'Applause' superstar Lady Gaga has opened up about her "ability to experience pain" in a new interview with V magazine.

The publication has revealed 4 different cover shoots featuring the modern pop icon and the accompanying interview sees her discussing her turbulent past. She explains: "I have an ability to experience pain for long periods of time - to endure it, whether it's mental pain or physical pain. I think it's because of my discipline as a child."

"I studied piano and then theater and then dance, so I have this ability to endure long periods of pain. But as a result, when I became an adult at 18, I allowed myself to stay in bad situations because I was able to take the pain."

She added that her late teenage years were mostly spent battling an eating disorder and using drugs, but turned to music for salvation: "Although I was able to withstand a challenge for that period of time in my youth, the results were destructive. I was left a shell. Does anyone really know what I went through to get here? Art was always the thing that drove me forward in these challenging and painful circumstances."