Lady Gaga has opened up about cultivating a life outside of the public eye.
The superstar took part in a rare, candid interview with Wallpaper magazine to promote her latest campaign with Dom Pérignon. When asked about her future, the multi-hyphenate revealed that she hopes to remain more private in the future, while reflecting on the ways that worldwide fame has changed her artistry.
"I'm actually really interested in living more of a life of solitude," she told the outlet. "It's really nice to just have time to be alone, and be expansive, and know that you're enough. I wish I could tell my younger self that. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time alone writing music. But the more successful I became, the more I felt like I needed other people to tell me I was great."
"When I was about 14 years old, I read a book called Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke," she continued. "And I have a [line from the book] tattooed on my arm. I got it in Osaka, when I was 23. 'In the deepest hour of the night, ask yourself if you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. Look deep into your heart where the answer spreads its roots and ask yourself, Muss ich schreiben? (Must I write?)'"
"If I wasn't successful in the way that I am today—I'm very grateful for my success—I'd still be doing it, I'd be on the Lower East Side [creating art with other artists as an unknown like I did when I was 18]," she added. "I would do it no matter what. Absolutely, 100 percent. I know that because I actually don't spend a lot of time in Hollywood. I might look like I do, because sometimes award season happens and you see me on red carpets. But I'm very much at home working… that's the thing that really makes me happy."
The new interview comes in the midst of this year's awards season, which Gaga has mostly skipped so far, despite receiving several nominations for her Top Gun: Maverick ballad, "Hold My Hand." She's currently filming her highly-anticipated role as Harley Quinn in the sequel to Todd Philips' Joker.
Quinci LeGardye is an LA-based freelance writer who covers culture, politics, and mental health through a Black feminist lens. When she isn’t writing or checking Twitter, she’s probably watching the latest K-drama or giving a concert performance in her car.
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