Steve Granitz, WireImage
A native New Yorker, Gaga talked about the tragic day for the first time publicly and revealed to radio presenter Toby Knapp that she watched the towers fall from her school rooftop at age 15. Gaga heard the news of the killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden after getting off a plane, arriving at her hotel and turning on CNN, at which point she tweeted her immediate reaction to the news. Getting her fans ready for the video premiere of her new single 'Judas' was on the hardworking superstar's mind, but her attentions immediately turned to what became "a very, very emotional night." Gaga explains, "As a New Yorker, its very intense and I've never really spoken about this, but I was in New York on September 11th and I watched the towers fall with all my girlfriends from the roof of our school."
Gaga continues recounting the events as she saw them unfold before her young eyes, "The whole city was covered in ashes ... there was a television playing it and we were all crying and in the room, and then I remember we broke into the playground on the roof. And the teachers were all screaming at us to stay inside but we couldn't even believe that it was real, so we all broke into the playground and I just remember we actually watched the second tower fall." "Cause in New York you could see them from any roof. They were so big," she adds.
Then Stefani Germanotta, Gaga remembers, "My dad picked me up and we couldn't reach my mom for like 10 hours, because my mother worked right across the street from the World Trade Center." Gaga tells the story from her first-hand New Yorker's point of view, but recognizes that the day impacted the entire country. "Maybe if you're not from New York its not as intense for you, but I think for a lot of Americans it really was," she remarks.
Towards the end of the interview Knapp praised Gaga for being real underneath her usual artist airs and performance pomp, to which she responded, "I think you can see anyone's humanity in a moment like that."
Watch Lady Gaga's 'Judas' video.
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