A trip down memory lane with Lady Gaga, the reigning queen of reinvention

(CNN) — Whether Lady Gaga is showing up to award shows decked out in a raw meat dress or accepting an Oscar, one thing is for sure: She is a master of reinvention.

“I like to liberate myself with my ability to change,” Gaga said in her 2011 “Gaga by Gaultier” film. “The fantasy becomes my reality.”

It’s an ethos that has become a thesis of sorts for what came to follow in her career as Lady Gaga, time and again, has taken on several new personas. With each new album has come a new Lady Gaga, a new look, a new statement, a new avant garde outfit and a new sound.

With her new album “Mayhem” coming out on Thursday, she’s perhaps not reinventing so much as she is returning to form.

Ahead of Mother Monster’s return, here’s a look back at some of her most memorable moments of reinvention.

The meat dress

The 2010 MTV VMAs only had one real winner: The woman whose flank steak frock by Franc Fernandez delivered one of the most memorable fashion moments in recent history. Special shout out to the accompanying meat purse, which Gaga asked Cher to hold while on stage accepting a VMA statuette. That same night, Gaga announced that she’d be releasing her next album “Born This Way” and sang a sneak-peek riff from the title track’s chorus.

Jo Calderone

Gaga had a lot of fun during the rollout of 2011’s “Born This Way.” One memorable moment involved the introduction of Jo Calderone, her Jersey boy greaser alter ego who she portrayed on stage at the 2011 VMAs while singing “Yoü and I,” after debuting in the music video for the song. Lady Gaga stayed in character the entire night as Calderone, including while accepting two VMAs and presenting Britney Spears with the Video Vanguard Award. Sadly, Lady Gaga told Vanity Fair last month that Calderone is actually “no longer with us.” RIP.

The egg

If Lady Gaga knows how to do anything, it’s make an entrance. Also during her “Born This Way” era, she entered the 2011 Grammys in a human-size egg. The Hussein Chalayan-designed vessel was carried by latex-clad performance artists with Lady Gaga seen through its foggy shell sitting inside. She later hatched from an egg during her performance of the album’s title track during the ceremony.

Jazz collab

After Lady Gaga’s highly scrutinized 2013 “ArtPop” album – which, to be fair, did give us the banger known as “Applause” – she made a hard left turn into creating her first collaborative jazz album with the late Tony Bennett. Their 2014 album “Cheek to Cheek” marked the beginning of a years-long collaboration between the two music greats. The pair released a second collaborative album in 2021 titled “Love for Sale.” Gaga took her jazz singer persona to Las Vegas in 2019 when she debuted her “Love and Jazz” residency, which ran until 2024. Bennett died in 2023.

Gone folk

As if there weren’t a million reasons to love Lady Gaga as the chameleonic artist that she is, the intrepid singer gave the folk-country genre a try in 2016 with her fifth studio “Joanne,” notably before the current country-pop renaissance of the 2020s. “Joanne” marked a total and complete tonal shift for a singer who, outside of her jazz music career, was always known for her thunderous pop-club anthems. “Joanne” offered a softer, folksy and paired down track list of songs including “Million Reasons” and “Hey Girl (feat. Florence Welch)” and gave us a reason to sport a pink cowboy hat.

The Oscar-winner

Lady Gaga sits among an elite group of artists who can call themselves Oscar winners, a prize that certainly compliments the 14 Grammy awards already sitting atop her shelf. Lady Gaga has been nominated for four Oscars total but in 2019, she won her first (and so far only) statuette in the best original song category for “Shallow,” which was written for the film “A Star is Born.” She also starred alongside Bradley Cooper in the film and earned a nod for lead actress. At the same ceremony, she and Cooper played up their electric chemistry when they performed “Shallow,” later lighting up the internet.

Bonus: Forever an advocate

As Lady Gaga reinvents herself, at her core she’s also always a champion for people, for diversity and for inclusion. Her Born This Way foundation empowers young people to be “kinder and braver” and provides mental health resources. She’s also advocated for women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights. During a speech honoring the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting during a rally, Gaga said: “I hope you know that myself and so many are your allies. Not only me but everyone here, we represent the compassion and the loyalty of millions of people around the world that believe in you. You are not alone.”

Lady Gaga’s humanity is the look she wears best. She doesn’t see advocacy as a moment or an ever-changing work of art but a way of life, and that’s why she’s always worthy of “Applause.”

The-CNN-Wire
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