Lady Gaga’s Quotes About Love Are Just As Fierce As She Is
Ever since "Just Dance" turned Lady Gaga into a household name, she's cornered the pop market with her talent, sex appeal, larger-than-life glam, and cinematic narratives about torrid love affairs. (See: "Poker Face," "Alejandro," "Judas," "You and I," and of course, "Shallow.") But Lady Gaga's quotes about love aren't just about bad romances and endless devotion. Off-stage, Gaga has spoken candidly about things like terrible ex-boyfriends and the harsh realities that lead her time and time again to put her career over anything — and anyone — else.
It's safe to say her experience in love and throughout her expansive career has taught Mother Monster a thing or two about what's really important in life. She's said tons of beautiful things about love, mainly about loving herself, her work, and all her fans equally. She's taken a stand in the face of homophobia and transphobia, reminded her fans to ignore societal pressures around sex, and surround themselves with people who will support them unconditionally.
Below, some of Lady Gaga's most iconic quotes to remind you how important it is to love others fiercely, unapologetically go after what you want, and most importantly, to give yourself the love you deserve.
On Letting Go Of Bad Boyfriends
In her 2010 Cosmopolitan cover story, Gaga spoke about the evolution of her romantic life.
I had a boyfriend who told me I'd never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song and that he hoped I'd fail. I said to him, 'Someday, when we're not together, you won't be able to order a cup of coffee at the f*cking deli without hearing or seeing me.'
Gaga love lesson #1: Kick unsupportive partners to the curb, ASAP.
On Deciding Between Her Love Life & Her Career
Being the indomitable Aries queen that she is, it's no surprise she also told Cosmopolitan the following:
Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore.
On The Duality Of Love
Around the same time, Gaga tweeted this profound thought: "Love is like a brick," she wrote. "You can build a house, or you can sink a dead body."
It's a little morbid, but what else would you expect from Mother Monster?
On Prioritizing Intimacy Over Sex
At a 2010 event for MAC Cosmetics' AIDS fund, Gaga spoke to fans about how having sex right away isn't crucial to forming romantic connections.
It’s OK not to have sex. It’s OK to get to know people... It’s OK to be whomever it is that you want to be. You don’t have to have sex to feel good about yourself, and if you’re not ready, don’t do it... It’s cooler to be strong and independent.
Another tip from the queen: You don't have to succumb to societal pressures about what modern relationships are "supposed" to look like.
On Choosing Love Over Hate
In 2012, Fuse dropped an interview with Gaga where she spoke about her queerness and the music industry.
I feel even just in the music industry that there's very public misogynistic and homophobic behavior. When I hear one of the most famous rappers in the world say something homophobic on the radio, I want people to yell at him. I don't have to say who because they know who they are. It's not just hip-hop, it's everywhere. It's wrong.
I'm not trying to create and generate more hatred in the world, I just want to generate awareness. It's always wrong to hate but it's never wrong to love.
On Her Commitment To Self-Love (Both Hers & Yours)
Another iconic Gaga quote came from her 2010 T Magazine interview, where she discussed overcoming substance addiction, her relationship with her work and fans, and the celebrity spotlight. Referring to it as the Book of Gaga, she laid down her philosophy clear as day:
In the Book of Gaga, fame is in your heart, fame is there to comfort you, to bring you self-confidence and worth whenever you need it. I want my fans to love themselves. It’s almost like I want to hypnotize them so when they hear my music they love themselves instantly.
On Her Relationship With Taylor Kinney
When Gaga went on The Ellen Show in 2013, she gave fans a little insight into her relationship with Taylor Kinney (who she started dating in 2011 and got engaged to in 2014), saying he's "strange," but that they complement each other's weirdness.
We're boys. I wear his flannels, we eat pizza, we watch TV, and then I play him my next single and ask him if he likes it. And that's our normal life.
The two went their separate ways in 2016.
On Why Self-Love Is So Important
At Yale University's Emotion Revolution Summit in 2015, Gaga dropped this piece of advice:
No matter how much success you have, no matter how many opportunities, fame, fortune, no matter how many accept you to your face, the person that really needs to accept you is you.
On Love Being At The Center Of Everything She Does
In Gaga's 2019 interview with Oprah Winfrey for Elle, she echoed what she said nine years earlier. Talking about the impact of her infamous meat dress, she mentioned how her Oscar win put her talent in perspective, saying:
You have a much greater mission on this Earth than to freak the hell out of people. Your mission is to give people a form of love through your art that lifts them up.
Reminding Fans That "A Star Is Born" Was A Love Story
Who could forget how ardently fans shipped Gaga with Bradley Cooper following the release of A Star Is Born in 2018?
When speaking about her creative endeavors surrounding love, Gaga set the record straight in her interview with Oprah, saying:
We made a love story. For me, as a performer and as an actress, of course we wanted people to believe that we were in love. And we wanted people to feel that love at the Oscars. We wanted it to go right through the lens of that camera and to every television that it was being watched on. And we worked hard on it, we worked for days. We mapped the whole thing out — it was orchestrated as a performance.
Looking at Gaga's track record, it's easy to see how love — whether that's for her craft, her fans, or herself — is at the core of everything she does. And that's why we stan.
