In 2010 going into 2011 Lady Gaga seemed invincible.  She was being compared to Madonna and some were even saying she was the most significant artist to hit pop music since the Beatles.  The hype was strong for her next album, Born This Way.  It was said that this would be the album that would define a generation.  Looking back, Born This Way underwhelmed, and was the beginning of Lady Gaga's fall.

Question is, what went wrong?  Born This Way was a great album, possibly her best, but I think the ball was dropped in terms of how it was promoted.  I have a few different theories on what went wrong and what could have been changed to make it more successful.

First, there was simply no way the album could live up to the hype.  Even if everything was executed perfectly, the hype was unreal.  If anybody remembers early 2011, the hype for Born This Way was almost to Star Wars The Force Awakens levels.  It was crazy and it was everywhere.  Unfortunately this was stacked against it from the beginning, but it shouldn't have killed the album or made it any less successful on its own.

With this in mind, I think her biggest mistake was waiting too long to release the album.  It didn't actually come out until the third single was released in May 2011.  With the hype surrounding it, the album needed to be released when that hype was strongest.  The first single, Born This Way, was released in February 2011 and was a huge success.  However, Judas was much less well received and a lot of radio stations didn't play it because of its controversial religious undertones.  By the time the album actually came out concurrent with The Edge of Glory, the excitement had significantly died down.  The album should have been released with the second single, in April 2011.  Add to this the fact that the album had been leaked onto the Internet months prior, it was a significant issue.

Secondly, I think order of the single choices was poor and if they would have been in a different order, it could have really helped the album.  If it were me, I would have released Highway Unicorn as the first single.  It's a fun, lighthearted dance song that would have been a very well-received follow up to songs like Bad Romance and Telephone, and its a song everyone would have loved.  Born This Way should have been the second single concurrent with the album release.  Judas should have never been a single.  The third single should have instead have been Marry the Night, another fun dance song.  Having the political, LGBT-oriented "Born This Way" sandwiched between two fun, catchy dance songs for everyone would have been perfect.  The Edge of Glory should have been the fourth single in the summer of 2011 and You & I should have been the final single.  Both of those were a little more AC-oriented and would have been a great way to finish off the album.

I think if the album would have been promoted in this way, it would have been much more successful and Lady Gaga's popularity wouldn't have collapsed so quickly.  It may have actually become that generation-defining album that it was supposed to be, and people would look back on it and not The Fame Monster as being Gaga's finest work.

What are your thoughts?

Great post, and I agree with you. I wouldn't know what order to release the singles, but Judas should not have been a single. It was not as good as her previous work. Born This Way song was a great song, it really built up the hype for the album. 

Releasing Born This Way concurrently with the album makes sense, it's my favourite song from hers. For a first single it would be better if she released something that would have got a lot of radio play, I think You & I is this song.

Frankly, Born This Way was still a gigantic success on par with her first two releases.  It had multiple hit singles, including the monumental title track and the mega-popular "The Edge of Glory," with the record's success continuing all the way into early 2012 with "Marry the Night."

I think the problem was mostly Lady Gaga herself - she was quickly becoming overwhelmed by her megastar status, even coming close to death, and wanted more room for artistic expression, which ultimately led to the bizarre Artpop and later the u-turn of an album that was Cheek to Cheek with Tony Bennett.

Another major factor could be that Lady Gaga was a central figure in the gay marriage movement of the early 2010s, an emblem of free expression that defied "traditional" norms.  By the time Artpop came out in late 2013, the gay marriage movement was less of a struggle and more of an official victory still taking effect.  She was no longer seen as risqué by this point, as the eccentric 2010s youth culture, which extends beyond just LGBT rights, was fully established by 2013 and the type of music she had helped bring to the mainstream was now run-of-the-mill.

She came on too strong. Madonna was controversial in 1985/1986, but didn't start doing her really controversial stuff until 1989's Like A Prayer. Lady Gaga didn't let people get use to her, she shoved her ideas down our throats, or at least mine.

She kicked ass singing The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl today.  8)

Frankly, Born This Way was still a gigantic success on par with her first two releases.  It had multiple hit singles, including the monumental title track and the mega-popular "The Edge of Glory," with the record's success continuing all the way into early 2012 with "Marry the Night."

I think the problem was mostly Lady Gaga herself - she was quickly becoming overwhelmed by her megastar status, even coming close to death, and wanted more room for artistic expression, which ultimately led to the bizarre Artpop and later the u-turn of an album that was Cheek to Cheek with Tony Bennett.

Another major factor could be that Lady Gaga was a central figure in the gay marriage movement of the early 2010s, an emblem of free expression that defied "traditional" norms.  By the time Artpop came out in late 2013, the gay marriage movement was less of a struggle and more of an official victory still taking effect.  She was no longer seen as risqué by this point, as the eccentric 2010s youth culture, which extends beyond just LGBT rights, was fully established by 2013 and the type of music she had helped bring to the mainstream was now run-of-the-mill.


