Lady Gaga has revealed that she was asked to open for Michael Jackson at his ill-fated comeback gigs in London.

The singer said she was “working on making it happen” when the star died on June 25 last year.

Jackson’s 50-night residency at the O2 Arena, dubbed This Is It, was due to begin less than two weeks later.

In an interview with Larry King, Lady Gaga said she had held back from talking about her request until now out of respect for the singer.

“I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour. We were going to open for him at the O2,” she said.

"And we were working on making it happen. And I suppose there was some talk about the openers doing some duets with Michael onstage. But Michael's death was devastating for me regardless of whether I was supposed to go on tour with him,"

Lady Gaga added that she regarded Jackson as “an inspiration and remarkable human being”.

As previously reported, the singer has announced details of a one-off show at the O2 Arena in December.

It will be the fifth time this year that Lady Gaga has performed at the venue in London.

(by Jason Gregory)