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Photo provided to China Daily

The mandatory retreat from the spotlight was almost as painful as the injury itself for someone who hasn't gone without performing for more than two weeks since she was 14 years old.

Gaga used the down time not only for an aggressive rehabilitation program but also to hang out with her crew, known as the Haus of Gaga, including van Lamsweerde and Matadin, Brandon Maxwell, the Haus fashion director, her hair and makeup artists and other artistically inclined friends.

They read books, listened to music and exchanged "creative gifts that we have to offer each other", says Gaga.

"I had six months to beef up my brain and my body. I got to put a giant white or black sheet of paint over my whole canvas, and I got to review Artpop again.

Van Lamsweerde and Matadin shot the Applause video last month in Los Angeles. The photographers, who were introduced to Gaga when they shot her first V cover in 2009, have since worked on several fashion films for her. This is the first time they've shot a music video for her.

Gaga chose the cover image from the video shoot because she thought it showed a different side of her performance, a vulnerable part that the public doesn't often see.

Gaga wrote Applause with DJ White Shadow, with whom she has collaborated for five years.

"In my heart of hearts  as I was writing, I knew that if I asked (the fans) to cheer for me before I sang or if I alluded to the fact that they would cheer for me before I sang ... they do that all the time for me; before I even open my mouth, the fans start cheering for me. And so this exclamation, 'Give me that thing that I love. Give it to me. I'm ready, start the music.'