
Mayhem (stylized in all caps) is the sixth solo studio album by American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga and her eighth overall.[a] It was released on March 7, 2025, through Streamline and Interscope Records. Recording took place at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu. Gaga collaborated with producers such as Andrew Watt, Cirkut, and Gesaffelstein, resulting in an album that has a "chaotic blur of genres", mainly synth-pop, with industrial dance influences, and elements of electro, disco, funk, industrial pop, rock and pop rock. Thematically, it explores love, chaos, fame, identity, and desire, using metaphors of transformation, duality, and excess. Visually, the era was characterized by a dark, avant-garde aesthetic with gothic and cyberpunk influences. The album was preceded by two singles: the lead single "Disease", released on October 25, 2024, and the Grammy-winning track "Abracadabra", released on February 3, 2025, with the latter reaching number five on the Billboard Global 200. Mayhem also features the Grammy-winning global number-one duet with Bruno Mars, "Die with a Smile", as well as "The Dead Dance" on its digital reissue. To promote the record, Gaga made several televised appearances, and created The Art of Personal Chaos, a theatrical concert production. An initial iteration of the show served as the basis for major 2025 performances, including Coachella and a free Copacabana Beach show that drew a record-breaking crowd.[b] An expanded version was incorporated into her eighth concert tour, The Mayhem Ball (2025–2026). Both incarnations of the show received significant praise. Gaga also staged a one-off concert, Mayhem: Requiem, in Los Angeles in January 2026. Mayhem received critical acclaim, with reviewers deeming it a strong return to Gaga's pop roots, particularly reminiscent of The Fame (2008). It was applauded for its production, stylistic diversity, artistic boldness, and cohesive blend of genres and concepts. It became Gaga's highest-rated release on Metacritic. Mayhem received multiple nominations at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and won Best Pop Vocal Album. The record topped the charts in 23 countries and reached number two in France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In the United States, it became Gaga's seventh album to top the Billboard 200, achieving the largest first-week sales of 2025 for a female album, a record it held for six months, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It also received gold and platinum certifications in several other territories. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Mayhem was the ninth global best-selling album of 2025.
Lady Gaga