She is almost unrecognisable without the bleached-blonde hair and space age outfits, but Lady GaGa, real name Stefani Joanna Angelina Germanotta, shows off her true beauty in these stunning pictures taken in 2007 while she was still a struggling artist. Accompanied by her friend Lady Starlight in some of the shots, a scantily clad GaGa shows off her toned and slender figure.

The pair met while she was working as a burlesque dancer in New York and performed as Lady GaGa and the Starlight Revue. The girls are still friends, and Starlight is now a member of GaGa’s in-house creative team, Haus of GaGa, as well as performing as a DJ on the Monster’s Ball Tour. Gaga recently spoke to Vanity Fair about her rise to fame and how it has made her ‘perpetually lonely.’ The 24-year-old singer told the magazine she was celibate because she feared losing her creativity.

‘I have this weird thing that if I sleep with someone they’re going to take my creativity from me,’ she said. The star also talked candidly about hitting rock bottom and admitted she was addicted to cocaine, but rather than enter rehab, she turned to her family for counsel, heading with her mother to her 82-year-old grandmother’s house.

‘I cried. I told her I thought my life was over and I have no hope and I’ve worked so hard, and I knew I was good,’ and she said, “I’m gonna let you cry for a few more hours. And then after those few hours are up, you’re gonna stop crying, pick yourself up, go back to New York, and kick some ass.”And that’s what she did.

Lady GaGa has sold over 15 million albums and 40 million singles to date and is the world’s most popular living person.

—Daily Mail

Will.I.am doesn’t support release of new Michael Jackson album

A new Michael Jackson album is expected by the end of the year culled from unreleased material in his vaults, but Jackson collaborator and Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am is vehemently opposed to the idea. ”I don’t think that should ever come out. That’s bad,” he said. ”He was a perfectionist and he wouldn’t have wanted it that way. How you gonna release Michael Jackson when Michael Jackson ain’t here to bless it?”

Will.i.am collaborated with Jackson on the re-release of Thriller in 2008 with remixed versions of some of the album’s classic songs. He said Jackson was very particular about all aspects of his musical productions, from his vocals to arrangements to instrumentation.

”Now that he is not part of the process, what are they doing? Why would you put a record out like that? Because he was a friend of mine, I just think that’s disrespectful,” he said. ”What’s wrong with what he already contributed to the world?” When asked about the high demand for any new Jackson music, Will.i.am replied: ”So what? You don’t disrespect someone when they’re gone. … How much can you suck from his energy? … Freaking parasites!”

Not much is known about what will be on the album, but Michael’s brother Jackie has said he and brother Marlon were working on the record with John McClain, Jackson’s former manager and executor of his estate. The Jackson estate did not respond to a request for comment.