Lady Gaga reveals heartbreaking moment that nearly ended her career

Lady Gaga recently shared why she considered stepping away from music early in her career.

The 38-year-old star reflected on how being away from her family in her native New York almost led her to retire from music.

While speaking with Sean Evans on the Hot Ones, Gaga shared “I missed the community that I had in New York and that was really hard.”

The Shallow singer acknowledged that the challenges briefly “tested” her loyalty to being an artist but she could never “give up” her dream.

“I’m still doing it,” she continued “so it must mean I want to do it.”

Gaga also discussed changes in her approach to performances, particularly regarding stage design.

She recalled her 2010 BRIT Awards performance, where she sang in front of a large 3D sculpture by Nick Knight “The crew guys were like, ‘[This statue] is about as big as this arena, we cannot put this on stage.’ That was pretty expensive and a bad decision, so now I try to be more resourceful and make less.”

In recent performances, including Hold My Hand ahead of the 2025 Super Bowl, Lady Gaga has used a more minimalistic stage approach.