Lady Gaga On Lithium While Filming A Star Is Born Film Set

Lady Gaga is speaking candidly about the turbulent period in her life when she was taking lithium while filming A Star Is Born — a time that eventually led to what she now describes as a psychotic break.

In a new Rolling Stone cover story released Thursday, Gaga revealed that she relied on lithium during production to help stabilize and prevent manic episodes. Once filming ended, she launched into her Joanne world tour, where her mental state sharply declined.

“There was a moment when my sister looked at me and said, ‘I don’t recognize you anymore,’” Gaga recalled. “I ended up canceling the tour. I had a day where I checked myself into the hospital for psychiatric treatment. I needed to step away. I couldn’t function… I hit a complete wall. It was terrifying. There was a point where I honestly wasn’t sure I’d recover. I feel lucky to be alive — dramatic as it sounds, we all know how these stories can end.”

That period was one of the busiest of her career. Along with leading A Star Is Born opposite Bradley Cooper — a performance that earned her two Oscar nominations — she also delivered the Super Bowl Halftime Show and released her Joanne album. She later spent months on the film’s awards-season press tour, ultimately winning the Oscar for Best Original Song with “Shallow” in 2019.

Years later, Gaga says her life has stabilized, crediting much of that to her fiancé, Michael Polansky.

“Being loved by someone who sees the real me changed everything,” she said of Polansky, whom she began dating in 2020. “It made a huge difference.”

Gaga most recently starred as Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the Oscar-winning Joker. The 2024 film’s domestic debut — $37.8 million — fell far short of expectations and was met with harsh reviews, earning the first-ever D CinemaScore for a comic book movie.

Gaga admitted the backlash did affect her, though not in the way people might expect.

“I wasn’t completely unaffected,” she explained. “Honestly, when it all started, I just laughed. It became so outrageous. But when the criticism doesn’t fade for a while, that part can sting more — only because I poured so much of myself into it.”

She added, “There was a lot of negativity around Joker. Artistically, I think I was feeling rebellious at that time.”

Instead of withdrawing, Gaga channeled that criticism into her creative work, particularly the “Disease” music video that launched her new Mayhem era. “I put every bit of that energy into that video,” she said. “It was me saying, ‘Let me show you who I am — and what this fight feels like.’”

Heading into the 2026 Grammys, Gaga is among the top contenders, earning seven nominations. Her Mayhem album is in the running for Album of the Year, while her hit single “Abracadabra” scored nominations for both Record and Song of the Year.

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