People want to tear me down, they were going to knife me anyway.
You think I'm going to ask these sweet 14 year olds to ask their parents to buy a $100 ticket then run around in latex and lip sync? No way.
In case you're wondering whether I lip synch, the answer is no... people think so because I sound so good.
If you only believe that you're an artist when you have a big advance in your pocket and a single coming out, I would say that's quite soulless. You have to have a sense of your own greatness and your own ability from a very deep place inside you. I am the one with the litmus test in my hands of what people need to hear next.
At the end of the day, who I really and truly am is a little girl who loved to play the piano.
Every video I'm in, every magazine cover, they stretch you; they make you perfect. It's not real life.
I don't want to make money; I want to make a difference.
If you were to ask me what I want to do - I don't want to be a celebrity, I want to make a difference.
Some artists are working to buy the mansion or whatever the element of fame must bear, but I spend all my money on my show.
It sometimes makes people feel better about themselves, you know, to put other people down, or make fun of them, or maybe make mockery of their work and that doesn't make me feel good at all.
I really wanted to break the mold of what modern touring is right now.
I never intended for the Monster Ball to be a religious experience, it just became one.
Music is one of the most powerful things the world has to offer. No matter what race or religion or nationality or sexual orientation or gender that you are, it has the power to unite us.
I'm not interested in people positioning me next to other artists.
What I've learned is that you really don't need to be a celebrity or have money or have the paparazzi following you around to be famous.
I guess you could say it's always been my destiny to be a performer.
Speaking purely from a musical standpoint, I think I am a great performer.
I'm perpetually lonely.
It's hard knowing who to trust with your personal life. When you cry in your room at night, you don't always know who to call. So I am very close to my family.
My work as an artist is completely separate from my work as a philanthropist.