Plus: The Pop Star on Russell Brand, Health Care and Her Musical Mission
“WHENEVER PEOPLE ASK me about having bad reviews, I’m like, ‘Have you seen the run I’ve had? Have you seen the numbers? Numbers do not lie!’ ”
Teenage Dream
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“Since the age of nine all I’ve wanted to do is share my perspective and hopefully help people through my music, whether it just makes someone smile or a song becomes someone’s mantra for life or a motto or whatever. I’m not a dummy. I know ‘California Gurls’ isn’t going to save the world. But I got a lot of heart from my upbringing, and I put a lot of heart in my songs.” 
The Big Dilemma
PHOTOGRAPH BY TERRY RICHARDSON FOR ROLLINGSTONE.COM
“I started praying for [my breasts] when I was, like, 11, and God answered that prayer above and beyond, by, like, 100 times, until I was like, ‘Please, stop, God. I can’t see my feet anymore. Please stop!’ So, what I did was, I started taping them down. How long did I tape them down for? Probably until I was about 19. And, no, I don’t have any psychological pain because of it.”
“I see everything in color. When I see road construction and they have those little things on the road, I see them as candy canes. I try and find the cute in all things in life.”
“I remember coming to L.A. for the first time and meeting Gwen Stefani and how gracious and wonderful she was, and then meeting another favorite artist of mine and what a cunt she was. It ruined my dreams of that person, the cunt, and I will always be a fan of the person who was gracious.”
On Russell Brand: “He’s changed so much. If I have a hangover, I look at him and say, ‘How the fuck did you do heroin every day, when I can’t even have three glasses of wine and not want to ever drink again?’ I’m so happy he lived, of course. God bless him.”
“I think we are largely in desperate need of revolutionary change in the way our mindset is. Our priority is fame, and people’s wellness is way low. I say this knowing full well that I’m a part of the problem. I’m playing the game, though I am trying to reroute. Anyway, not to get all politically divulging and introspective, but the fact that America doesn’t have free health care drives me fucking absolutely crazy, and is so wrong.”