Lady Gaga has revealed she considered giving up her identity as Gaga.
Born with the name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga decided to reinvent herself under a stage name in the mid-noughties.
But she has shared that while recording her 2020 album Chromatica, she was struggling with depression and unsure if she wanted to continue as Gaga anymore.
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Speaking with the Irish Times, Lady Gaga opened up about how she used to create music as a way of gaining validation from others. In the long term, she found it wasn’t a sustainable way to make herself happy.
"You’re essentially passionate about getting people to love you as opposed to being passionate about the work,” she explained.
“I know I lost my way as an artist for a while when I started to care about what would make people like me.
“Then I rebelled, because why should I follow a North Star that keeps moving?”
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Ups & Downs
“My whole career, I’ve had ups, I’ve had downs,” Lady Gaga said. But when it came to her 2013 album Artpop, she explained that people were critiquing it before it was even released.
“Because of freedom of speech, people can write whatever they want, even if it’s lies, but years later, it’s one of my most critically acclaimed albums.”
Artpop went on to reach the top five in over twenty countries, including Ireland where it charted at number two.
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Lady Gaga is now starring in House of Gucci, which is due out this Friday. The offer of the part came while she was unsure if she wanted to continue as Gaga.
Once she took the role, she ran with the chance to play someone else.
Whether she keeps going as Gaga or someone else, we just hope Lady Gaga is happy!
