Lady Gaga is no stranger to stepping outside the box, always putting her own flair on things. According to some eagle-eyed fans, it seemed like Gaga was putting a spin (literally) on the announcement for her upcoming album, and they were right! On Jan. 27, the singer announced her upcoming album, Mayhem, which is set to drop on March 7. Her last project, Chromatica, dropped a few years ago in 2020, leaving Little Monsters eager for new music. Luckily, we’ve had singles like “Die With A Smile,” a collaboration with Bruno Mars, and “Disease” to hold us over.
Lady Gaga’s website showed a countdown clock, which slowly spinned across the screen. The countdown was set to end on Monday, January 27, at 11:00am EST. The background showed color-changing white, pink, and blue waves. The website also offered a small interactive feature. If you clicked and swiped on the screen, the background was erased to reveal a message underneath. On Jan. 24, the hidden message read “LG5,” a reference to her fifth album.
However, fans realized that the layout of the screen and the hidden message changed each day to correspond with each of Gaga’s albums (in order). For example, the previously mentioned layout and aesthetic were a nod to Gaga’s album Joanne. On Jan. 23, the website was blue and pink and read “LG4,” about her fourth album, Artpop. Keeping with the trend, the days prior mentioned the rest of her albums, Born This Way, The Fame Monster, and The Fame.
Fans speculated that the countdown, as it progresses through Gaga’s albums, would lead up to the announcement of “LG7,” her seventh album, which it did.
In a December 2024 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gaga called her upcoming album “a recollection of all these bad decisions that I made in my life,” but reassured fans that it “ends in this very happy place.” Gaga has never been known to confine herself to one style or genre, and her upcoming album will keep with this trend. “The record is full of my love of music — so many different genres, so many different styles, so many different dreams,” she said. “It leaps around genre in a way that’s almost corrupt.”
Gaga told Vogue in September 2024 that the album will be released in February, though we don’t have an exact date yet. We do know that the album will be out before Gaga headlines Coachella on April 11 and 18. Before the album drops, she will also be performing at the FireAid Benefit Concert at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Jan. 30. The concert is being held to support relief efforts for those affected by the L.A. wildfires.
When it comes to Gaga, there’s no predicting what she’ll do next. At this point, innovation and creativity are a part of her brand. It’s safe to say that no one does it better than Gaga.