USA TODAY International Edition
The lady is in
Lady Gaga reveals what makes her tick
With her wigs and outlandish ensembles, Lady Gaga is the titan of theatricality.
But peel away the layers, she says, and you see the real her, the painstakingly focused and meticulous musician and songwriter who spent two years crafting her new album, Art
pop, out today. Every note, every word on the release comes from her heart, she says.
“There’s a lot of pressure for me to deliver,” she says. “I’m not manufactured. I take it very seriously. I have to live and die by my own work.”
If something doesn’t pan out, says Gaga ( real name: Stefani Germanotta, 27), she takes full responsibility and doesn’t allow anyone to dictate what she says or sings. And saying she’s put off by sycophants, Gaga surrounds herself with people who tell her the truth.
“I’m at the age where you see blond hair and ( breasts) and a ( butt) and hear me singing about sex or fighting for gay rights, people start to roll their eyes. But no matter what happens, I’m prepared to go down with the ship.”
In fact, the more people push her, the more she rebels.
“I don’t really like to let anyone drive what it is that I’m supposed to say. I know it’s always driven by money or fear or vanity or ego.
“When I’m creating, I don’t think about any of those things. You either like it or you don’t.”
In person, Gaga is more diminutive than expected given her largerthan- life costumes. She’s polite and eloquent, and surprisingly, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, rolling her eyes and making a face when given a compliment on her allwhite ensemble.
Gaga says she lives a regular life with her boyfriend, actor Taylor Kinney, 32. She splits her time between Manhattan and the Windy City, where he shoots Chicago Fire.
“I live in a very modest apartment. I live a very creative lifestyle,” she says.
That lifestyle might not be what you’d expect. On a typical night, “( we) drink and smoke and write music and call Jeff Koons and ( performance artist) Marina Abramovic,” Gaga says. “That’s what I do. I sit at home and geek out over art and science. I work all the time. I love working.”