Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga visited Radio 1 shortly after reaching number one in the UK. She thanked the station for supporting Just Dance earlier than American radio and said the reaction in Britain had been unusually fast.
Scott asked whether he should call her Lady, Gaga or Joanne. She said friends and family called her Gaga, with her mother greeting her by saying: “Oh, my Gaga.”
The team expressed concern that she repeatedly appeared outside in very little clothing during a British January. Gaga said she was usually only outdoors for a few seconds while moving between studios and cars. She described that day’s outfit as a latex catsuit she had made herself, worn with a belt, snow boots and a large hair bow.
She said she usually removed her clothes completely when she reached home and wore robes indoors. Scott recommended Greg James’s sleeved blanket, prompting listeners to demand that somebody “get Gaga a Slanket”.
Gaga discussed supporting the Pussycat Dolls on her first UK arena tour. She described Nicole Scherzinger as “entirely too pretty to be as nice as she is” and said all the group members had been welcoming.
She also recalled supporting New Kids on the Block in America before many people knew who she was. For the first 16 minutes of her set, audiences appeared confused by her floor routine, glasses and illuminated “disco stick”. Once Just Dance became a hit, the arenas filled for her performance and people began calling her back on stage.
Scott asked about the disco stick. Gaga described it as a cane covered in lights, supplied with matching glasses and used as part of a high-fashion pop performance.
Away from pop, she said she listened to AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Metallica to energise herself.
True or false
Scott asked Gaga to confirm or reject stories about her.
She said her stage name did come from Queen’s Radio Ga Ga. Producer Rob Fusari had described her theatrical performance style as “so Gaga”, comparing her with Freddie Mercury, and the name stuck.
She denied hating The X Factor or American Idol. Reports that she had attacked Alexandra Burke had twisted her comments, she said, adding that anybody who achieved a number-one record deserved recognition.
Gaga confirmed that she had left college at 18 and moved into New York’s downtown nightlife. Her parents cried at the dinner table, but she wanted to experience the world of the artists who had influenced her. She worked, wrote songs, performed in clubs, danced and slipped her records to DJs before being signed, dropped and signed again.
She discussed writing Quicksand for Britney Spears, working on the Pussycat Dolls album and contributing to New Kids on the Block songs, including Big Girl Now.
At the end, Scott asked whether she would help Radio 1 write a Eurovision entry for Moldova. Gaga replied: “I will do anything for Radio 1,” giving the team an on-air promise they immediately treated as binding.
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