Lady Gaga

NEW YORK, Oct 26, (Agencies): It’s 1:30 am and Lady Gaga is on the brink of tears.

The pop star’s new album has been out for 90 minutes and she just celebrated by wrapping up two performances: first inside the New York City bar she used to sing as an unsigned teenager, and then on top of the venue for all of her feverish fans screaming loudly outside.

A lot has happened to get to this moment: She dealt with the constant reminder of 2013’s “ARTPOP” not matching the success of her previous albums; she parted ways with her manager; and she announced she and her fiance, actor Taylor Kinney, were taking a break.

But since “ARTPOP,” she picked up her sixth Grammy for her jazz album with Tony Bennett; performed at the Oscars — twice — and earned a nomination for an original song; won a Golden Globe this year for her role in “American Horror Story”; and drew raves for her national anthem performance at this year’s Super Bowl.

Sitting inside her trailer parked outside The Bitter End, Gaga is teary-eyed as she discusses the new sound she delivers on “Joanne,” a rock-pop-country adventure that’s a departure from the dance-flavored electronic sound that made her a multiplatinum juggernaut.

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve changed a lot. I’ve healed a lot. I’ve healed a lot,” she said, pausing. “Period.”

Change

“But I “ — she paused again — “I feel like it would be so strange to hear my music, or hear anyone’s music really, and not hear the change. I change a lot and that’s just who I am. And I’m just going to keep being that way, you know.

“The happiest that I am is when I’m just really truly being myself and I’ve always said that to my fans and guess what, they help me make that real,” she said.

“Joanne,” released Friday, embarks on new territory as Gaga’s voice takes the center stage. “There’s no Auto-Tune on any of my vocals. Not one,” she said.

She started writing new material two years ago, and then at this year’s Super Bowl she gave Mark Ronson a demo of some songs (he performed “Uptown Funk” there with Bruno Mars).

“He said to me, ‘I know you can write great songs,’ (but) he said, ‘...What do you have to write about? That’s what I want you to write,’” she recalled.

The result is more emotional tracks compared to past hits, ranging in topics from her love life to her friend’s battle with cancer (the bonus track “Grigio Girls”) to her aunt Joanne, who died from lupus before Gaga was born (Joanne is also Gaga’s middle name). The closing track, “Angel Down,” is about Trayvon Martin.

“It was really hard,” she said of writing personal songs. “But it was the best thing I ever did going there, because once you go there, you can’t get darker than there ‘cause you just got to look inside and whatever it is it is, and then you pick yourself up and keep going.”

“Sinner’s Prayer” sounds like it could be played in a Western with lyrics like, “Hear my sinner’s prayer/I am what I am/And I don’t wanna break the heart of any other man but you.” Other songs have lyrics that could be about Gaga’s own relationship: “Million Reasons” is about a failing relationship, and on the first single, “Perfect Illusion,” she sings: “I still feel the blow/But at least now I know/It wasn’t love, it wasn’t love/It was a perfect illusion.”

Tough

“This album is about being tough,” she said. “My dad was tough, he lost his sister out of nowhere, you know. My grandma lost her daughter out of nowhere. My other grandma, she raised herself. I come from a long line of tough family (members) and ... I wanted to write a record that reminded people that no matter what perfect illusion you have of me — right — that I’m probably a lot like you.”

The album features some respected musicians helping Gaga round out her sound, including frequent collaborator RedOne, Josh Homme of Queen of the Stone Age, Beck, Florence Welch, Hillary Lindsey and Jeff Bhasker, who won producer of the year at this year’s Grammys. Ronson led the team as executive producer and co-wrote each song alongside Gaga.

“I’m not Calvin Harris or some mastermind of dance music at all, but I think, I just kind of obviously guess that the reason she asked me to work on this record with her was because she was probably looking to do something that was a departure from what she’s done,” said Ronson, who has produced for Amy Winehouse, Mars and others.

Sole surviving Bee Gee Barry Gibb is keen to make music with US pop star Justin Timberlake (JT) as he pursues a solo career after the death of his brothers.

Gibb, who joined Coldplay on stage at England’s Glastonbury Festival this year, has recently released a solo album and said he wanted to work with creative people.

“I’d love to work with Justin Timberlake. That’s always been a thing in my head because I think we would click,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Wednesday.

“You gravitate towards people that are creative and that you hope that something good comes from it.”

Despite the Bee Gees being one of the world’s best-selling groups, Gibb revealed he and his brothers, Robin and Maurice, all wanted to be solo performers.

“Ultimately, we all wanted to be solo stars. That’s what groups are. Every member of the group wants individual attention,” he said.

“I don’t baulk at that, I’m simply embracing the opportunity to write songs I love and not doing everything by what everyone in the group thinks, you know? So it’s a new kind of freedom.

“I miss them very much but it’s a musical new freedom for me.”

Although British, Gibb and his brothers grew up in Australia, where the band was formed and they performed as the Bee Gees for the first time.

Maurice died in 2003 after suffering a cardiac arrest while Robin died in 2012 after a lengthy battle against cancer. A fourth brother, Andy, died from cocaine addiction in 1988.

Gibb, one of the most successful songwriters ever, admitted it had been hard to get back recording again.