I began singing in dive bars and really small clubs. I dragged my piano down the stairs, and I went down the street with my keyboard, and I would go to every different dive bar that I could get to agree to let me play. I'd call and pretend I was Lady Gaga's manager.
— Lady Gaga
Art is going to make a bigger comeback than ever. That's the upside to things getting challenging.
Music is one of the most powerful things the world has to offer. No matter what race or religion or nationality or sexual orientation or gender that you are, it has the power to unite us.
Meditation helps me to calm down.
I don't know if it's changing already with 'Joanne,' but my intention is to bring people together that don't know each other and that would maybe feel awkward, but somehow be brought together by the music. That's what I wanted to do. Because that is pure and authentic to my family history and what I stand for.
The kindness that's been shown to me, by doctors as well as my family and my friends, it's really saved my life.
Making your dad happy is - especially for an Italian Catholic girl, I'll tell you - it feels really good.
I think what's important is for us to decipher what is honest and what is dishonest and be accepting of those things and not operating from fear.
I've suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life.
This thing that I do with caring about the message in my music, it's not separate from my work as a commercial artist; they're totally one and the same. I'm always going to be thinking about what my voice means.
I always have been an activist for things that were just authentically a part of my life, that I felt connected to.
There is spontaneity to my work.
I am not some goddess that dropped down from the sky to sing pop music; I am not some extra-incredible human person that needs to be told how wonderful they are all day and kissed.
I don't think I could think of a single thing that's more isolating than being famous.
My audience went, 'Wait, why is she singing jazz? What's going on?' And then they went, 'Oh, because she can. Because she loves it.' And jazz, a music invented by the African-American community, is the greatest art form, I believe, to have ever come out of this country.
The reason that I'm here at all is because of my relationship with my family and their encouragement of me to be a musician and to work hard. As long as I stay there in that space, I can do anything. That's my truth.
I've had faith my whole life that there was someone looking out for me, a spirit guide, a soul guide.
Returning to your family and where you came from, and your history... this is what makes you strong. It's not looking out that's going to do that - it's looking in.
History shows us that in times of people feeling like they are in need of some sort of rebellion or protests, the artists rise because the poetry we create about pain and its relationship to culture in the world begins to soothe and heal people who are feeling confused or afraid.
I believe in the spirit of equality and the spirit of this country as one of love and compassion and kindness.
I don't know if I'm selfless - I still want to make a great record. I want to make a hit record. I want to tour; that's not completely selfless. But the truth is I'm not interested in people coming to my show for me as much as I am for them coming to my show for themselves. That's always been how I am.
When I heard 'Jesus, Take the Wheel,' I was like, OK. Some people look at it as a song written for an American Idol, Carrie Underwood, who is wonderful. But when you're a songwriter listening to a song, you hear something else. I heard that song, and wow.
I always say, you gotta play a dive bar like you play an arena, and you play an arena like you play a dive bar.
I was always trying - I never wanted to let my fans down; I always wanted them to see me in my art form.
There is something in the way that we are now, with our cell phones, and people are not looking at each other and not being in the moment with each other, that kids feel isolated.
When I'm making music, I can hear all the parts, all the instruments. I can hear what it should be.
I just genuinely feel that that's what you do when you're an artist: You stick up for the people around you.
I'm really happy and had such an amazing time performing at Super Bowl - wish I could relive it all over again.
I play a lot of instruments. I write all my own music. I spend hours and hours a day in the studio. I'm a producer. I'm a writer.
I wanted to get a job being creative, and I did.
It's an endless proving of myself, that I really am a musician, that I have something to offer in the room. That women can be musicians, women can be rock stars, women can be more than an objectified idea of a pop star.
My whole life is a theater piece.
If this were all to go away tomorrow, all the big success, I would still be very happy going from bar to bar playing music for people.
What I want for my fans and for the world, for anyone who feels pain, is to lean into that pain and embrace it as much as they can and begin the healing process.
Joanne' is a progression for me. It was about going into the studio and forgetting that I was famous.
I want to - more than anything - to create a moment that people will never forget. Not for me, but for themselves. That's what I remember about great Super Bowl performances in the past, when you really get lost in the moment with your family.
I believe in a passion for inclusion.
I don't keep people around me that aren't family. You don't get to stay. Unless you're eating at the table with us, you're not part. We eat together, we cry together, we live together, we die together. Everything that we do is for each other, and we care for another.
I've been searching for ways to heal myself, and I've found that kindness is the best way.
All the awards in the world, you can get into all the nightclubs, they'll send you the nicest clothes. Nothing better than walking into your dad's restaurant and seeing a smile on his face and knowing that your mom and dad and your sister are real proud of you.
Some people want to win races. Other people want to be President of the United States.
The Internet is a toilet. It is.
The darkness, the loop of negative thoughts on repeat, clamours and interferes with the music I hear in my head.
In terms of my involvement in 'don't ask, don't tell' and marriage equality and anti-bullying and social emotional learning in schools - these are all things that arise out of my relationship with the world and with my fans.
I allow myself to fail. I allow myself to break. I'm not afraid of my flaws.
Madonna and I are very different. Just saying. We're very different. I wouldn't make that comparison at all, and I don't mean to disrespect Madonna: she's a nice lady, and she's had a fantastic, huge career - biggest pop star of all time.
It is very hard to not be able to engage with people in a real and honest way because they either want something from me, or they see me as something that I simply am not.
When there's justice and change, you start to see the cleansing of the soul, and that is what I want for people, and I hope it's okay for me to say those things.
I miss people. I miss going anywhere and meeting a random person and saying 'Hi' and having a conversation about life. I love people.
I don't know that you can put a label on growth. I'm just me.
