I live for being a Lady Gaga fan, almost as much as she lives for the applause. It’s an exciting journey of high-fashion, new dance routines to learn and risqué aesthetics – but it doesn’t come without it’s trials and tribulations. Allow me to take you on a journey of the highs and lows of being a Little Monster!

 

Highs of Being a Little Monster!

 

Debut of The Cure

Lady Gaga headlined 2017’s Coachella – this is believed to be one of her most solid performances ever, singing all not only her hits but fan favourites such as Scheiße, Sexxx Dreams and Venus. However, to the surprise of her fans and people watching live around the world – Lady Gaga debuted a new single “The Cure”.
 

This was a complete surprise which somehow managed to stay a secret, making it an even bigger surprise. The Cure is believed to be about Lady Gaga’s close friend Sonja Durham who passed away in May, 2017.
 

Not only was this exciting because it was a complete secret, but it was made more exciting due to the significant contrast in production to Lady Gaga’s recent album ‘Joanne’ which was heavily indie, folk and country inspired. The Cure, instead, was a trop-pop song which was thematically similar to ARTPOP and co-produced by ARTPOP collaborator: DJ White Shadow.

 

Dive Bar Tour

Here we go!

On the 5th, 20th and 27th of October, 2016: Lady Gaga put down the avant-garde fashion, the theatrics and electronic music to promote her stripped-back, personal and indie-inspired album – Joanne.
 

Unlike a lot of her previous work (bar, Cheek to Cheek) Joanne focused highly on instruments and preserving her own happiness in a heavily corporate world where you must “make X” to be successful. For this album, Gaga worked with the likes of Mark Ronson, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Father John Misty, Hillary Lindsey, and Beck.














 

Gaga really let out her inner Rockstar here, reminiscent of the young Stefani banging away at a piano and writing her own songs before she became who we now know as Lady Gaga. Grab a beer, relax, and take the opportunity to slow down in this heavily digital age, if you plan to view these shows!

 

Bowie Tribute

At the 68th Annual GRAMMY's Lady Gaga paid homage to the late David Bowie, along with the legendary producer Nile Rodgers and a technological collaboration with Intel. Armed with a dancing keyboard, motion tracking and iconic references to Bowie this was such an explosive performance and all-time fan favourite.
 

Gaga covered Space Oddity, Changes, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, Rebel Rebel, Fashion, Fame, Let’s Dance and Heroes – all the while dancing, changing costumes and playing the piano!
















 

 

 

SwineFest

“ARTPOP. Get ready for ARTPOP” and “Soon” is all we heard for a few years. Until September 2013, when Gaga headlined iTunes Festival with her own show titled SwineFest. Here Gaga debuted Aura, MANiCURE, ARTPOP, Jewels N Drugs, Sex Dreams, Swine and I Wanna Be With You.
 

Not only were these songs audibly incredible, but each performance was meticulously crafted, with different wigs, outfits, and props. Whilst performing, Gaga was suspended in a cage hanging from the ceiling, bit off the head of a mermaid and even squealed like an angry pig on stage. This was one of my all-time favourite moments in Gaga history.

 

Super Bowl

Arguably Lady Gaga’s best performance of all time – and the most viewed one worldwide. In 2017, Gaga headlined the Superbowl. This was such a high-adrenaline and epic performance for so many reasons. It also came as a huge surprise to fans, as rather than performing songs from her recent album, Joanne, as expected – she performed her greatest hits.
 

Gaga began on the roof of the Superbowl Stadium singing God Bless America, whilst glowing drones flew around in the night sky to imitate the American Flag.



















Immediately after this, the blood really started pumping, and she jumped down into the stadium with a flurry of lights, explosions, and outfit changes. It really was one of her best performances to date. She sang Poker Face, Born This Way, Telephone, Just Dance, Million Reasons, and Bad Romance.

 

 

Lows of Being a Little Monster!
 

Aura Demo vs Studio Version

On the 4th of August, 2013 – the first song from ARTPOP leaked online. This was eventually revealed to have been leaked by Gaga herself on a fake twitter account due to disputes with her management. Gaga wanted Aura to be the lead single from ARTPOP, however, they wanted Applause.
 

This song was a collaboration between herself, Infected Mushroom and Zedd – originally titled Burqa, but renamed Aura. The demo included angry vocals which made the song audibly much better in many fans opinions, however, when the song was released alongside the album the vocals were much more radio-friendly – a decision that didn’t sit well with many friends.

Ultimately, this may have been the decision of her management to tone the song down, as opposed to Gaga herself.

 

Hip Injury

Gaga has suffered with her hip and chronic pain since 2012. This caused Gaga to cancel the Born This Way Ball, and she was even in a wheelchair after having major surgery. This caused Gaga a great deal of depression – as she didn’t know whether she would even be able to walk again, let alone dance.
 

We see a lot more insight into this during her early ARTPOP interviews, and the recent Five Foot Two documentary on Netflix. Unfortunately, Gaga’s hip problems have continued – causing her to cancel the last run of the Joanne World Tour in Europe.

















 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARTPOP Broken Promises (Music Videos, App)

Due to many problems throughout the ARTPOP album cycle, regarding Gaga’s management – many ARTPOP promises were left unfulfilled. This included a music video for Gypsy, a music video for Venus (directed by Ruth Hogben) and a music video for Do What U Want (which has leaked somewhat online), even a music video which was to include Lindsey Lohan – believed to be Mary Jane Holland.
 

Furthermore, Gaga released the ARTPOP App alongside the album, this was going to offer various things – such as new tracks over time which didn’t make the cut for either album, music videos and music production software. Unfortunately, this was stopped due to being related to her old management.

 

“Original LG5”

Many fans believe that Gaga had a near-complete different album in the works before Joanne was created. Gaga had been heavily experimenting with visuals related to caterpillars and butterflies in early 2016 – thought to be the theme of the album, a rebirth of such.
 

Gaga also had a new look in many of the magazine shoots she did in early 2016, these visuals were very dark and echoed the theme of American Horror Story.

Gaga had reportedly worked with RedOne, Nile Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder, Fernando Garibay, DJWS, Diane Warren, Elton John and perhaps, even Cher. Unfortunately, none of this work ever came to be and Joanne was released instead.

This album was rumoured to have been dark, disco-pop inspired.















 

 

ARTPOP Act 2

Before ARTPOP was released, Gaga envisioned and promised two acts of ARTPOP. Whilst on the album promotion cycle for ARTPOP she would often mention the second act in an obscure radio interview – or the SXSW interview (2014).
 

At SXSW Gaga stated that the second act of ARTPOP is finished, and that she loves it. This was created alongside ARTPOP collaborators DJWS, Madeon, and Zedd. We also know of many unreleased tracks which we may never hear.
 

These titles included Tinnitus, In Like With You, Tea, Onion Girl, Temple, Sire, Maren, Ratchet, Princess Die and a finalised version of Brooklyn Nights.
 

Gaga stated that she would love to perform both acts of ARTPOP at the ARTPOP tour, however, this unfortunately never came to be.