(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Lady Gaga admits banning her friends from using her birth name for a while, as she felt her stage name made her strong and confident.

The American singers real name is Stefani Germanotta, but she came up with her better known moniker when she began trying to break into the music business. There have been rumours the 24-year-old refused to respond if those close to her referred to her as Stefani during that time, and she admits they are true.

I did at first because I was so excited that Id shed all my previous insecurities and was able to identify as someone knew that was strong and confident, she explained. But over the years I make no distinction between by birth name and my name Gaga because its my artistic nickname.

Its funny, as I become more and more confident as a woman I realise I dont make any distinction between myself as Stefani, my birth name, and myself as Gaga. Its just a nickname, Im the same person through and through artistically.

Gagas new album Born This Way is due out in May, and the title track has just been released. She is intensely proud of it, and enjoyed performing it at the recent Grammy Awards.

The star arrived at the ceremony in a giant egg, which was carried down the red carpet by her entourage. She is proud of the message the stunt sent out, especially as she was beginning to fear she might be losing her creativity.

[When I got the egg idea] I was actually in Amsterdam and I was on the tour bus driving into the next city and I was thinking about the meaning of the song and the album I was also thinking about how much importance is always put on what I wear and all those things and I didnt want to feed into that so I put together a performance art piece that really captured the vision of the music as well as what Im trying to say about birthing a new race in humanity. So I came in a vessel, she explained on Australian radio programme the Kyle and Jackie O Show.

I was in that particular vessel for about three hours that day but it was a three day process of meditation that I did in several vessels that we built. I come up with all my creative ideas. Im sure you all know by now that Im a little bit crazy so those ideas come from my Loony Tunes brain. Whenever I get nervous that Ill lose my creativity something like the egg vessel will creep in. (C) Cover Media