Lady Gaga doesn't believe she'll suffer the same fate as fellow musical great Amy Winehouse. During a Z100 radio interview on Friday, Nov. 8, the "Dope" singer said she won't be joining the 27 Club—the nickname given to the group of performers who died just three years shy of turning 30. Other "members" included Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.
The "Do What U Want" singer—who has spoken regularly and candidly about her drug use—said she relies on drugs to feel imaginative. "I do put that pressure on myself; I have to be high to be creative. I need that. That's an error in my life that happened for over 10 years," Gaga admitted. "Can I be brilliant without it? I know that I can be and I have to be because I want to live, and I want my fans to want to live. I don't want them to torture themselves in the way I have."
She added, "I want to show people that I will last past 27 and I will last longer, and so will you."
Gaga—who is promoting her new album, ARTPOP—said she doesn't want to glamorize premature death. "I want to change this code in the atmosphere that in order to be remembered, I must die young. In order to be remembered as a legend, I must be dead first," she said. "This is unhealthy."
During her Elvis Duran and the Morning Show interview, the 27-year-old New Yorker also admitted that she's having a tough time in the spotlight. "I'm just one of many people that are treated poorly by the media," Gaga complained.