Lady Gaga Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Lady Gaga is opening up about being on lithium while filming A Star Is Born and experiencing a psychotic break. In her Rolling Stone cover story published Thursday, the singer revealed that during filming the Oscar-nominated film, she used the drug to treat and prevent episodes of mania. After filming wrapped, Gaga embarked on the Joanne world tour, where she experienced what she described as a psychotic break. "There was one day that my sister said to me, 'I don't see my sister anymore,' " Gaga told the publication. "And I canceled the tour. There was one day I went to the hospital for psychiatric care. I needed to take a break. I couldn't do anything ... I completely crashed. It was really scary. There was a time where I didn't think I could get better.... I feel really lucky to be alive. I know that might sound dramatic, but we know how this can go." Related Stories Music Grammy Nominations: Kendrick Lamar Leads With Nine, Lady Gaga Nabs Seven Lifestyle Best Celebrity Halloween Costumes 2025: Lady Gaga, Niecy Nash-Betts, Keke Palmer and More The time marked a busy one for Gaga. In addition to starring alongside Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born, which earned Gaga two Oscar nominations, she had also headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show and released her Joanne album. Gaga would later have a press tour for the film which ran through the Oscars in February 2019, where Gaga won for best original song ("Shallow"). Time has since passed, with Gaga now having found love with fiancé Michael Polansky and now a "healthy, whole person." "Being in love with someone that cares about the real me made a very big difference," the singer said of Polansky, whom she began dating in 2020. Gaga would later star in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the Oscar-winning Joker, opposite Joaquin Phoenix. The 2024 film bombed in its box office debut with a domestic opening of $37.8 million, well behind expectations after becoming the first Hollywood comic book movie in history to earn a D CinemaScore from audiences. The film was also heavily criticized. "I wasn't, like, unfazed," Gaga said about her reaction to the film's poor reception. "It's funny, I'm almost nervous to share my reaction. But the truth is, when it first started happening, I started laughing. Because it was just getting so unhinged. When it takes a while for something to kind of dissipate, that can be a little bit more painful. Only because I put a lot of myself into it." "There was a ton of negativity around Joker. And I think I was feeling artistically rebellious at the time," Gaga added. Following the reactions, Gaga channeled that negativity in her "Disease" music video, which spearheaded her new era of music with the Mayhem album. "I put so much of that energy into that video. I was in that place, you know, I was like, 'I'll show you who I am, and I'll show you what this fight is like,'" she said. Going into the 2026 Grammys, Gaga is the second-most-nominated artist with seven, as Mayhem was also nominated for album of the year, while the single "Abracadabra" nabbed record and song of the year nods too. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up Wuthering Heights Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi Pine for Each Other in Steamy 'Wuthering Heights' Trailer utopia 'Cougar Town' Star Dan Byrd Toplines 'Autobiography' Thriller (Exclusive) Stellan Skarsgård Santa Barbara Film Fest: 'Sentimental Value' Star Stellan Skarsgård Tapped for Montecito Award Tulsa King Frank Grillo on Fitness, 'Superman 2' and the Psychedelic That Changed Him Wicked Ariana Grande Rushed by Fan on 'Wicked' Red Carpet; Cynthia Erivo Fights Back Tatiana Maslany 'Keeper' Review: Tatiana Maslany in Osgood Perkins' Gorgeously Creepy, Narratively Unsatisfying Relationship Horror Wuthering Heights Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi Pine for Each Other in Steamy 'Wuthering Heights' Trailer utopia 'Cougar Town' Star Dan Byrd Toplines 'Autobiography' Thriller (Exclusive) Stellan Skarsgård Santa Barbara Film Fest: 'Sentimental Value' Star Stellan Skarsgård Tapped for Montecito Award Tulsa King Frank Grillo on Fitness, 'Superman 2' and the Psychedelic That Changed Him Wicked Ariana Grande Rushed by Fan on 'Wicked' Red Carpet; Cynthia Erivo Fights Back Tatiana Maslany 'Keeper' Review: Tatiana Maslany in Osgood Perkins' Gorgeously Creepy, Narratively Unsatisfying Relationship Horror