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\n\t\u201cI think the music that affected me the most in my life happened pretty early,\u201d Lady Gaga<\/a> tells us. \u201cI feel like those formative years when you\u2019re first discovering music is when you\u2019re like a sponge, and you soak everything up.\u201d The pop superstar, fresh off her album Mayhem<\/a>,<\/em> went deep inside several of these for Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s new My Life in 10 Songs<\/em> video series.<\/p>\n The video kicks off with Bruce Springsteen<\/a>\u2018s \u201cThunder Road,\u201d a highlight from 1975\u2019s Born to Run <\/em>that Gaga \u201cchose instantly\u201d for her list. \u201cSpringsteen has influenced me my whole career,\u201d she tells interviewer Christopher Kim. \u201cBruce had a very particular grit and soulfulness, and when I was making Born This Way<\/em>, I thought a lot about how to incorporate who I really am into my music, even more than I did during The Fame<\/em>.\u201d Gaga says the latter \u201cwas more about my dream for myself,\u201d while Born This Way<\/em> was \u201cmore of an album that was looking back on a particular time in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe adds that the song reminds her of her father, and that he used to play it for her in the living room as a kid. To her, the song is about \u201cromanticizing the past, but in this way where you have this beautiful memory of how you let things go.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNext up: Beck<\/a>\u2018s \u201cNicotine & Gravy,\u201d off 1999\u2019s Midnight Vultures<\/a><\/em>. Gaga says the single \u201creally spoke to who I was as a 19-year-old living in the Lower East Side, and getting my kicks with the locals. I would say the way that it affected my life the most is that watching Beck change made me feel like I wanted to change.\u201d She then picked 1977\u2019s \u201cI Was Born This Way\u201d by pastor and gay rights activist Carl Bean, describing how it influenced \u201cBorn This Way,\u201d her song (and album) from 2011. \u201cI heard it and I was like, \u2018I wonder if there\u2019s a way to flip this into a modern pop record,’\u201d she said. \u201cThe genesis of this gave way to something that I think for me is the most important record of my career. Not just for me artistically, but for what it means.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tGaga\u2019s other picks include Iron Butterfly<\/a>\u2018s \u201cIn-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,\u201d David Bowie<\/a>\u2018s \u201cWatch That Man,\u201d and \u201cHey Little Girl\u201d by Heavy Metal Kids. \u201cWhen you find records that help you understand or see yourself, or they become the soundtrack to you and your friend group, that\u2019s pretty powerful,\u201d she says. She then dove into some Seventies classics, including Stevie Wonder<\/a>\u2018s \u201cSuperstition\u201d (\u201cI definitely had my moments on Mayhem <\/em>where I was thinking about him\u201d) and Carole King<\/a>\u2018s \u201cTapestry\u201d (\u201cHer voice and her songs are like a warm hug\u201d). <\/p>\n \n\tGaga then veered into the Fifties, choosing two gems that were both released in 1959: Dinah Washington\u2019s \u201cWhat a Diff\u2019rence a Day Makes\u201d and Miles Davis<\/a>\u2018 \u201cSo What.\u201d She also described her love of classic rock staples, like the Rolling Stones<\/a>\u2018 \u201cSympathy for the Devil\u201d and Led Zeppelin<\/a>\u2018s \u201cThank You.\u201d \u201cIt was kind of like learning that the unattainable rock & roll god could really love you,\u201d she says of the latter. \u201cThat there was a human being underneath the legend of it all. This idea of drama and theatricality in music, and then sincerity. I think those were two things that kind of yin-yang for me.\u201d <\/p>\n