Her Life
‘I don’t like to talk about it too much but there were drugs, serious drugs. I wouldn’t want to inspire other people to do the same.’ – on using drugs in the past.
‘I’ve always been an outspoken and extreme dresser.‘ – on her fashion.
‘I didn’t fit in in high school and I felt like a freak… So I like to create this atmosphere for my fans where they feel like they have a freak in me to hang out with and they don’t feel alone.‘ – On her performances and teenage years at interview at Ellen DeGeneres show.
‘I’m really free-spirited about love and sexuality, which I think is apparent in my music, and even the visuals, which are all very androgynous. But the minute you say something about who you are, people think you’re just playing the ‘edgy card’ and that’s not what I want people to think of me as. I want them to think fashion, pop culture, avant-garde, fearless — the girl who brought the straight boys into the gay club.’ – saying she’s got support from the gay community.
‘I don’t go to nightclubs. If I do, I’ll be one whisky and a half into it and then I have to get back to work.‘ – saying she doesn’t have time to party.
Art & Fashion
‘Pop Culture Will Never Be Low, Brow!‘ – her ‘trademark’
‘Art is life, life is art… The question is, what came first?‘
‘It’s not just a mask, it’s a contemporary art piece.‘ – on the mask she wore at The Isle Of MTV Malta.
‘I guess they weren’t really pants at all. But it was really funny because you all you saw was this half-naked girl on the street yelling at some cop, ‘It’s fashion! I’m an artist!’ It was fun.’ – after being stopped by police when wearing a flesh-colored skimpy outfit.
‘I am really inspired by the Italians like Gabbana, Versace and Gucci. But I am looking it in that way and trying to make my own.’ – on fashion trends.
‘A girl’s got to use what she’s given and I’m not going to make a guy drool the way a Britney video does. So I take it to extremes. I don’t say I dress sexily on stage – what I do is so extreme. It’s meant to make guys think: ‘I don’t know if this is sexy or just weird.’ – talking about her style.
‘My grandmother is basically blind, but she can make out the lighter parts, like my skin and hair. She says, ‘I can see you, because you have no pants on.’ So I’ll continue to wear no pants so that my grandma can see me‘ – on wearing no pants.
Her Work & Fans
‘You can say the philosophy of Gaga is fashion-music-technology-performance art. It’s an interactive experience for the audience, I design everything together and New York is the nexus of my inspiration. I was born and raised in New York City. I am inspired by street fashion and the attitude. Andy Warhol is a huge inspiration of mine and I have a lot of Pop Art elements in the show. I am so passionate about my music. – on her work inspirations.
‘I’m no tv talent-show wannabe, I did this the way you’re supposed to: I worked hard. I’m involved in every aspect of my work. I’m not like some singers, who just turn up to put their vocals over another person’s song.’ – on knocking out X-Factor winner in the UK Charts.
‘My goal as an artist is to funnel a pop record to a world in a very interesting way. I almost want to trick people into hanging with something that is really cool with a pop song. It’s almost like the spoonful of sugar and I’m the medicine.’ – on her goals as an artist.
‘I absolutely wanted it to be a reflection of my lifestyle – but through a more pop lens.’ – on the music video for ‘Just Dance’.
‘This is all part of a movement. My artistry is much deeper than fashion or anything like that: I love pop music, and I want to bring it back. People are truly hungry for this. They generally miss the ’90s and the superfans flooding Times Square, crying and wailing and doing anything to see the fingernail of a star. I want that back, and [the 'LoveGame' video] is just another move towards that. ‘LoveGame’ is a genuine New York lifestyle video. It’s got that feeling of ‘gay, black New York,’ of inclusion and glamour. I wanted to really bring forth the girl that I was four years ago, and I wanted to put it in the setting of the underground subway. I worked with [video director] Joseph Kahn, and he did an amazing job. He didn’t just capture the fashion; he captured the artist. We all used to believe in that very artistic lie that pop music tells. And we want to believe in that again. And it is back. I promise you. It’s happening right now. My work is honest and strong, and I couldn’t be more happy to see it reach so many people. There’s really nothing else I can say‘ – on pop culture and the ‘LoveGame’ music video.
‘Because that’s your fame. That’s where your fame lives… my luminosity. My constant flashing light. It’s in my ability to know what I make is great. I know it is, I know it’s great, and it’s that sureness. That sureness is infectious.‘ – about the importance in which self-confidence plays upon her success.
‘I don’t appreciate when people call me Stefani, because if they don’t know me, I feel like it’s their way of acting like they do … they’re completely ignoring my creative existence… Lady Gaga is who I am. Me and my hair bow, we go to bed together. She sleeps where I sleep.‘ – on people she doesn’t know call her by her real name (Stefani).
‘Every dollar I earn goes on the show. Now we’re finally getting to a place where it’s not bankruptcy. Then again, with another tour coming up soon I’ll probably be homeless again.‘ – joking that she does anything to make her fans happy.
‘This fan got this amazing tattoo on his arm, this massive Lady Gaga tattoo that was very intricate and very detailed and in it I was wearing this crystal outfit – but this thing was like an art piece. I was so flattered because tattoos are for life.‘ – on a fan that had tatooed her.
