Lady Gaga

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.

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.

Joanne' is a progression for me. It was about going into the studio and forgetting that I was famous.

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 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.

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.

Some people want to win races. Other people want to be President of the United States.

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.

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 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 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.

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 think women love very hard. We love men. We just love with everything we have. And sometimes, I don't know that that love is met with the type of dignity that we wish it would be met with.

I spend my money on my props and my creations. I'm an inventor.

I think a lot of people love to convolute what everyone else does in order to disempower women.

My records are borderline dance records. They've got a real electro-rock heart and soul, and the vibe of the sentiment is pop, but there's a lot of people that were like, 'This is a dance record.'