Lady Gaga has a reputation as recession pop’s holy mother, raising a generation of Little Monsters with her arthouse-style pop and shifting yet confident identities. She’s been Stefani Germanotta, Mother Monster, Jo Calderone, Mistress of Mayhem, and just plain Gaga. Also, she’s been Harley Quinn, Patrizia Reggiani, Tony Bennett’s friend, and often considered one of the greatest artists in history.
Her success, while naturally experiencing its ups and down, has always had longevity. No matter how badly she bombed, she never truly went away. It’s a testament to her versatility, and also to her resilience as an artist. But in a recent Rolling Stone cover feature, Lady Gaga revealed it was never easy. It still isn’t, she said, but she finally addressed the root of the problem.
“I did A Star Is Born on lithium,” she said, referencing the 2018 film. After that, she went out on the Joanne World Tour in support of her unexpected Americana-esque album. However, she quickly canceled the tour after experiencing what she described as a psychotic break.
“There was one day that my sister said to me, ‘I don’t see my sister anymore,’ ” she explained. “And I canceled the tour. There was one day I went to the hospital for psychiatric care. I needed to take a break. I couldn’t do anything … I completely crashed.”
Lady Gaga Recently Opened Up About Her Mental Health and Addressing Past Trauma
She continued, “It was really scary. There was a time where I didn’t think I could get better… I feel really lucky to be alive. I know that might sound dramatic, but we know how this can go.”
In 2011, when Lady Gaga was putting out Born This Way, she spoke to journalist Brian Hiatt, who also wrote the recent Rolling Stone feature. Hiatt mentioned some of her comments from 14 years ago, which resonate in the present context.
“When I am not onstage, I feel dead,” she said at the time. “Whether that is healthy or not … is really of no concern to me.” Then, she had never seen a therapist, and had never addressed the traumatic sexual assault that occurred when she was 19.
Now, she shared that she wanted to become a better version of herself because of her fiancé, Michael Polansky. It’s noted that Polansky “never called her anything but Stefani.” All the identities, the characters, the eras, and the alter-egos Gaga has had over the years, and her partner purposely only refers to her by her real first name.
“Being in love with someone that cares about the real me made a very big difference,” she said. Easier said than done, though. Because, she added, “How do you learn how to be yourself with someone when you don’t know how to be yourself with anyone?”
Despite the hurdles she’s faced, Lady Gaga said she now sees herself as “a healthy, whole person.” That’s likely due to therapy and addressing her mental health. But, as she said, it’s also due to love. This all helped her regain what she said lost, which in turn led to her triumphant comeback with the album Mayhem.
Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Live Nation
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