Lady Gaga credits Sir Elton John with helping her to “keep [her] head above water”

She said: “He's been my mentor for a long time. I mean, he's always challenged me to keep my head above water and it's something that I always appreciate is that he knows when I'm down. He just does. And he knows because I hide, because I never want anyone to see me when I'm like that.

“But Elton's always really challenged me to take care of my artistry and to really take care of myself. And I really, really honour that about him. He is so, so uniquely special. He's such an inspiration. For me, it's been so important because, I have also a very close relationship with his husband, David [Furnish].”

Gaga, 34, also heaped praise on fellow singer and newest friend Ariana Grande for her “ability to move on” when faced with difficult times in her life.

She added: “That woman has been through some really tough, really hard life testing stuff, undoubtedly. And her ability to move on. When she came into the studio, I was still crying and she was not. And she was like, ‘You're going to be okay. Call me, here's my number.’ And she was so persistent. She would try over and over again to be friends with me. And I was too ashamed to hang out with her, because I didn't want to project all of this negativity onto something that was healing and so beautiful.

“And eventually she called me on my shit. She was, ‘You're hiding’. And I was, ‘I am hiding. I'm totally hiding’. And then this friendship blossomed.”

The ‘Bad Romance’ singer - who will release her new album ‘Chromatica’ on Friday (22.05.20) - even reached out to send a message of support to Billie Eilish, as she said she doesn’t consider herself to be “competition” with any other musicians.

Speaking to Zane Lowe for Apple Music, she said: “I love Billie Eilish. I love all these younger artists. I'm there for you. I love you. I am not in competition with anyone. I want everyone to win. I'm support. I want to support and love, but that's how I feel about the world, Zane. Just generally I feel that my rebellion in life is to be kind like to almost an annoyance to people.”