Lady Gaga Reveals She Feels Like a "Perpetually Tortured Artist"

"Applause" singer tells Elle magazine that she is "great under pressure"

It may be surprising to hear, but even superstars like Lady Gaga feel tortured at times.

Opening up in an interview with ELLE magazine, the 27-year-old "Applause" singer speaks candidly about how she handles the immense pressure she faces and her early struggles as an artist.

"I'm great under pressure," Gaga said.  "I'm a warrior. I'm Rocky, round 12."

Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, the Grammy Award winner reveals that the main reason she changed her name was because she cannot be herself in public.

"I am—Stefani is—a perpetually tortured artist," she adds. "That's why I changed my name. I can't be her in public. She would be a mess!"

But even through it all, Mother Monster remembers how far she's come to become the pop megastar she is today.

"Everyone is so cynical—that I can't purely love my fans, or share an honest story about my past, without someone asking me if I really, truly struggled," Gaga explains. "Do you know how much dirt I ate? Do you know the men I had to crawl through, the people that disrespected my body, my mind, my heart?"

Always making shocking and unique fashion choices, Gaga's Elle cover look is no different. She rocks a pink raccoon-fur headpiece from Schiaparelli with a pony-hair necklace.

Gaga is ramping up her schedule for her highly anticipated album Artpop, which will be released on Nov. 11. She will also pull double duty as musical guest and host on Saturday Night Live.