Lady Gaga is no stranger to the highs and lows of fame, but in a recent interview, she revealed the darker side of being in the spotlight.
During Tuesday’s episode of The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, the pop icon opened up about the inspiration behind her new song “Perfect Celebrity,” which explores her “complicated relationship with fame.”
“I think in a way, when I was writing, I was feeling like there was the real me and there was the clone me,” Gaga shared. “It’s kind of one of the more angry songs I’ve ever written.”
She described the track as a form of retaliation against herself, admitting, “I’m just sort of trying to figure out as I go through it, how I feel about it all, and it’s kind of a reckless tune, I think, in a way.”
When asked what the “horror” of fame was for her, the Bad Romance singer confessed, “I lost my sense of self in it all.” She explained how the constant public attention once gave her a high, but ultimately led to burnout.
“There’s a high I used to get from being in the public eye all the time, and it kind of, like, burnt me out and made me value what people thought of me over who I was in my everyday life,” she said. “Ultimately, it was my responsibility to start to value myself differently.”
Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, reflected on how this mindset led to a “distorted way of thinking” about herself.
“It actually feels really nice to have things not be about me all the time,” she admitted. “I enjoy being there for the people I love, supporting other people.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is everything orbiting me for a really long time, it was just—it created a distorted sense of self.”
Her song “Perfect Celebrity” captures these emotions vividly, with lyrics that describe the pressure to perform and please others.
“I’m made of plastic like a human doll / You push and pull me, I don’t hurt at all / I talk in circles, ‘cause my brain, it aches / You say, ‘I love you,’ I disintegrate,” she sings, painting a haunting picture of the toll fame has taken on her.
In another powerful line, she adds, “I’ve become a notorious being / Find my clone, she’s asleep on the ceiling.” These lyrics further emphasize the disconnect she has felt between her true self and the version of herself shaped by public perception.
