In September, Gaga purchased Zappa’s former Hollywood Hills home, which features two recording studios – including one which the experimental rock composer dubbed “Utility Muffin Research Kitchen.” “The house is very special and magical,” Gaga said. “His studio is in it, and I get to keep the [sound] board! You should have seen me while I was looking at the house. The realtors would be like, ‘No pictures!’ and I’m in there, photographing the compressors … The idea is to restore it and to help it to be in its best condition, but to kind of leave it the way that it is and hear the sound that comes out.”

The singer also opened up about her late aunt Joanne, who inspired her new LP of the same name. “She’s like this goddess that we worshipped in our family our whole lives,” Gaga said. “Her picture was always up, and it was framed so beautifully in the house. We talked about her all the time, every family meal … She was like my guardian angel or spirit guide. My grandma would always say, ‘Joanne’s looking out for you’ … I used to pray to her. I still do.”

“Joanne was sexually assaulted, in college, in her dorm room,” she continued. “And it caused her disease to flare up, and she died very suddenly. I never understood why my father drank so much and why he was so angry and why he was so overprotective and why his eyes would just blister out of control when I showed a sign of independence or wanting to leave the house or be on my own. And I always thought it was my fault. So this album for me was about healing the wounds of being a young woman growing up in a tough family and figuring that out.”

Joanne also helped Gaga lock in her Super Bowl Halftime Show. “Basically, the NFL wanted to talk to us about doing the Halftime Show, but they wanted to hear the record,” she said. “So I played them Joanne, and they loved it. And it was the record that sealed the deal.”

Gaga also revealed her secret to keeping her glitzy Joanne costumes in place – “pussy glue” – which she used during her Saturday Night Live performance. “I am not glued today, but I was glued at SNL,” Gaga laughed. “I’m not [uptight], but it’s not really a great idea to have something pop out the week of your album release live in television.”