On Friday (January 8), the same day as the late David Bowie's 69th birthday and the release of his final album Blackstar, Lady Gaga sat down for a podcast interview with The Hollywood Reporter and her "Til It Happens to You" co-writer Diane Warren.

Although the interview's primary focus is on the Hunting Ground documentary and sexual assault, Gaga and Warren devote a portion of their discussion to fame, the music industry, and artistic influence. In this segment, Gaga expresses her love for David Bowie and the influence he's had on her as an artist.

On her interest in the "theater of the absurd" during The Fame, Gaga cites Bowie as a profound inspiration for how she created her fame-obsessed character. "[W]hen I fell in love with David Bowie, when I was living on the Lower East Side, I always felt that his glamour was something he was using to express a message to people that was very healing for their souls," she begins.

She continues: "He is a true, true artist, and I don't know if I ever went, ‘Oh, I'm going to be that way like this,’ or if I arrived upon it slowly, realizing it was my calling and that's what drew me to him. I don't know. I just know that you can use the theater of your imagination to entertain people beyond their wildest dreams, and then you can put something inside of that that changes the world. And that to me is when you make something truly great as an artist."

Listen to the full interview over at The Hollywood Reporter and share your thoughts on David Bowie's death, influence, and icon status.

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