I agree that Born This Way was a commercial success, but it was also the beginning of her slide. It didn't do as well as it could have had the mistakes not been made in its promotion.  Remember this was supposed to be the album that would define an entire generation. Today, ask most people what Lady Gaga album was her best and most will say The Fame Monster.

ARTPOP was her first real flop. Personally, I don't think acceptance of gay marriage had anything to do with that.  I think the bigger issue is that it took itself too seriously and it was far more pretentious than her previous work. Little Monsters loved ARTPOP. The general audience had a more difficult time digesting it.

She came on too strong. Madonna was controversial in 1985/1986, but didn't start doing her really controversial stuff until 1989's Like A Prayer. Lady Gaga didn't let people get use to her, she shoved her ideas down our throats, or at least mine.
So she got too popular to fast you are saying to do the risqué things that she did like wearing polarizing costumes.

Anyways, how many times did "Born This Way" get compared to a Madonna  song when "Born This Way" was first a hit? I could have made some money at the time in 2011 on how many times "Born This Way" was compared to a Madonna song. I think even though "Born This Way" was a hit it did damage GaGa's career that it was being compared to a Madonna song.

Maybe GaGa is a poor womans Donna Summer. Both were popular for a brief time(1976-1981) in Donna's case and in GaGa's case she was popular from 2009-early 2011. I do think Donna was a Disco Pioneer that later paved the way for the 80's Pop/R&B sound. GaGa was a pioneer for the electro-pop sound that later turned into EDM for the core 10's. Other artists ate into Donna's popularity once the 80's got going as Disco died like Laura Branigan(mainly), and maybe Evelyn Thomas. Same thing happened to GaGa I think with Ariana Grande and even Carly Rae Jaspen's "Call Me Maybe" song. Donna had sparodic success after 1981 and I think GaGa will do the same.

She kicked ass singing The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl today.  8)
Yeah Phil Simms loved it.

ARTPOP was her first real flop. Personally, I don't think acceptance of gay marriage had anything to do with that.  I think the bigger issue is that it took itself too seriously and it was far more pretentious than her previous work. Little Monsters loved ARTPOP. The general audience had a more difficult time digesting it.


Exactly, she was completely writing music on her own individual terms, which didn't resonate with the present day mood nearly as much as Born This Way did back when gay marriage wasn't quite a winning cause yet.  By 2013 came along, pop fans hungered for something less rebellious and more contemporary, so they turned to teenyboppers like Ariana Grande and new Taylor Swift.

I think another major problem with Born This Way is that it had an extremely repugnant album cover.  The artwork for The Fame was flashy and exotic, while The Fame Monster took a darker tone while still being appealing, but the whole gothic motorcycle-centauress approach with a psychotic facial expression wasn't exactly the most inviting cover that Born This Way could've used.  Even I will admit that I probably would've played the album a lot more had I not been reminded of the atrocious cover whenever I did.

So she got too popular to fast you are saying to do the risqué things that she did like wearing polarizing costumes.


I think it's that she continually had to one-up herself and she reached the point where nothing she did was shocking anymore.  I wouldn't blame her fall on that alone though.  She was popular for her music first and foremost.  The outlandish costumes were part of the show but they were secondary.

Other than the mistakes in the promotion of Born This Way that I have discussed, the case can also be made that she peaked too quickly.  One also has to consider why she became popular in the first place. After a decade of hip-hop, r&b, and bad pop a-la Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga was fun, catchy, exciting, and most importantly of all, different.  Her songs quickly became club anthems that people let go to, and it worked.  Her first two albums were wildly popular because they mostly focused on that type of music.  Born This Way was a little more serious and a little more political but still had some tracks that were similar to her early material.  ARTPOP was simply too "artsy" and pretentious for the common audience.  It's a pretty polarizing album, with some people loving it but many hating it who liked her earlier stuff.

Lada Gaga is one of the very few electropop artists who turned me off.

However, she did a good job singing for the national anthem on Super Bowl 50 tonight!  ;D

Maybe GaGa is a poor womans Donna Summer. Both were popular for a brief time(1976-1981) in Donna's case and in GaGa's case she was popular from 2009-early 2011. I do think Donna was a Disco Pioneer that later paved the way for the 80's Pop/R&B sound. GaGa was a pioneer for the electro-pop sound that later turned into EDM for the core 10's. Other artists ate into Donna's popularity once the 80's got going as Disco died like Laura Branigan(mainly), and maybe Evelyn Thomas. Same thing happened to GaGa I think with Ariana Grande and even Carly Rae Jaspen's "Call Me Maybe" song. Donna had sparodic success after 1981 and I think GaGa will do the same.


This is probably a better comparison than Madonna, who she is often compared to.  Donna Summers was hugely popular during the disco era, pioneered the sound of the '80s, and had a huge LGBT following.  She became more of a niche artist though after her 10 minutes of fame were up. Unless Lady Gaga can come back strong with her next electropop album, this is likely the path her career will take.

The success of "Call Me Maybe" is an example of what #Infinity was talking about.  As the early '10s gave way to the mid '10s, listeners were ready for less rebellious and less controversial music, which is why people like Ariana Grande, One Direction, and new Taylor Swift have become so popular.

