Lady Gaga in five small masterpieces

BarcelonaLady Gaga (New York, 1986) is the most interesting diva of her generation. A great singer and notable actress, she created music consciously representing those who were different, respecting the legacy of the American songbook with Tony Bennett while pushing the boundaries of self-parody in her albums, films, and TV series. Seventeen years after the revolt of the marginalized that she promoted on the album The fame (2008), Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is presenting the album Mayhem (Interscope, 2025) on a world tour that stops at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on October 28, 29 and 31. The concerts on this tour are structured in four acts that unfold over almost two and a half hours, and where new songs such as Abracadabra and Perfect celebrity They share repertoire with past achievements such as Bad romance and Born this way, and with forays into soundtracks such as ShallowIn fact, the five songs, each a small masterpiece, explain who Lady Gaga is.

'Bad Romance' (2009)

Not at all obvious, Lady Gaga walks in a minor key over a 4/4 electronic rhythm inherited from German techno that leaves room for vocal lines connected to house. And all of this in a pop monument that celebrates unconditional love: she wants to love even the darkest parts because she wants to love fully.

'Born this way' (2011)

Lady Gaga, now perched in the more self-affirming major key, takes Madonna's testimony to create one of the great LGBTIQ+ anthems of the 21st century. Disco culture soaks Born this way, the song that served as the figurehead of the album of the same name and confirmed that the New York artist had no limits.

'Shallow' (2018)

Unbeatable in extravagance and difference, Lady Gaga also made artistic gestures equivalent to showing up without makeup at a costume party. These are the albums she made with the crooner Tony Bennett, strolling through standards in which he could shine as a melodic singer. And this is the film's soundtrack. A star is born (2018), which she starred in with Bradley Cooper. The rock ballad Shallow, co-written with Benjamin Rice, is a tour staple. And her performance in the film confirmed Lady Gaga's remarkable stature as an actress, just as she reconfirmed in Joker 2: folie à deux (2024), especially in scenes like the one on the stairs in which he embodies the feeling of disappointment and farce in a striking close-up while playing That's entertainment.

'Perfect Celebrity' (2025)

"You love to hate me / I'm the celebrity "Perfect," sings the most pissed-off Lady Gaga on the album. Mayhem. Perfect celebrity connects with the snarky satire that Courtney Love displayed in the song Miss World by the group Hole in 1994. There are screams and choruses dragged by sarcasm as in the days of grunge, but on an electronic pillow.

'Abracadabra' (2025)

The Lady Gaga of 2025 also maintains the extravagant spirit of her early albums, and the twisting of syllables and syntax. The most compelling proof is this. Abracadabra where pop, electropop and acid-house collide and where he takes the opportunity to vindicate the postpunk of Siouxsie & The Banshees, specifically that of the song Spellbound.