Quote Of The Day By Lady Gaga: 'I Go From Everyone Touching Me All Day And Talking At Me All Day To ...'

In 2008, Lady Gaga (the chameleonic alter ego of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) burst onto the music scene with her debut album "The Fame," and has barely been out of the spotlight since. The New York-born, classically trained pianist has racked up 18 Top 10 Billboard hits, including six No. 1 singles, written songs for the likes of Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls, and explored genres from dance to country.

Alongside winning multiple Grammys and an Academy Award for her music, Lady Gaga's distinctive, often controversial style has made her a fashion icon and a darling among the LGBTQ+ community — for which she is a fierce advocate, particularly young people. She's also flexed her acting muscles, sharing the lead in Bradley Cooper's 2018 version of "A Star Is Born," being the best thing in "House of Gucci" (despite needing psychological support on set), and appearing in TV series including "Wednesday."

Gaga's larger-than-life persona means she always creates a stir wherever she goes, while her songs "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance" have explored her complex relationship with fame. However, she's also offered fans a glimpse behind the curtain, revealing how, when the applause ends and the crowds have gone home, hers was a somewhat lonely life. This dichotomy is what makes Lady Gaga today's quote of the day.

"I go from everyone touching me all day and talking at me all day to total silence."

The quote comes from the 2017 Netflix documentary "Gaga: Five Foot Two" (via Instagram). Directed by Chris Moukarbel, it offered an unvarnished chronicle of a busy year in the singer's life, which included her successful Super Bowl halftime show as well as living with and attempting to treat her chronic pain. The documentary also provided Gaga with a chance to touch on the deep loneliness that was a poignant counterpoint to her worldwide fame.

She prefaced the quote with the emotional admission, "All these people will leave, right? They will leave, and then I'll be alone."

Lady Gaga counts legendary crooner Tony Bennett and flamboyant singer Elton John among her wide circle of friends, but, as "Gaga: Five Foot Two" revealed, the singer's romantic life was a more complicated landscape. Her relationships with Lüc Carl, Matthew "Dada" Williams, and Taylor Kinney all foundered at times when her career was going from strength to strength. She was adored by millions — but went home alone every night.

Like many people in the public eye, Gaga has struggled to balance a fulfilling career and a happy private life. Earlier in her career, she shrugged it off, telling Rolling Stone in 2009: "My music's not going to wake up tomorrow morning and tell me it doesn't love me anymore. So I'm content with my solitude. I'm okay with being alone. I choose to have someone in my life when I can." In a 2025 interview with The New York Times, things had changed for the better. She talked about her fiancé Michael Polansky, and how he was so important to her because he was genuine. "I don't think [friendship] should be transactional, but I was around a lot of that all the time," she said.

There's nothing wrong with having ambitious professional goals, but if there's nobody to share or celebrate them with you, then all the success in the world can feel a little hollow.

• "I would say that my mental health always played a really powerful role in making music, because it was always when I was at my lowest that I wanted to sing. And that meant that I was feeling that way pretty often, because I sang a lot."

• "I'd like to think that I'm a kind person, but there's a ferociousness and a hardness and an intensity that I have onstage as a performer. So I had to learn how to hold those two things and have them not be at war with each other."

• "I'm sure that must sound peculiar to people because they see you on top of the world and they think you're the boss, but as a woman in music, I would say it took me 20 years to become the boss."

• "How do you learn how to be yourself with someone when you don't know how to be yourself with anyone?"

• "I am Lady Gaga. You know, this idea that that has to be something specific? I think that's an old story I used to tell myself. And I don't really care what anyone calls it anymore. It's just me."

• "All that ever holds somebody back, I think, is fear. For a minute, I had fear. I went into the room and shot my fear in the face — then I came out and I did the rest of the show."