A Rollout Report Card for Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’

It’s been a long lead-up to Lady Gaga‘s new album Mayhem. Aside from the collaborative Love for Sale LP with Tony Bennett and the Joker: Folie a Deux-accompanying Harlequin set — both of which mostly consisted of covers of pop standards — Mayhem is Gaga’s first official album in nearly half a decade, since the summer 2020 release of Chromatica. And her rollout for the new project has been a busy one, to say the least, as Gaga’s campaign trail has taken her to countless interviews, live performances, singles, videos and other promotional appearances to get the word out about her latest album era.

So rather than spending the first Greatest Pop Stars episode since Mayhem was finally released on Friday (March 7) simply discussing the new album, we’re talking about the entire thing, with a new series we’re calling the Pop Star Rollout Report Card. Host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staffers (and Grown Monsters) Stephen Daw and Eric Frankenberg as we evaluate everything that has gone into this Gaga era so far — the old songs and the new songs of course, but also all those interviews and performances, and what it all adds up to for each of us at the end of this extended rollout.

While doing so, we debate many of the most pressing questions that have faced Lady Gaga throughout the Mayhem experience. Were “Disease” and “Abrcadabra” and their respective videos truly Classic Gaga, or just reminiscent of it? Did she make the right call holding off on playing the new songs live for so long? Is the new project truly as chaotic as Gaga has projected in her media appearances? What is “Die With a Smile” still doing here anyway? Does Gaga still have anything left to prove after 15 years of superstardom — and if so, does Mayhem properly present her case?

Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most important moments from this extensive album campaign, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!

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