Throughout her career, Lady Gaga has experimented with various musical genres to demonstrate her remarkable versatility and constantly evolving artistic identity. Her album The Fame (2008) launched her into stardom as a pop star, while her album Joanne (2016) embraced soft rock. Artpop (2013) ventured into avant-garde territory, while her performance in Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) showcased her jazz capabilities. Time and time again, Gaga has pushed the boundaries of genre, infusing every album with something fresh and exciting. She is truly a powerhouse of creativity, and her new 14-track album, MAYHEM, released on March 7th, 2025, proves once more that no genre is outside the scope of her talent.
“I wanted to traverse old ground while breaking new ground, which I think is hard to do,” she shared in an interview with Rolling Stone, explaining that MAYHEM is an homage to her multifaceted artistic identity.
The opening act is “Disease”, an electrifying dance-floor anthem infused with punk influences. This track was originally released as a single in 2024 and is paired with a music video that visualizes the six distinct versions of Gaga’s personality whom we meet throughout the album. The video is packed with Easter eggs, including a scene where she drives a car aiming to run herself over while listening to her track “Zombieboy”—which had yet to be released. It also features Gaga dancing with a cane, which mirrors her iconic choreography from the “Abracadabra” video, which debuted months later. While describing her inspiration behind the song and video, Gaga explained that “Disease is about facing that fear, facing myself and my inner darkness, and realizing that sometimes I can't win or escape the parts of myself that scare me… I can try and run from them but they are still part of me and I can run and run but eventually, I'll meet that part of myself again, even if only for a moment.” The visuals in “Disease” introduce these facts of herself, which personify the internal demons we all carry within.
Another 2024 single featured on the album is “Die with a Smile,” a heartfelt duet with Bruno Mars. In an impressive achievement, the song has reached the number one spot on YouTube Music’s top songs for both artists – and for good reason! The track became the fastest song to hit two billion streams on Spotify. Reminiscent of “Shallow” from the 2018 A Star is Born soundtrack, this soft-rock ballad was nominated for Song of the Year and won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. With heart-warming lyrics like, “If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to you. If the party was over and our time on Earth was through, I'd wanna hold you just for a while and die with a smile”, it is easy to see why this track became so popular.
Throughout the album, the audience is taken through a curated range of emotions from loss to celebration, loneliness to love; each song contributes a distinct storyline that portrays the message that strength and resilience can emerge from mayhem. Gaga’s new album continues to teach us that it is okay to be ourselves and try new things. She inspires fans to spread art and love and stay strong in the face of adversity and injustice. With its relatable storyline, genre-bending versatility, innovative experimentation and thoughtful lyrics, MAYHEM will certainly be remembered as one of Lady Gaga’s greatest albums.
