Long before she became a global icon, Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Germanotta) was a struggling singer trying to make it in the NYC club scene. “I would knock on door after door after door and just say, ‘Can I please play here?’” the 38-year-old megastar told Hot Ones host Sean Evans on the February 13 episode. “Or I would call and pretend I was my manager. I’d be like, ‘She’s so hot right now.’ And sometimes I would do an accent. I would do anything to get booked.”
Gaga has poured blood, sweat and tears into her work since breaking out with her Grammy-winning debut album, The Fame, in 2008. Her commitment to her art has won her legions of fans (a.k.a. her beloved Little Monsters) and countless awards (she’s taken home 14 Grammys in total, as well as a Golden Globe and an Oscar). But her success came at a price. She’s been open about her battles with mental health and said in a 2020 interview that she once “hated being famous” and felt “exhausted and used up.”
As she promotes her highly anticipated seventh studio album, Mayhem, there’s been a shift for the star. She’s as dedicated as ever to her music — she’s called the record “a total labor of love” — but not at the expense of her personal life or sanity. Gaga confirmed her engagement to venture capitalist Michael Polansky, 41, in July 2024; they are planning their wedding and she recently told Elle she’d like to start a family. “The biggest change in Gaga is that she knows performing is only one part of her artistry, a source tells Us Weekly. “She’s grown to value who she is off stage to her family and her dogs and her friends.” Adds the source: “Her sense of peace at home is what keeps her grounded. She’s happier than she’s ever been in her adult life.”
Rising Above
The “Abracadabra” singer has admitted that the lines between Lady Gaga and Stefani blurred as she shot to fame. “I became a star when I was 20. Everything gets reflected back to you, that this persona is what makes you special,” she told Elle. For years, she felt more like a commodity than a person. “Being a woman and a product at the same time was really exhausting.” Her advice for younger artists who are coming up now is to know that their worth goes beyond awards and accolades: “Who you are at home is just as valuable as who you are when you’re onstage,” she shared. “And no matter what anyone says to you, you can value who you are outside of all of this.”
Fame took a toll on her mental health. In 2020, Gaga said she experienced depression and anxiety over being objectified. “If I’m at the grocery store and somebody comes up very close to me and puts a cellphone right in my face and starts taking pictures, [it’s] just total panic, full-body pain,” she confessed. “I’m braced because I’m so afraid. It’s like I’m an object; I’m not a person.” (Gaga also previously discussed her battle with PTSD and experiencing a psychotic break after being raped by a music producer at age 19.) She said music helped her heal and that she eventually “found a way to love [herself] again.”
Out of the Dark
Her new album — which, according to Gaga, is influenced by everything from ’90s alternative and electro-grunge to Prince and David Bowie — reflects her new frame of mind. “With Mayhem, Gaga is taking ownership over what is hers,” says the source. “Her identity as an artist is stronger than ever.” The source notes that Gaga’s decision to end the record with her Bruno Mars duet, “Die With a Smile,” is a nod to her recent evolution. “It’s symbolic of this change — Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’ ends with peace and love,” explains the source. “Gaga will always allow herself to dream her artistic fantasies, but she knows how to bring herself back.”
The A Star Is Born actress said she’s feeling more confident than ever during a March 7 interview with Good Morning America. “I know that might sound silly, but it actually took me two decades to become the boss in a way,” she told Michael Strahan. “Being a woman in music, I was almost always the only woman in the room all the time. I had to really, really work hard to maintain my sense of stability and my purpose,” she added. “I always stuck to my guns when it came to my music and my artistry, but it was a real challenge, and I made it through that mayhem.”
A New Normal
Polansky has brought stability to Gaga’s world. “My dogs and the man that I love are my whole life,” she said in 2021. Gaga’s mother introduced them after she met Polansky at a charity event. At the L.A. premiere of her movie Joker: Folie à Deux, Gaga gushed about their relationship, calling the Harvard grad her partner and “best friend.” And in a 2024 interview with Vogue, she credited Polansky with pulling her out of a dark place. “I struggled for, like, many years … But everything started to change. Because I had a real friend who saw the ways in which I was unhappy and why,” she said. “He wasn’t afraid to truly hold my hand. And get to know me. On a very deep level.”
At home in Malibu, they enjoy cooking and hosting. “We make pasta together; we roast things. We also really like making simple dishes with Michael’s mom, who lives nearby,” Gaga told Elle. Added Polansky, “We find normalcy where we can.” They have yet to reveal their wedding plans publicly, though Gaga told Jimmy Kimmel in late 2024 that she’s considering a private courthouse ceremony. “We actually talk about going to the courthouse, just the two of us, and ordering Chinese food,” the singer confessed. “Knowing me, also, it could become like a circus with unicorns.”
A second source tells Us that family “is at the center of everything” for the couple. “Gaga believes that when life is full of love, the music then flows easily. The two would love to become parents in the future.” Gaga told Elle that she and Polansky have discussed parenthood and parenting styles at length. “That’s something Michael and I have talked about a lot,” she shared, “allowing our kids to be their own people.”
The couple has already collaborated on music together. The entrepreneur serves as an executive producer of Mayhem. “His collaboration over the project… adds a personal touch that continues to cement this album as that of a very human artist and not a product of the music industry,” says the second source. Polanksy also worked with Gaga on 2024’s Harlequin, which served as a companion album to Joker: Folie à Deux.
What’s Next?
As Gaga looks ahead, balance will be a priority. She’s set to appear in season 2 of the Netflix hit Wednesday later this year and will headline Coachella in April. (After two nights at the festival, Gaga will perform in Mexico City on April 26, marking her first show in Mexico in 13 years.) “Coachella is a massive honor for Gaga to be doing a second time,” says the first source. When Gaga replaced a pregnant Beyoncé in 2017, she didn’t have a ton of time to prepare. “She’s always felt that her last-minute fill-in was not her ultimate vision for the show she dreamed of creating,” the source explains, “so she’s very excited to bring Mayhem to the desert.”
The source says she’s also open to returning to Las Vegas for another residency. (Gaga debuted the pop phenomenon Enigma in 2018 and Jazz & Piano in early 2019, becoming the first artist to launch dual residencies with vastly different types of music. She wrapped in July 2024.) “Just being in Vegas is its own form of art to Gaga,” explains the first source. “She loves the city’s energy and the freedom it gives her to perform both pop and jazz. She can definitely see a future for herself in Vegas.” A Broadway run may also be in the cards. “She’d love to get involved with Broadway,” adds the source, “and potentially craft a show from scratch if she found a story that felt inspiring for her to tell.”
But first — some quality time with her dogs and Polansky. “Sometimes I worry people will say I’m boring these days, but honestly, thank God I’m boring,” she told Elle. “Because I was living on the edge. I don’t know what was going to happen to me living that way… on the one hand, I’m like, ‘Oh man, snooze fest!’ But actually, I’m so grateful. Because I found a sense of happiness and joy that is true to me.”
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