Lady Gaga Update: Pop Star Reveals She's No Longer Interested In The 'Fame' Drug [VIDEO]
Lady Gaga may have made a name for herself by satirizing fame and the art of celebrity, but she has since scaled things back in an attempt to find herself again.
Gaga rose to prominence with her 2008 debut album The Fame, which spawned such hits at "Just Dance", "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi". As she gained popularity and acclaim, her outfits became bolder and her drive to become a global superstar and maintain that level of success took a toll.
Fast-forward to 2016, having recorded a jazz album with Tony Bennett, an Oscar-nominated ballad, "Til It Happens to You" and a decidedly stripped back new solo album, Joanne, Gaga is singing a different tune. And she's happier than ever.
Gaga opened up about fame in a new essay for Harper's Bazaar, noting that her priorities have shifted.
"Fame is the best drug that's ever existed," she wrote. "But once you realize who you are and what you care about, that need for more, more, more just goes away. What matters is that I have a great family, I work hard, I take care of those around me, I provide jobs for people I love very much, and I make music that I hope sends a good message into the world. I turned 30 this year, and I'm a fully formed woman. I have a clear perspective on what I want. That, for me, is success. I want to be somebody who is fighting for what's true-not for more attention, more fame, more accolades."
Gaga wrote that in between her 2013 EDM album ARTPOP and now, she took time off to try and get back into a better place.
"I was able to get off the train of endless work I'd been on, which was quite abusive to my body and my mind, and have some silence and some space around me," she wrote. "I wanted to experience music again the way I did when I was younger, when I just had to make it, instead of worrying what everybody thinks or being obsessed with things that aren't important."
She also discussed the difficulties and strengths of being a woman in this day and age, relating back to her relatives who stayed strong for their family.
"I look at my mother and the way she has loved my father through his pain, and I look at my grandmothers and what they've been through-the three of them are like a trifecta of strength," Gaga observed. "Health, happiness, love-these are the things that are at the heart of a great lady, I think. That's the kind of lady I want to be. You know, I never thought I'd say this, but isn't it time to take off the corsets? As someone who loves them, I think it's time to take them off."
