Lady Gaga interview on MTV May 26

With her third album, BORN THIS WAY, set to debut on May 23rd, the legend of Lady Gaga to date has been well documented. But who is the girl that became this pop-culture and musical icon, and what legacy does she want to leave?

MTV today announced the premiere of an exclusive brand new hour-long interview, Lady Gaga: Inside The Outside, that will compel viewers to look beyond the outlandish outfits, spectacular live performances, and controversy, and instead appreciate the forces, events and influences that shaped Stefani Germanotta’s ascension into one of pop music’s most influential and successful artists of our time – through her own words. The special will debut exclusively on MTV domestically on Thursday, May 26th at 9pm ET/PT, and internationally in mid-June across more than 150 territories (check local listings). The documentary will then be made available in the U.S. for free on-demand streaming on MTV.com.

A teaser trailer will premiere exclusively on MTV on Thursday, May 19th at 10:58pm ET/PT, following a new episode of Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew.

Lady Gaga: Inside The Outside features an intimate, stripped-down interview with Lady Gaga, who recounts never-before-heard life experiences that shaped her early years and brought her to where she is today. From the moment she looked in the mirror and decided she was meant to be a star, to the “Thunder Road” challenge she accepted from her father to land her first baby grand piano, Lady Gaga shares an abundance of personal and poignant stories that includes: the inspiration behind her first song, the impact of being bullied at school, her musical and style influences, her relationship with her family, her love of late night bike rides around Brooklyn, and much more. Viewers will also learn how she juggles fame and her career, along with fans and her personal life, and the social causes that drive her.

“While we all know the artist who has matured into a major force in music, fashion and pop culture, Lady Gaga has seldom discussed in detail the young woman she was before,” said Dave Sirulnick, Executive Vice President, MTV News and Docs. “With this documentary, we’re pulling back the veil and providing a rare glimpse into the rich back story and personal life of this modern day icon.”

Lady Gaga's highly anticipated third studio album, "Born This Way," is scheduled for release on May 23, 2011. The first single from the album, title track "Born This Way", set a music industry record by becoming the fastest single in history to reach sales of 1,000,000 copies (five days after its February 11th release). Only the 19th single to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (issue date February 26,2011), the recording was Lady Gaga's third #1 on the chart. On iTunes, the song debuted at the top spot in 14 countries, including the U.S., and hit #1 in all 23 iTunes stores worldwide its first week out.

“Born This Way” was Gaga’s 7th single to hit #1 at Top 40. The second single from the album, “Judas” has eclipsed 500,000 in sales and Lady Gaga’s latest two singles, “The Edge of Glory” and “Hair” are both currently in the iTunes top 10.In less than three years, Lady Gaga has won a sleuth of high profile awards and honors, including the 2010 MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, the 2011 MTV O Music Award for Most Innovative Artist and five Grammy Awards. Her hit singles, including "Just Dance," "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance" have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

With over 1.3 billion combined views of all her videos online, Lady Gaga is one of the biggest living people on Facebook with over 34 million 'likes’ and is #1 on Twitter with over 10 million followers.