The 24-year-old pop queen – real name Stefani Germanotta – returned to the New York apartment block where she lived for three years before finding stardom for a US TV special.
But her plans to show host Anderson Cooper and the 60 Minutes crew around her old pad were dashed by the current occupant.
Gaga knocked on the door of her former apartment and announced, 'Hi, this is Lady Gaga. I was just wondering if I could say hi.'
She did not get the response she was expecting though as the resident told her through the door, 'I'd rather not have any cameras.'
Instead Gaga had to settle for showing Cooper a box of treasured mementos, including the first song she ever wrote aged four, called Dollar Bills.
The Lady Gaga TV special is set to air in America on February 13.