Visitor Pass: Meeting Lady Gaga
By: Marlene Gerais
On Monday September 12, 2016, iHeartRadio changed my life forever. I have been a Lady Gaga fan for eight years now and when I saw that she was going to be on Elvis Duran and the Morning Show that morning, I decided to go into NYC to hopefully get a picture with her. I had been waiting since 11PM on Sunday night in hopes of getting close enough to see Gaga herself. By 6AM Monday, there were about ten fans including myself on line in front of iHeartRadio HQ waiting to see Lady Gaga arrive for her interview. iHeartRadio employees went to fans individually and filmed messages for Gaga. Lady Gaga arrived around 8AM, waved at all of us, and then ran inside the building for her radio interview.
At one point while waiting for Gaga to finish and making sure I had a good spot in the crowd, I was approached by an iHeartRadio employee who asked if I could come back later in the day to film a special video that Lady Gaga herself would see. After many stressful hours trying to clear my schedule, I was finally able to give a definite yes! The thought of being part of a video that Lady Gaga would see was exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. For the rest of the day I tried to collect my thoughts and decide what I would say in the message.
When I came back to iHeartRadio HQ, I went to film the message with the video crew. I was led to the green room, but Lady Gaga’s parents were sitting right behind the door. I didn’t think anything of it considering I had seen them earlier in the day. While waiting to go into the green room, two iHeartRadio employees got me hyped for the video. We brainstormed what I might be asked and rehearsed what I would want to say in the video. Then the iHeartRadio employee I met earlier came out of the green room and said they were ready for me. I was so nervous and excited at the same time! I had to create the perfect message for Gaga. What exactly do I say in a video message to the person who repeatedly saved my life?
So I stepped inside the green room and, to be honest, I was overwhelmed there were so many cameras and people in such a tiny room! I was told to stand in front of a chair and that they were going to put a mic on me. I noticed two chairs were set up but, again, I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I did not think anything of it. I took a deep breath and went to stand in front of a chairs and all I heard was someone approach me and say “Hey…. Hi.” I looked up and I could not believe my eyes — Lady Gaga was standing right there in front of me!
I immediately lost my breath and all feeling in my hands! She went in for a hug and I hugged her tight. I had dreamed of this moment for eight years, never thinking it would actually happen. I heard everyone in the room crying, but I couldn’t even cry at the time because I was just so happy and nervous! I’ve always joked about how I would faint or start sobbing if I ever met Lady Gaga, but it was completely different when it finally happened. No amount of words, pictures, or videos can express the intimate moment we had in that green room. Everything I rehearsed had escaped my mind because never in a million years was I expecting to sit down with Lady Gaga for a chat. The people of iHeartRadio were so sweet and helped me form questions and things to say to Gaga because I was clearly lacking the words! We talked about her single “Perfect Illusion” and her new album, how it feels to be back in NYC, and I even got to tell her how much her song “Born This Way” means to me! The last time she hugged me in the green room is when she broke down in tears and told me how meeting me right now meant the world to her. When I left the room, Gaga yelled to everyone to “Remember this girl and give her tickets to my concert!” I was on Cloud 9. Did this really just happen?! It finally hit me and I broke down in tears when I started talking about how much Gaga truly cares about her fans and is one of the few celebrities that cares about her fans in such a way. And not only did I get to meet Lady Gaga, I was blessed enough to meet her parents as well. Her parents are the sweetest people and are truly down-to-earth!
This was the best experience I have ever had or will ever have in my life and it is all thanks to iHeartRadio and Lady Gaga.
I can never say enough thanks to iHeartRadio for this life-changing experience and thank you to Lady Gaga for being such a huge inspiration in my life and for surprising me as well! I will remember this for the rest of my life.
Watch Lady Gaga surprise Marlene:
