Lady Gaga's Causing Mayhem
Lady Gaga is making the return to pop that we’ve all been waiting for after almost a year-long rollout + Oscar nominations, Katy Perry's tour announcement, and more!
We have finally made it to the last week of January which I think goes down in history as the longest month in history. I haven’t stopped thinking about this tweet I saw earlier this week.
I felt like everyone paused announcements and news out of respect for the LA fires and then this week decided to go full send because my god, was there a lot of moments that were too pop to handle this week. Let’s get into this week’s podcast episode, shall we?
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My second Substack post ever was talking about how excited I was for the upcoming Lady Gaga album; that was in September. Needless to say, it’s been quite the wait for this much anticipated album and it’s finally here and my paws are up.
Back in September, Gaga shared that she was giving the girls and gays what they want, a pop album, because her fiancé told her it’s what she needed to do. In that moment, a straight man was right for the first time ever. A month later we got the lead single, Disease, and then it was radio silent for a few months up until last week when ladygaga.com started displaying a countdown to Monday, January 27th, with each day being themed as one of her previous albums all leading up to the moment we’d all been waiting for:
Lady Gaga’s 7th studio album, MAYHEM, to be released on March 7th
Here’s what we know about the album so far:
It will feature 14 tracks including Disease and Die With a Smile
It pulls inspiration from Bowie and Prince with a “’90s alternative, electro-grunge” and “funky bass lines, French electronic dance, and analog synths”
The album is “utter chaos” as Gaga said, adding “…It just feels good to me. It sounds good. It breaks a lot of rules and has a lot of fun.”
The second single will be teased mid-way through the Grammys this Sunday
She also said that a lot of the songs on these albums have a maroon, brown color to them which ‘Bad Romance’ also had when she was recording it.
If you know anything about me, you know The Fame Monster is my favorite Gaga project so anything with a similar sound or feel to that masterpiece of an EP has me sold.
After Chromatica’s roll-out was stopped short due to COVID, I’m thrilled that we’re going to get a proper album roll-out with MAYHEM, including her Coachella performance in April.
I did a full deep dive on Gaga’s album roll-outs and success through the years on this week’s episode, including her Guinness World Records, Grammy nominations, and misunderstood albums - if you’re interested in a little Lady Gaga 101.
We also yapped about:
SZA added as a guest to Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show
When Kendrick Lamar was announced as the Super Bowl Halftime performer, I immediately thought of two possible special guests: Beyoncé and SZA. I immediately brought myself back down to earth and crossed Beyoncé off the list. Last week it was confirmed that SZA would be joining Kendrick as a special guest at the SB LIX and I could not be more excited for what they have in-store for us. Doves In the Wind? All The Stars? luther? 30 for 30? Babylon?
These two have been collabing for years and I like to refer them as musical soulmates. Everytime they collab it’s pure magic, and I cannot wait to see them on their co-headlining Grand National Tour later this year. That being said, I’m beyond grateful that I secured my tickets during pre-sale because after next weekend’s Super Bowl performance those tickets are going to be even harder to get.
2025 Oscar Nominations
Hollywood’s biggest night is just over a month away and the nominees are here! Here are some honorable mentions:
Emilia Pérez is leading the list with 13 nominations, setting a record for a non-English-language film
Wicked and The Brutalist come in right behind them with 10 nominations each
A Complete Unknown and Conclave followed with eight nominations each
Ariana Grande is officially an Oscar nominated actress *screams*
Demi Moore has received her first Oscar nomination
Cynthia Erivo could become an EGOT winner if she wins for Lead Actress
Challengers was absolutely snubbed…nothing!?
Jon M Chu not receiving Best Director nomination? Seems fake…
The Oscars will be live on Sunday, March 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM EST.
Katy Perry announces ‘The Lifetimes Tour’, first tour in 7 years
Katy Perry has announced that she’ll be embarking on ‘The Lifetimes Tour’, her first tour since 2018 this year and I, for one, cannot wait. Say what you want about Katy Perry’s latest album, but she puts on one hell of a show that I will never miss. Attending her California Dreams Tour in 2011 was truly a shift in my brain chemistry and I haven’t missed a Katy tour since.
The tour kicks off in Mexico this April and follows quite the interesting tour route heading to the US in May, Australia in June, back to the US + Canada in July through August, and ending the tour in South America and Europe September - October.
Selena Gomez posts and deletes Instagram story about deportation
Whenever I see the words “Selena Gomez” and “Instagram” in the same sentence, I am immediately locked in. There’s no denying Selena has had a dicey road with her social media presence and an unclear definition of what a “break” means, but this time I wish she would have continued posting. In a since deleted Instagram story, Selena says “I just want to say that I’m so sorry. All my people are getting attacked,”. “The children. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry I wish I could do something but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.” whilst in tears. The post was deleted and she uploaded a black screen that read “Apparently it’s not okay to show empathy for people.”
Now listen, I’m the first person to admit when Selena Gomez to needs log off the internet (and it’s often), but this time I was thrilled to see her being one of the first and only A-List celebrities who’s using their platform to raise awareness for the dystopian world we’re living in right now. I hope more than anything the harsh reality we’re all facing is a wake-up call to these celebrities and people with platforms to speak up louder than ever during our next election to ensure we never find ourselves in this situation again.
It’s going to be a long four years 😅
And those are all of the pop culture moments from the week that were Too Pop to Handle. Hope you all have a fabulous week, and I’ll talk to you all soon! 💖