Lady Gaga’s dad reveals their heartbreaking phone call where he said he was ‘ready to DIE’… and how she saved him

Lady Gaga’s father Joe Germanotta knew he had a drinking problem.

He would regularly forget entire evenings out, suffer from terrible hangovers and had ballooned in weight from all the empty calories.

It didn’t help that he frequently escorted his superstar daughter on glitzy worldwide tours where booze was all too freely available.

But he hadn’t realized quite how bad his addiction had become until one night in 2009 when he almost made the biggest mistake of his life.

He had been told he needed open heart surgery to replace a faulty valve and doctors had advised that he give up alcohol to aid his recovery.

Germanotta just wasn’t sure he could do it and, after several whiskeys, the now 67-year-old drunkenly called his famous daughter – whose real name is Stefani – to tell her he couldn’t go through with the life-saving operation and was ‘ready to die’.

‘She was heartbroken,’ Germanotta told DailyMail.com, while standing behind the bar of his Italian restaurant in New York City.

Eventually, the singer, along with his wife Cynthia and younger daughter Natali, managed to convince him to ditch the drink and focus on his health, starting by having the surgery.

But Gaga was so upset by the call that it later inspired her 2009 hit Speechless, which includes the lyrics ‘I can’t believe what you said to me’, ‘I’ll never talk again’, and ‘After all the drinks and bars that we’ve been to. Would you give it all up?’

The singer has been open about her own struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse – partly brought on by an overdependence on pain medication following a years-long battle with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes crippling muscle pain.

In a January interview with Elle magazine, she said: ‘I used to drink a lot and smoke a lot… I was always looking for an out. I used to call it the trap door.’

Now, she added, ‘I [have] stopped doing that.’

Germanotta was also aware that his own heavy drinking habits were spiraling – and were particularly risky due to a congenital heart condition.

He had been born with a bicuspid aortic valve, meaning the aortic valve – controlling blood flow from the heart to the body’s main artery – only has two flaps instead of three.

The condition affects around two million people in the US and can cause heart failure. As with many other heart problems, drinking large amounts of alcohol can be potentially lethal.

Looking back, Germanotta admits he was nonchalant about the possibility of death.

After surviving the open heart surgery in 2009, he managed to remain sober for a few months.

But his old habits quickly returned and soon he was back on the booze.

In 2012, he and his wife then opened their Italian restaurant, Joanne’s Trattoria, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and were surrounded by alcohol every day.

One drink ‘for the road’ routinely dissolved into late night lock-ins. 

Germanotta also had a real penchant for whiskey, and even briefly owned the Art Bird & Whiskey Bar in New York’s Grand Central Terminal.

It was not until 2020, when he was hospitalized for three months with Covid that he found the determination to quit drinking for good.

He told the Mail: ‘I had previously quit alcohol for periods due to other health and stress-related issues.

‘But having Covid and my previous heart surgery were certainly a wake-up call and led to me taking my sobriety seriously. I honestly haven’t looked back since.’

Initially, Germanotta turned to Alcoholics Anonymous to help him stay sober.

But after attending five meetings, he felt like the 12-step program wasn’t working for him – and he is not alone.

Despite the peer-based support group helping countless people to overcome drinking problems, some studies have shown AA’s success rate can be as low as 5 to 10 per cent.

Dr Manassa Hany, director of the addiction psychiatry department at Northwell Health in New York, told the Mail: ‘These treatment plans are not tailored to individuals and they do not address underlying issues that may be driving or exacerbating addiction.

‘These programs also enforce full abstinence, which may not align with the goals of individuals seeking a harm reduction or moderation approach. Some people may join but still want to drink, making it difficult for them to connect with the program.’

Instead of AA, Germanotta found that his faith gave him the most strength to kick drinking for good.

Germanotta, who is from a strong Catholic family, said: ‘I have turned to my faith as a daily reminder to avoid the temptation of having another drink.

‘With the increase of spirits alternatives available in the marketplace, it’s also now easier than ever for me to maintain my sobriety.

‘Now that I can have those alternatives, the benefits far outweigh the struggles I experienced in the past. Alcohol is basically poison and hangovers are no fun for anyone.’

Now, after five years without that ‘poison’ in his life, Germanotta says he has never felt better.

He described noticing a difference to his health almost overnight and is 30lbs lighter than his pre-sobriety weight of 205lbs.

His restaurant has now even added a selection of non-alcoholic beverages to the menu.

Among his favorite teetotal tipples are sparkling wines from drinks brand Joyus, because they are not sweet like many non-alcoholic beverages and instead have a dryness that mimics the actual taste of champagne.

For cocktails, the New Yorker has concocted his own twist on the classic Italian Negroni.

Instead of gin, vermouth, and Campari, his creation – dubbed Papa G’s No-Groni – is made from a blend of New London Light Gin and Roots Divino’s Aperitif Rosso, which are both non-alcoholic alternatives. He then likes to finish the red-hued drink with a splash of ginger beer and an orange twist for garnish.

Germanotta is now set to publish a memoir and recipe book this summer titled My Second Wind: Raising a Glass to a Life Without Alcohol. It will include recipes for his favorite mocktails.

When asked what his advice is for others who want to give up drinking, Germanotta said: ‘If you’re looking to get sober, stick with it and you’ll see after a while, the health benefits will be clear.

‘In my case, I noticed weight loss was much easier without [drink] and with recent news that alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, cutting out alcohol is an easy way to reduce your chances of diagnosis.

‘I hope that my upcoming recipe book will help people to increase the ways they are able to enjoy zero-proof beverages while with friends or at a bar outside of Dry January.’