My biggest fear is being alone -Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga: The Isolation of Fame

No one wants to be alone. Being a pop star can be very isolating. Just ask Lady Gaga.

Her rise to fame in 2009-10 was unprecedented. She was one of the first pop stars to use the internet effectively. The media constantly followed her with photos and gossip.

The public's appetite for her was insatiable. In just three years, she changed her looks and sounds frequently. One critic said she was "speed-running Madonna's entire career."

As her fame grew, headlines became more outrageous. She staged a satanic ritual in London. Rumors claimed she was secretly a hermaphrodite. Some even suggested she would saw off her leg "for fashion."

At the 2010 MTV Awards, she wore a dress made of meat. Many did not understand the joke behind it. Gaga presented herself as something for tabloids to consume.

On stage, fans worshipped her as their idol, the Little Monsters. But that kind of adulation can feel distant and unreal.

In the 2017 documentary *Five Foot Two*, Gaga expressed her loneliness. "I’m alone, Brandon. Every night," she told her stylist. She described going from constant attention to total silence.

Now at 38, Gaga is engaged to tech entrepreneur Michael Polansky. She admits those years of solitude frightened her.

"My biggest fear was doing life on my own," she shared with the BBC. Meeting Michael has been a great gift for her amidst the chaos of fame.