Vanity Fair has released the cover, images and a couple of seriously provocative, bombshell quotes from its January 2012 issue, featuring the one and only Lady Gaga. She's a Lady (Gaga) in red.

Lady Gaga's last Vanity Fair cover featured the singer in a long gray wig and talking about her relationship with drugs. This time out, she's adorned in an epic, red ensemble, complete with a massive hat. The cover shot reminds us why she is the darling of the fashion industry and that's for her fearless risk taking. She's a provocateur.

Gaga's lips are painted crimson like her couture dress, and her signature dramatic black eyeliner is prominent. She offers a sly smile.

The other images are of Gaga on a boat, with the skyline of her native New York City as a dot on the horizon. She is cloaked in a white, form-fitting, Victorian style dress, with a huge-brimmed, black hat. She's totally covered up, and looks elegant, regal and Old World. She is also wearing a priceless gown in a laundry mat and a gold gown while eating street food in NYC. As for the naked-for-Tony-Bennett sketches? There is a head-turning image of the Mother Monster's taut, lithe body and she's wearing nothing other than a pair of heels, while she is striking an acrobatic pose. She's naked, but it's an artistic, tasteful image.

The Mother Monster spoke candidly about her romantic relationships, something she said she likes to keep to herself; she even admitted in her Thanksgiving chat with Katie Couric that she will never release wedding photos when she eventually marries. Some things are sacred, you know?

But will Gaga actually ever marry? She hasn't found the man of her dreams yet and it doesn't look like marriage is in the immediate cards for her, at 25. "I have never felt truly cherished by a lover. I have an inability to know what happiness feels like with a man," Gaga said.

But don't go feeling sorry for her. She has millions of little monsters to love and be loved by and from the sounds of it, she is married to her fans and her fame at this point in her life. She continued, "I say this honestly, and this is my new thing as of the past year: when I fight with someone I’m in a relationship with, I think, 'What would my fans think if they knew this was happening? How would they feel about my work and about me as a female if they knew I was allowing this to go on?' And then I get out." She admitted to a hankering for "creative people. And I think that what intimidates them is not my purse; it’s my mind."

Gaga did not admit to dating 'Vampire Diaries' star Taylor Kinney, but she did pull back the curtain on what it's like to be in a (bad) romance with her. She said "I have this effect on people where it starts out good. Then, when I’m in these relationships with people who are also creative, or creative in their own way, what happens is the attraction is initially there and it’s all unicorns and rainbows. And then they hate me."

She mused that the creativity of both parties makes the relationship toxic, spoiling the unicorns and rainbows, saying, "Perhaps it’s a whose-d----is-bigger contest. If I go to the piano and write a quick song and play it back, they are angry with how fast and effortless it is. That’s who I am, and I don’t apologize for it. But it’s a hideous place to be in when someone that you love has convinced you that you will never be good enough for anyone."

Gaga also shared a devastating comment that a partner once made to her. She revealed, "I had a man say to me, 'You will die alone in a house bigger than you know, with all your money and hit records, and you will die alone.'" Ouch.

But again, don't throw a pity party for the Mother Monster. Those words may have stung her heart, but they did not scar her nor did they deter her. In fact, they motivated her. She said, "Even though I know it sounds a bit Hallmark, whenever I [was] in that kind of stressful, worthless moment, I would think, I’ll show you.'"

Most shocking is the fact that she has had an ex-lover propose to her after they've split. Was this her on-again, off-again "cool Nebraska guy" Luc Carl? She doesn't say, but she did admit that the post-split proposals turned her off. "How f---in' romantic, you a--hole. Sure, pop a ring on my finger and make it all better. I can buy myself a f---in' ring."

Gaga's revelations about relationships are a modern day take on women's lib, that's for sure.

Lady Gaga
loading...
GagaLaundry
loading...
Gaga Street Food
loading...
Gaga Hair
loading...
GagaNaked
loading...

More From PopCrush