometimes I feel sad that I haven’t experienced the past decade with the fanbase in its entirety. That I hadn’t gone to her tours before JWT, but I guess people find Gaga in their own way and time. She is an artist who heals through her music and I found her fully at a point when I had been struggling with chronic pain for most of my twenties and felt so defeated. I clicked into Joanne in such a strange way. Then Gaga came out and spoke about fibromyalgia and I was floored that she shared one of my illnesses. Maybe I heard it in her voice on that record? That is why Joanne made me a true stan and will always be such a special album to me. 

 

[Tom Nook 37,807]

Talent

[MEM 3,112]

I was about 14, Just Dance was playing everywhere in 2008 and everyone at school just loved it. When Poker Face came out I saw her do an acoustic version and being a piano player myself, I just fell in love straight away. I learned every part of that performance and she really inspired me to keep going because I was taking piano lessons and I'd get super frustrated but I wanted to be really good just like her. I also loved her voice and she was kind of like a secret obsession, because obviously there are a lot of sexual themes especially in her first record, so I wouldn't sing her songs in front of my family because I was embarrassed haha. Then finally in 2010 The Monster Ball came to Australia - I don't even know how I ended up affording to go but I'm thankful - and after she performed Speechless I knew she was going to be in my life forever. My seat was so far away though, my only memories of her in real life are ant-size