I haven’t paid much attention to Lady Gaga’s music since 2011’s Born This Way, and apparently I’m not alone.
After the multi-Platinum success of 2008’s The Fame and Born This Way, Gaga saw diminishing returns for her next few albums. That included 2016’s Joanne, a move away from dance pop to soft rock. She also recorded and toured classic tunes with Tony Bennett and launched a decent acting career.
At #2 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 is ‘Die with a Smile,’ the collab between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.
The song was released in August of 2024 and kicked around the top ten for months until finally reaching #1 in January of this year. It has been kept alive on the charts by the release of multiple alternate versions, a Grammy win, and inclusion on Gaga’s latest album, Mayhem.
Throwing back to the week of September 7, 2013, it’s still Robin Thicke and ‘Blurred Lines’ in the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100. That song was a juggernaut, spending a total of 12 weeks at #1. I hope I’ve cycled through those 12 weeks by the time Throwback Weekends make it back to the 2010s.
At #2 and #3 are two more songs I’ve already featured: Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’ and Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop,’ respectively. And it’s another female pop icon who lands at #4 and as today’s Song of the Day.
I’ve been tied up with the latest Decades series for the past few weeks, so I never got a chance to chime in on the Oscars. Don’t worry, that ship has sailed, and I don’t plan to revisit this year’s Academy Awards at this point.
But I did want to take a minute to acknowledge one of my favorite moments from the ceremony: Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s performance of ‘Shallow.’
In the year of A Star is Born and an inevitable Best Actress nomination for Lady Gaga, it’s a little wild to get served up this track from her 2011 album Born This Way.
Gaga has had one of the most interesting and surprising career trajectories ever. From techno pop and avant garde performance art to Tony Bennett duets, soft rock and award-season movie roles.
Meet Me In Montauk 