Lady Gaga has admitted she went bankrupt and fell into debt following her massive worldwide tour 'Monster Ball' - and didn't even realise she had at the time. She also shared how confused she was at having 'ran out of money' and owing $3 million (£2.3m) despite having "five No. 1 singles".
Speaking to the Financial Times, the 37-year-old singer said: "I actually went bankrupt after the first extension of The Monster Ball. And it was funny because I didn’t know!"
She continued: "I remember I called everybody and said, ‘Why is everyone saying I have no money? This is ridiculous, I have five No. 1 singles.’ And they said, ‘Well, you’re $3 million (£2.3million) in debt.’"
But the financial hardship didn't last long as she was able to pull herself out of debt thanks to the popularity of her work. After her 'Monster Ball' tour in 2009-2011, which ran for 18 months and 200 shows, she went on to bag a whopping 13 Grammys, nab herself a spot at the 2017 Super Bowl half-time show and later went on five more worldwide tours.
By 2020, the pop sensation was worth a huge $150 million (£120m), according to Forbes. But the award-winning singer says her music career has never been about the money.
In her interview with Financial Times she added: "The beauty for me about being an artist is that the dream will never die, because I’m not obsessed with material things and don’t care about the money and don’t care about the attention of the public, but only the love of my fans.
"So for me, it’s about how much more devoted, how much better an artist can I become.” She explained that she doesn't lead an extravagant lifestyle: "The only big things I’ve purchased are my dad’s heart valve and a Rolls-Royce for my parents, for their anniversary... Other than that, I put everything in the show.”
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, began performing as a teenager, singing at open mic nights and acting in school plays. She burst through the music scene in 2008 with her number one smash hit 'Just Dance'.
Across the years she has released seven studio albums, with songs such as Poker Face, Rain On Me, Born This Way and Shallow all reach number one on the charts. The songstress previously won an Oscar in 2019 for Best Original Song for the track Shallow from A Star Is Born.
