Lady Gaga's former manager says singer was "painfully shy"

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Lady Gaga's former manager says singer was "painfully shy"

2010-10-09 01:42:56 GMT+7 (ICT)

LOS ANGELES (BNO NEWS) -- Lady Gaga's former manager describes the Grammy award winning singer, who is known for her extravagant performances, as "painfully shy" during the early stages of her career, People magazine reported on Friday.

Bob Leone, who initially saw Lady Gaga at an open mic performance when she was around 13 years old, eventually became the international star's first manager. After working with her for several years and managing her career for the half of 2006, Leone has a different insight on Lady Gaga's apparent extroverted persona.

"She was painfully shy - very different from who she is now," Leone told People. "She came to the open mics with her mother twice before she built up the courage to go onstage."

However, "she was prodigy-like," said Leone, who came to know the singer as Stefani Germanotta before witnessing her transformation into Lady Gaga. "She was clearly a very good songwriter and keyboard player."

"It was a very important six months because going into it, she was Stefani, and she was still writing pop music. By the end of that six month period, she was officially Lady Gaga."

On Lady Gaga's 2006 showcase, Leone says she "blew everyone away."

"Nobody talked about anything after that show but Lady Gaga. She bantered with the audience and was very funny. I never noticed that sense of humor when she was Stefani."

Leone will be auctioning off nine collectible Lady Gaga memorabilia - including an unreleased 2002 demo recording and original Germanotta CD recordings.

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