Lady Gaga Says Fans 'Changed My Life' In MTV Special

Lady Gaga is perhaps a bigger fan of her fans than they are of her. She never passes up a chance to thank her Little Monsters for helping her go from scrappy New York performer to legitimate pop superstar. That appreciation is expressed in the MTV documentary "Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside," airing tonight at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

During the hour-long, exclusive chat, Gaga goes into great detail about her life in New York, her rise to fame, her love for her family and how she began to grow a fan base on the Lower East Side of New York City thanks to her outlandish stage persona and the way people connected to it. While she's performing to bigger crowds these days, she remains grounded and her gratitude to the people who have bought her records and tickets to her shows seems undying.

"The biggest surprise to me has been my relationship with my fans," she explains in the special. "They've changed my life. The fans are the thing that you can't learn; they were the instrument in the music that nobody taught me about."

Mother Monster likens her fans to one of the key parts of her aesthetic. "They're a giant disco ball — thousands of tiny little mirrors," she says. "The commercial success that I've had has been mind-blowing. I'm the girl that everyone said 'no' and shook their head and said, 'I don't get it.' "

Well, her fans got it and that love goes both ways. Earlier this week, MTV News caught up with some of Gaga's Little Monsters at a Born This Way album signing and they sang her praises as well. "Being a Little Monster is about letting out your inner freak," Jen Finnegan, an aspiring musician, explained to us about Gaga's influence. "[It's letting out] everything that you are and everything that you want to be through Lady Gaga and her music."

Don't miss "Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside" to hear Mother Monster herself open up about the creative forces behind her generation-defining career. Our exclusive documentary airs Thursday, May 26, at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET/PT on MTV, followed by a live stream on MTV.com hosted by MTV News' James Montgomery and featuring special guests Lady Starlight, Justin Tranter from Semi Precious Weapons, documentary director Davi Russo, producer Fernando Garibay and Gaga's biggest Little Monsters.