At this year’s Grammy awards Lady GaGa paid tribute to the late David Bowie with a show-stopping performance which journeyed through his legendary career. But Gaga’s admiration for Bowie goes way beyond wanting to pay tribute on Grammy night, instead the singer believes her whole career has been one big tribute to Bowie.

Lady GagaLady Gaga believes her whole career is a tribute to David Bowie.

Speaking to NPR, Gaga was asked about how she first fell in love with Bowie’s music. “The moment that I saw the Aladdin Sane cover for the first time, I was 19 years old, and it just changed my perspective on everything, forever.”

“It was an image that changed my life. I remember I took the vinyl record out of the casing and I put it on my vinyl player…’Watch That Man’ came on and, I mean, that was just the beginning of my artistic birth.”

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Gaga loves the image of Aladdin Sane so much, that prior to her Grammy’s performance she had the album’s iconic cover tattooed on her ribs. “My friends and I in New York, we've lived a lifestyle of total immersion in music, fashion, art and technology since we were kids — and this is because of him,” the singer continued.

“I just would never be here, or have the philosophy that I have, if I didn't have someone to look up to that you know blew my mind so intensely. You meet or see a musician that has something that is of another planet, of another time, and it changes you forever. I believe everyone has that, don't you? That one thing you saw as a kid that made you go, ‘Oh, okay. Now I know who I am.’”

When asked how she felt now her Grammys tribute is over Gaga said: “How do I feel now that it's over? I mean, I feel like my whole career is a tribute to David Bowie. So it's not! It's ongoing, right?” It's still going.”

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“I've been watching his videos all day long, and also listening to Blackstar, his last album, which is a truly incredible piece of music. It's one of the single greatest things an artist has ever done: making a masterpiece album that is their own eulogy,” Gaga added.

“Can you imagine? To go into the studio every day and put your heart in that place, where you are saying goodbye to life? I mean, his art made him strong.” Now that the Grammys are over, Gaga can look ahead to the Oscars next weekend, where she is nominated in the Best Original Song category for ‘Til It Happens to You’.

Watch Lady Gaga’s Grammy’s tribute to David Bowie: