Just like Madonna in the 80s, Lady Gaga has proven herself to be the queen of reinvention. She’s already introduced the world to her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, flexed her acting chops on American Horror Story and recorded an album of duets with Tony Bennett. The 30-year-old singer, who was also recently tapped to perform at the half time show for the 2017 Super Bowl, debuted songs from her new album at a Nashville dive bar, proving she’s truly a little bit country and a little bit rock ’n’ roll.
Mama Monster is on a 3-city “Dive Bar” tour, sponsored by Bud Light. On Wednesday, she performed at East Nashville bar The 5 Spot in front of 100 fans, who lined up for hours to see her. During the short set, Gaga performed songs from her upcoming album Joanne. The album is named after her aunt, who passed away from Lupus at the age of 19. Gaga wowed the crowd with the first (and incessantly catchy) single off of the album, “Perfect Illusion” as well as “Sinner’s Prayer,” “A-Yo,” and her latest single, the country-twinged “Million Reasons,” which she performed with Nashville-based singer-songwriter Hillary Lindsey, who co-wrote the tune and also wrote “Girl Crush” for Little Big Town. Gaga singing country? I recently got into country music and I can say I really like this song. Give it a listen, I promise it is 100% better than Gwen Stefani’s recent country music experiment.
Gaga’s dive bar performance was streamed live on Bud Light’s Facebook page, where you’ll also be able to catch live streams of her upcoming bar shows on October 20 and 27. You can see the whole performance here as well.
The new album also features collaborations with Beck and Florence Welch from Florence + the Machine, who Gaga refers to as, “if not the best, one of the greatest vocalists in the world. She’s incredible.” Joanne drops on October 21 and Gaga intends to share the album on streaming services. Yep, I hear this just as I was about to give up my paid Spotify account. She told Digital Spy, “I just want my music to be available everywhere, for everyone. So that as many people as possible can hear it.”
I do love me some Lady Gaga, and from the first two singles alone, I know this album is going to be added to my collection. I also love the fact that she’s taking her music “to the people” by streaming it and playing it in such intimate venues. How about a nationwide dive bar tour? I’d shell out some bucks for that.
Photo credit: WENN.com, Getty Images
Million Reasons: I like the song but it does not sound country.
agreed! I heard it yesterday and had no idea that it was country! Granted, someone had compared it to a previous song of hers, speechless (from her first or second album), which is my favorite song of hers, so I wasn’t listening with a totally open mind. I still like speechless better, but this was pretty good, too.
ITA
This will fail like Jessica Simpson foraye into country (although she actually went country.) Nashville will not like her turning country music into a gimmick and cos-play. Ask Taylor Swift (as well as Faith Hill and Shania Twain) they take this seriously. Right or wrong they don’t see “their” music as a stepping stone into major pop stardom or a safety net for pop stars whose popularity has faltered and public interest has waned. They are a tight and protective bunch. The only recent exception that proves the rule is Darrius Rucker, however he is talented and Southern (he lives in South Carolina.)
On that note – Any CBers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, stay safe. I hope Matthew won’t be too destructive and disruptive. Sending thoughts, prayers, love and good vibes your way!
Definitely not a country song, but a good song.
Did Gaga even say this was a country song or trying to crossover to country? It’s just stripped down but not country. I could see some country stations giving it airplay but it wouldn’t be a hit.
I don’t know her music but I like the way she is accessible with her music and dive bars. Great idea.
She is just tongue in cheek making fun of a genre. Kind of mean IMO.
Also the song is more of a ballad a la Joan Baez or the Rolling Stones. I wouldn’t say “country”.
Yes all of that but many people have still lost interest in her. ArtPop came and went with very little impact. I think she may have been too much too soon for some but I like her and I hope this next album is good and does well.
It’s pretty much the same with Rihanna imo. Her last album didn’t do well. I am aware that she sold the rights to the album or something to that effect but all quarters conclude her album was not good. Her tour’s also not doing well. Hope Rih doesn’t have the same fate music wise and her next album will be good.
I think Rih will fare better. People haven’t lost interest in her even though the album flopped. Gaga disappeared and no one paid any attention to her really except for AHS fans. She’s more talented than Rihanna though so maybe she will bounce back but her gimmicks sold her initially and now that she has dropped that she may appear less interesting (even though she is a fantastic singer and performer).
True. Gaga overdid it. She’s like the jack of all trades- singing, acting,dancing , directing (her own videos) but she went overboard with the antics to the point where she became more known for it than her talent. Shame but it happens.
I think with Rihanna – people for some reason like her. Is she charming in real life/in interviews?? She’s not an exceptional singer or dancer. She is not an actor. I don’t think she is a songwriter either though I can’t say for certain. Time will tell.
How was Ri’s album a flop? It sold well, no? It had two successful singles too.
I don’t know about sales but Rihanna’s Anti is a fantastic album. Fun fact: One track is Rih’s (excellent) cover of a song by Tame Impala, whose Kevin Parker figures heavily on Gaga’s Joanne!
I liked Anti too. It’s certified double platinum, so I’d hardly call it a flop. Even without the Samsung deal included, it still sold well for this day in age.
I don’t know.. I think Gaga constantly surprises us and it’s just that some projects stick better than others. My 70 year old father is a fan of hers after her Sound of Music medley.. she is constantly striking new notes, and definitely embraces reinvention..Art Pop might have been released when we were all getting a little tired of the avant garde gaga. It’s not over til you release a Christmas album and get a residency in Vegas, but even then, who knows!
I love or hate Gaga depending on moon phases. Right now I like her, but Im very dissapointed by what Ive heard. And I think Perfect Illusion is a dreadful song.
Not liking her on AHS either. In Hotel she was funny for the lol factor. This time they are trying to make her actually scary/interesting and… Nope. Its impossible to take her seriously.
Perfect Illusion is a spinoff of a 70 seconds to Mars song, correct?
I get a lot of secondhand embarrassment from her over the last few years. She just tries to damn hard, and I feel a complete lack of substance from her.
The only time I’ve been impressed with her is when she went on Howard Stern and actually sang. It wasn’t about whatever stupid outfit or “reinvention” she had going, it was about her voice and her talent.
*THAT* is Lady Gaga????!!!!!?
Did she have a head transplant?
DUDE! Right? She looks like a COMPLETELY different person but “Born This Way”, right?
:/
PS How are you, Miss Eve?
=^. .^=
Staying alive, Kit.
Each of those pictures looks like a completely different woman. It’s like she took a photo album of Prince Albert’s beards to a plastic surgeon and said, “Like those” and these are the “in progress” photos. I don’t know why. She looked great before, and a LOT less generic.
Lady Gaga needs a commercial hit as this album is considered to be a comeback already. Her career took a nosedive since BTW, followed by the overhyped flop that is Artpop so she really needed to rally her team together to ensure she gives her fans what they want: just a good pop album.
She should’ve gone the alternative route after giving her fans a mainstream album first (see Miley Cyrus).
I saw parts of her dive bar performance. I’m glad that after all is said and done, she’s still the same OTT artsy fartsy theatre kid. This is what happens to a talented singer’s career when you surround yourself with yes men, I don’t think she’ll ever truly get back to her popstatus from 2008-2010.
She is so annoying and I doubt anyone in the country world will be bothered with her. Nobody in my rural area likely even knows or cares about her and I doubt they’d be interested in anything she’s doing. Her “causes”just won’t fly with country people. So she should stick to what works for her.
If you think country people don’t care about divas, you haven’t lived in the country too long, hon.
She’s exhausting
What’s she done to her face?? That’s all I got.
Dive bar tour sponsored by Bud Light! LMFAO
And then the Super Bowl! Gosh everyone she is so down to earth and relatable!
Sorry I still haven’t forgiven her for that David Bowie debacle.
Already the two songs on this album I’ve heard are WAY better than the entire ArtPop album. Lady Gaga really let me down with that one. It was absolutely terrible. So far, I’m hearing her using her talent instead of her gimmick which is what she should always do because the girl is mighty talented!
I would shell out my hard earned dollars to see her croon at a local dive bar, too. Gaga, come to Portland!!
Wow, I must confess I was like ‘meh another Gaga song’ but it’s a really good song.
Same here! Me likes this one, a lot.
She’s still taking all her cues and ‘reinventions’ from the original: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5157nnGe3xL.jpg
Madge did it first & did it better.
Gaga doesn’t need gimmicks, she has talent. Tries way too hard.
Love her or leave her, Gaga could have totally countryfied the songs she played at the Nashville dive bar. She did release a country-version of Born this Way back in the day. You have to admit, she does have the range to do Standards, Sound of Music, jazz, pop, etc.
Million Reasons isn’t a country song IMO, but I do love it. I was a little worried after hearing Perfect Illusion as it’s not a very strong or catchy first single. I’m glad she gave up some of the theatrics because it did distract from her immense talent.
I don’t see ARTPOP as a flop as it spawned two hit singles and multiple friends who went to her show said it was fantastic. I personally enjoyed that album 100 times more than the successful BTW album. God that was awful.
We used to live in East Nashville and would respectfully say the 5 spot is not a dive bar per se. I loved her from the start, rediscovered that love with the Sound of Music tribute, enjoyed seeing her on stage with Tony Bennett (she killed it), kind of disowned my love with the Bowie retrospective, but would always acknowledge that this woman’s voice can do amazing things and I certainly think she’s more than a second rate Madonna. I will be excited to see the collaboration with Beck and Florence of F and the Machine.
Cannot stand her. I’m still waiting for her to just go away for good!
I am not a Gaga fan but I do like this. Kudos.