Lady Gaga: I've always felt like a freak
'Sometimes in life you don't always feel like a winner'
November 25, 2009, 10:07 a.m.
STAFF REPORT
Lady Gaga wants to send her fans a message: If you're a freak, you are not alone.
Gaga appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (in an episode airing Friday) and told the host she wanted to "create a space for my fans where they can feel free, and they can celebrate."
"I didn't fit in in high school, and I felt like a freak. So I like to create this atmosphere for my fans where they feel like they have a freak in me to hang out with, and they don't feel alone," she said.
The 23-year-old, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, said she felt like an outcast in high school in New York because she wanted to be like "Boy George."
She said it "took a long time to be OK" with who she is.
"I want my fans to know that it's OK," she said. "Sometimes in life you don't always feel like a winner, but that doesn't mean you're not a winner."
Lady Gaga signed with Def Jam Records when she was 19, after record executive and Cincinnati native L.A. Reid heard her singing down the hallway from his office. She claimed Reid never met with her, and after three months, she was dropped from the label.