Maria Goes Gaga

A couple weeks ago, I shared the touching story of Maria Aragon, a 10 year old girl who caught Lady Gaga’s eye with her down-tempo version of Gaga’s new single Born That Way.  Maria’s YouTube version went viral when Gaga tweeted a link to Maria’s video plus the following: “Can’t stop crying watching this. This is why I make music. She is the future.”  And viral it has gone, with nearly 18 million hits in 2.5 weeks!

Maria has been busy these last few weeks, performing on prime time shows like Ellen and Good Morning America.  Her family, who moved to Canada from the Philippines 14 years ago does everything they can to support her music.  Her brother taught her to play piano, her sister recorded her now-famous video (among many others) and both siblings chipped in to buy the $1000 keyboard used in the video.  For more on her family’s story and her rise to internet stardom, check out THIS STORY.

I haven’t been able to get this story out of my mind for the last few weeks and was anxiously awaiting the video from Gaga’s March 3rd concert in Toronto in which she invited Maria to come onstage and sing with her.  All I know is that if I had the chance to sing with my hero in front of a sold out show at age 10, I would have been absolutely giddy with delight.  I can’t wait to see where Maria goes from here!  Enjoy the touching video and worry not, Maria will definitely be the subject of future blog posts!