Lady Gaga reveals she medicated herself with booze & weed to cope with fame – until Elton John stepped in to ‘save’ her

SINCE bursting into the charts 16 years ago, Lady Gaga has gone out of her way to shock and entertain in her quest to become the biggest pop star on the planet.

But working herself to the bone came at a price, because she now admits to having self- medicated on booze, cigarettes and cannabis to escape the ­pressures of fame she created.

Gaga revealed: “I used to drink a lot and smoke a lot, and I was always looking for an out.

“I used to call it the trap door. I used to be like, ‘I need an escape route’. I stopped doing that.

“And I actually started feeling it — being present.”

I sometimes worry people will say I’m boring these days but honestly...thank God I’m boring!
I was living on the edge and didn’t know what was going to happen to me

Lady Gaga

Now the controversial megastar — who famously wore a meat dress at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and released the track Judas just days before Easter Sunday in 2011 — reckons fans may think she has become dull as she is leading a ­quieter, more contented life with entrepreneur fiancé Michael Polansky, 46.

Gaga, 38, said: “Sometimes I worry people will say I’m boring these days, but honestly, thank God I’m boring. Because I was living on the edge.

“I don’t know what was going to happen to me living that way.

“So the fact that I have these answers . . . 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.”

The Born This Way hitmaker, who has sold 170million records, opened up to Elle magazine — where she showed off a dramatic new look — as she prepares to release her seventh album Mayhem on March 7.

‘I’m going to celebrate’

She told how rather than criticising herself, she has learned to channel “the darkness” into her music.

Gaga said: “I’m not going to torture myself. I’m going to celebrate.

“I feel some embarrassment and that’s a very vulnerable thing to share. But I think through making this album, I was able to really love myself through all of that.

“Confronting the music was a way of confronting some of the things I’ve been through, and going, ‘It’s OK that that’s who you are’, and celebrating it about myself instead of trying to ­pretend it’s not real.”

The singer — real name Stefani Germanotta — says she now loves nothing more than cooking at home and snuggling up on the sofa with Michael and their dogs.

She revealed: ‘I’m just trying to feel as ‘in my skin’ as possible and not like I’m performing all the time.’

It’s a big change from the days when her punishing schedule led to severe exhaustion that forced close pal Sir Elton John to step in.

She said in 2014: “He got me on the straight and narrow. He was ­telling me, ‘Gaga, you’re smoking too much’. He saved me.”

During her Monster Ball world tour in 2010, Gaga collapsed on stage in New Zealand while performing mega-hit Bad Romance.

Her third tour, the Born This Way Ball, came to an abrupt end in February 2013 when she had to cancel 21 shows due to being in agony.

It turned out she had earlier ­fractured her hip on stage, which later turned into fibromyalgia — a nerve condition that causes widespread discomfort.

The chronic pain resulted in Gaga being forced to cut ten shows from her 2018 Joanne world tour.

She previously said of her diagnosis: “We got all the MRIs done before I went to surgery. There were giant craters, a hole in my hip and the cartilage was just hanging out.

“I had a tear on the inside of my joint and a huge breakage.

“The surgeon told me that if I had done another show I might have needed a full hip replacement.”

But things are finally back on track, with Gaga admitting her last world tour in 2022 was the first time she had been both pain-free and enjoyed life on the road.

The manageable run of 22 stadium dates was in stark contrast to the 203 shows she played around the globe from 2009 through 2011, which left her on the brink.

Gaga said: “The Chromatica Ball — that was the first time I had that much enjoyment on a tour.

“And it was because the focus was not entirely on the show.

“I was asking, ‘How can I go out in the city that I’m in and be part of the local art community or see what’s happening here, talk to strangers in the neighbourhood? How can I spend time with people?’”

“Now touring is more about me as a total human.

“It makes the experience on stage even more powerful because by the time I get there, I’ve been doing other things that I can think about. I relate to the audience as real people because I’ve lived a real life.”

Gaga says she now understands that Stefani the person matters just as much as Gaga the megastar.

Asked if she has any advice for the likes of Chappell Roan and Charli XCX, who are currently dominating the charts, Gaga says: “I don’t know what their experience will be like, but what I hope for them is that they will know as soon as possible that their whole life matters.

“Who you are at home is just as valuable as who you are when you’re on stage.

“And no matter what anyone says to you, you can value who you are outside of all of this.

“I’ve been in the business for years. Being a woman and a product at the same time was really exhausting. My music, my image, was sold.”

But fans should not worry that the Gaga persona is winding down, because her next album looks like a return to the pop roots that made her a global chart-topper.

‘I love being me’

The singer added: “I love being Lady Gaga. I love being me.”

As for the future, The Sun understands that a 2026 world tour is on the cards.

Before that, she will perform at the Grammy Awards on Sunday where her Bruno Mars collaboration Die With A Smile is nominated for Best Song and Best Duo/Group Performance.

But Gaga makes no secret that she cannot wait to walk down the aisle with partner Michael before starting a family of their own.

She said of the future and turning 40 in a couple of years’ time: “I’d actually like things to be less about me.

“I really want to be there for people around me as much as I can. That’s the thing that makes me most happy.

“That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be an artist.

“But I think the thing I’d like in my forties is to discover all the ways I can show up better for people in my life — all the ways that I can create positivity and joy. Music’s just one way that I do it.”

Talking about having children one day, she added: “Family — it’s like the roots of the tree.

“They grow long, and sometimes they’re mangled, and sometimes they’re full with water, and sometimes they’re thirsty.

“Family is what makes you who you are, and it also defines your need for change.

“I just did my best and tried to stay true to myself along the way.

“That’s something Michael and I have talked about a lot — allowing our kids to be their own people.

“It’s such an intense thing for kids coming into the world.

“They’re told how to think and what to believe in and how to eat.

“I just kind of want to let my kids find out who they are.”