This is probably a better comparison than Madonna, who she is often compared to.  Donna Summers was hugely popular during the disco era, pioneered the sound of the '80s, and had a huge LGBT following.  She became more of a niche artist though after her 10 minutes of fame were up. Unless Lady Gaga can come back strong with her next electropop album, this is likely the path her career will take.

The success of "Call Me Maybe" is an example of what #Infinity was talking about.  As the early '10s gave way to the mid '10s, listeners were ready for less rebellious and less controversial music, which is why people like Ariana Grande, One Direction, and new Taylor Swift have become so popular.
Yeah I remember in my case comparing GaGa to Britney or Paula Abdul but "Infinity" said Britney didn't pioneer the sound of the 00's and I think she said that was the same case with Paula Abdul for the 90's I think.  So Donna would be more of a good comparison to GaGa than Britney or Paula Abdul.

Yeah I remember in my case comparing GaGa to Britney or Paula Abdul but "Infinity" said Britney didn't pioneer the sound of the 00's and I think she said that was the same case with Paula Abdul for the 90's I think.  So Donna would be more of a good comparison to GaGa than Britney or Paula Abdul.


Yeah, Britney Spears was just following in the wake of acts like the Spice Girls and Robyn, while Paula Abdul was walking in the footsteps of Madonna and Janet Jackson.

Yeah, Britney Spears was just following in the wake of acts like the Spice Girls and Robyn, while Paula Abdul was walking in the footsteps of Madonna and Janet Jackson.


I agree with this. The Y2K era sound had its roots as far back as 1996. Lady Gaga on the other hand truly pioneered electropop. When she hit, there was nothing else like her stuff. In my opinion that was a huge part of why she rose to fame so quickly.

Lady Gaga on the other hand truly pioneered electropop.


Considering Giorgio Moroder and Frank Farian have been pioneering it since the 1970s, I think they may have something to say about that!

So she got too popular to fast you are saying to do the risqué things that she did like wearing polarizing costumes.

Anyways, how many times did "Born This Way" get compared to a Madonna  song when "Born This Way" was first a hit? I could have made some money at the time in 2011 on how many times "Born This Way" was compared to a Madonna song. I think even though "Born This Way" was a hit it did damage GaGa's career that it was being compared to a Madonna song.

Maybe GaGa is a poor womans Donna Summer. Both were popular for a brief time(1976-1981) in Donna's case and in GaGa's case she was popular from 2009-early 2011. I do think Donna was a Disco Pioneer that later paved the way for the 80's Pop/R&B sound. GaGa was a pioneer for the electro-pop sound that later turned into EDM for the core 10's. Other artists ate into Donna's popularity once the 80's got going as Disco died like Laura Branigan(mainly), and maybe Evelyn Thomas. Same thing happened to GaGa I think with Ariana Grande and even Carly Rae Jaspen's "Call Me Maybe" song. Donna had sparodic success after 1981 and I think GaGa will do the same.


I don't love or hate Gaga, but I don't see Express Yourself and Born This Way as anything alike. I'm not saying you are saying they sound alike, I'm just saying they sound nothing alike to me.

She came on too strong. Madonna was controversial in 1985/1986, but didn't start doing her really controversial stuff until 1989's Like A Prayer. Lady Gaga didn't let people get use to her, she shoved her ideas down our throats, or at least mine.


and her outfits were outrageous.

I don't love or hate Gaga, but I don't see Express Yourself and Born This Way as anything alike. I'm not saying you are saying they sound alike, I'm just saying they sound nothing alike to me.


There is a small resemblance, but overall the sound was nothing alike.

In early 2011 everyone was comparing Lady Gaga to Madonna and her detractors were accusing her of ripping off Madonna, so I am sure many overemphasized the similarities between the two songs.

There is a small resemblance, but overall the sound was nothing alike.

In early 2011 everyone was comparing Lady Gaga to Madonna and her detractors were accusing her of ripping off Madonna, so I am sure many overemphasized the similarities between the two songs.


Do you think she'll ever recover? Because In all honesty I miss that creative image in pop music. Say what you want about Lady Gaga, Kesha, & 'Teenaged Dream' Era Katy Perry, but at least the music gave off a dreamy and fun vibe back then! Music now is pretty dark, sinister, & bland in comparison ;D

Do you think she'll ever recover? Because In all honesty I miss that creative image in pop music. Say what you want about Lady Gaga, Kesha, & 'Teenaged Dream' Era Katy Perry, but at least the music gave off a dreamy and fun vibe back then! Music now is pretty dark, sinister, & bland in comparison ;D


I agree.

For Lady Gaga, its do or die with her next album in my opinion.  She could release something that propels her back into the spotlight, or she could go like Britney Spears before her, with each album release after "Oops I Did It Again" becoming more and more underwhelming.

and her outfits were outrageous.


Yup. I liked some of them though!

Better artists and music came along, and everybody moved on.

Yup. I liked some of them though!


I liked some of her outfits too.