Lady Gaga: From “The Fame” to “Mayhem”: Which album by the icon is the most convincing? The complete ranking of their discography.
Dance-pop, electro, film, country and jazz – Lady Gaga combines many genres in her musical repertoire. In addition to solo albums, film soundtracks and collaborations, the singer also released remix albums and numerous individual singles.
The former go-go dancer, who grew up in Manhattan, promised in an interview with The Guardian in 2009 that her ambitions went beyond being a one-hit wonder. Here is the ranking of the pop icon’s great albums – and a look back at 18 years of pop history.
1. “Born This Way”
In the same month after her “The Monster Ball Tour”, the singer, who had been in the business for three years, released her second album in May 2011. Your high workload pays off – record number 3 is also a bombastic success. She presented the title of the album and a first impression of the title song “Born This Way” at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2010, when she won the award for “Video of the Year” with “Bad Romance”. With BORN THIS WAY, she celebrated her solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community musically for the first time, which she had previously emphasized many times in interviews and on stage – unlike other pop stars of her generation and before queer support was commercialized. Since then, she has been considered a celebrated icon of the queer and trans community, which is constantly growing.
Lady Gaga speaks out for queer rights on stage in Moscow in 2012:
2. “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster”
Not many people manage to make a breakthrough right from the start – Lady Gaga does. In 2008, Lady GaGa – then still spelled this way – achieved her international breakthrough with her debut THE FAME. Under the wing of Interscope Records, the album secured her a permanent place in 2000s pop culture with hits like “Just Dance” and “Poker Face.” Lyrically, the then 22-year-old pop diva dealt with the facets of fame and being famous on the 15 songs.
With THE FAME MONSTER she directly followed on from her success and used music to confront personal fears, her “monsters,” in songs. The introduction of the “Little Monsters” as a fan community and the designation of themselves as “Mother Monster” cemented their close ties with the fans. The associated “The Monster Ball” tour included a total of 201 concerts between November 2009 and May 2011 and remains the largest and longest tour by the “Poker Face” star. In the long term, these albums laid the foundation for Lady Gaga’s lasting success as a pop icon.
3. “Mayhem”
The singer’s sixth solo album hit the pop world in 2025: 17 songs on which she remained true to her electro-pop roots. She worked as a songwriter and co-producer on all of the songs, something she says she always attaches great importance to. And with success: She landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and achieved the biggest debut streaming week of her career.
The Bruno Mars feature “Die With A Smile” reached over three billion (!) streams on Spotify and was awarded a Grammy in 2025 in the “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” category. “Abracadabra” also became a hit and set the tone for the theater and circus theme of the associated live shows. Following on from the success of the album, the 39-year-old announced a worldwide arena tour: the “Mayhem Ball Tour”.
4. “A Star Is Born” soundtrack
Lady Gaga received the biggest award of her career as part of her soundtrack album for the Bradley Cooper musical film “A Star Is Born”: their joint song “Shallow” won an Oscar in the “Best Song” category in 2019. The musical accompaniment to the 1976 remake was a 19-song album that supports the plot in a fitting tenor.
As the first album since JOANNE, the personal intimacy factor continues here, and the singer shows even more facets of her artistic talent: In “A Star Is Born”, the New Yorker also makes her first major acting debut. With her strong voice, songwriting skills and artistic performativity, she manages to give the role of “Ally Campana” a personal Gaga touch while remaining within the characteristics of the character.
5. “Joanne”
On JOANNE, Lady Gaga shows once again that she’s not just into 130 BPM dance pop. Although she has often sung about sex, the fourth solo album is probably the “LoveGame” interpreter’s most intimate. Following the motto “less is more”, the singer produced songs only with guitar accompaniment for the first time and forewent unusual costumes and make-up. In the title song “Joanne” she also deals with the tragic life story of her great cousin, who died early due to illness.
6. “Artpop”
ARTPOP is a musical allusion to Andy Warhol’s pop style. The album is even more sexually provocative than others and thrives on EDM synth sounds and alternative pop beats. For some it was too much, for others the album served as a sexual release.
The album wasn’t as well received as the previous ones, and that could also be due to the zeitgeist – in 2013 the world was perhaps not as open to explicitness and eccentricity as it is in 2025. We already saw that she was ahead of her time with BORN THIS WAY – but there with more musical depth. Despite the inclusion of “Applause,” ARTPOP remains not the strongest of their electro-pop albums.
7. “Cheek to Cheek”
Nobody saw this album coming. Just a year after the extravagant ARTPOP, the then 28-year-old made a 180-degree turn and released a jazz album with Tony Bennett, who was 60 years her senior. After their joint song “The Lady Is A Tramp” from 2011 was well received, the two successful musicians expanded into very different musical areas.
Lady Gaga really showed for the first time that she could do more than write pop hits. CHEEK TO CHEEK is much more experimental and virtuosic than their later jazz album LOVE FOR SALE.
8. “Chromatica”
After a Corona-related postponement of the album launch, the New Yorker released CHROMATICA in 2020 after four years without a solo album and seven years without an electro-pop album. The return to their original favorite genre was well received by their steadfast fanbase – but did not result in one of their strongest albums.
On the concept album, however, Gaga shows again that she knows exactly when to start a collaboration with whom: The Ariana Grande feature “Rain on Me” won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The joint song “Sour Candy” with BLACKPINK was also one of the most streamed tracks on the album in the age of European K-pop hype.
9. “Love For Sale”
The now well-rehearsed jazz formation Gaga-Bennett went into the second round in 2021: LOVE FOR SALE is the name of the duo’s much cheesier album. A little less noticed, the musician, who is already suffering from dementia, and the actual pop diva deliver much smoother jazz than on their first record together: more catchy – less virtuosity.
10. “Top Gun: Maverick Soundtrack”
The TOP GUN: MAVERICK soundtrack initially scores points with big names and well-known motifs. Lady Gaga is involved as a co-author and contributes her own song, “Hold My Hand”, which is produced with clean craftsmanship.
Nevertheless, the title remains surprisingly emotionally reserved and has little lasting impact. The pieces with Harold Faltermeyer and Hans Zimmer are of course for great cinema. But overall, the soundtrack feels a bit thin in places and relies heavily on nostalgia rather than new accents.
11. “Harlequin”
HARLEQUIN serves as an accompanying album to the “Joker” soundtrack and is clearly subordinate to this concept. Musically, the work remains rather straightforward and offers a rather complementary statement due to its lack of stylistic diversity. Lady Gaga’s vocal presence is unmistakable, but is used here with comparative restraint. Her “crazyness” (meant in a positive way) and her talent for artistic absurdities come into their own better in pop guise.
The 39-year-old pop star promotes her HARLEQUIN concert film on Instagram:
12. “Joker: Folie à Deux Soundtrack”
The soundtrack to A STAR IS BORN was artistically much stronger and left a lasting impression, while the “Joker” soundtrack seems comparatively reserved.
Lady Gaga co-wrote “JOKER: FOILE A DEUX” with Joaquin Phoenix, but was only able to develop her creative power to a limited extent here. Musically, the soundtrack lacks the emotional variety and stirring potential that characterized A STAR IS BORN. The film itself was also not convincing and had a disappointing commercial reception.