It's been a big year for Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, but there's not much question that 2009 was Lady Gaga's year. New York native Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta began the year as a hot hopeful and will end it as one of the biggest pop stars in the world. And there's no one who challenged, provoked, entertained and, well, titillated us over the past 12 months quite like she has.

Her debut album, The Fame, was released on October 30, 2008, but MTV News was on the case early, and when we spoke with her four months earlier, her vision was clear even then.

"What has been lost in pop music these days is the combination of the visual and the imagery of the artist, along with the music — and both are just as important," she said. "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear onstage. It's all about everything altogether — performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us."