She is almost unrecognisable without the bleach 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.

From a photoshoot before the whirlwind that rose her to musical super-stardom, Lady GaGa is seen posing in Eighties-inspired outfits with her hair its natural dark brunette colour.

What a Lady: Stefani Germanotta, better know as Lady GaGa, in a photo-shoot back in 2007

Accompanied by a friend in some of the shots, a scantily clad GaGa shows off her toned and slender figure.

The other girl in the shots is actually a fellow performer and best friend to GaGa, Lady Starlight, who she met while working as a burlesque dancer in New York’s Lower East Side.

The pair performed around New York as a duo as Lady GaGa and the Starlight Revue.

To this day, the girls are still friends, and Lady 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.

Best friends: Seen here with Lady Starlight the girls posed for promotional shots for their burlesque revue

Lady Gaga recently spoke to Vanity Fair about her rise to fame and how it has made her ‘perpetually lonely.’

The 24-year old singer stripped off for a revealing photo-shoot and told the magazine she was celibate because she feared losing her creativity.

‘I’m perpetually lonely. I’m lonely when I’m in relationships. It’s my condition as an artist,’ she said.

‘I’m drawn to bad romances. And my song (Bad Romance) is about whether I go after those (sort of relationships) or if they find me. I’m quite celibate now; I don’t really get time to meet anyone.’

She added: ‘I have this weird thing that if I sleep with someone they’re going to take my creativity from me.’

Before the fame: GaGa recnetly told Vanity Fair that she is ‘perpetually lonely’ since becoming famous

The star talked candidly about hitting rock bottom and admitting she was addicted to cocaine.

But rather than enter rehab, she turned to her family for council, 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,’ she said.

‘What would I do now?’ 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, you’re gonna pick yourself up, you’re gonna go back to New York, and you’re gonna 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 worlds most popular living person with regards to social network with over 5 million Twitter followers and 10 million Facebook fans.