LADY Gaga is shooting back up the charts after returning to her bold pop ways – spurred on by her fiancé.
After years of toning down her headline-grabbing antics in a bid to crack Hollywood, Gaga's hubby-to-be Michael Polansky, 41, urged her to go back to her roots.
The singer, 38 — who wears spiked latex and lace in the video for new hit single Abracadabra — revealed: "Michael is the person who told me to make a new pop record.
"He was like, 'Babe. I love you. You need to make pop music'."
Businessman Michael, who has a writing credit on Gaga's 2024 single Disease, says seeing her perform some of her classic hits on the road made him push for her to get back in the studio.
He said: "On the Chromatica tour, I saw a fire in her. I wanted to help her keep that alive all the time and just start making music that made her happy."
Last week, Gaga scored her 17th UK Top 10 single with Abracadabra, despite it only being out for five days.
Figures suggest the track will hit number one by Friday, giving the star her first solo chart-topper since 2009 single Telephone.
It means Gaga's upcoming seventh album Mayhem, released on March 7, has become her first to deliver three UK top 10 hits since 2011's Born This Way.
In Abracadabra's music video, Gaga wears a red latex cape held together with real nails, a matching spiked latex hat and long black latex fetish gloves, complete with devilish fingernails by fashion house Balenciaga.
She is also seen channelling her inner Marie Antoinette — Queen of France in the late 1700s — in a dramatic lace cape upcycled from a white wedding dress.
While other pop stars are hell-bent on being "conventionally sexy", Gaga is once again opting for art over traditional sex appeal.
At the Grammys earlier this month, she looked characteristically eccentric in a long black wig, gothic gown and stilettos as she and Bruno Mars picked up the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance award for their duet Die With A Smile.
Gaga's decision to recreate her outlandish image comes 15 years after she shocked the world by wearing a meat dress to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in LA.
Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, claimed the look was a statement about equality and fighting for what you believe in.
But the release of her fifth album Joanne in 2016 saw a change in the singer's outlandish style, as she adopted ripped denim shorts and cowboy hat in line with the album's country theme.
Then, when she was cast in a 2018 remake of Judy Garland classic A Star Is Born alongside Bradley Cooper, her dress sense became even less offbeat.
Appearing more muted on the red carpet, she stepped out in conventional evening gowns, seemingly in an attempt to earn her place as a serious actor.
But fans have long loved the star's audacious and wild looks — and are delighted by the return of outrageous Gaga.
She looks evolved. She got really fit for the video. She danced her ass off. She trained so hard
Parris Goebel, Choreographer
One wrote on X/Twitter: "She's back! That new Abracadabra song is amazing. Reminds me of old Gaga." Another wrote: "This is how it was back in 2011 — she really came back for us."
New Zealand choreographer Parris Goebel has been brought in to work on Gaga's new record and told how the singer was determined to be back at her best.
She said: It is cool that it reminds her fans of an era that was so iconic and groundbreaking for her. I think she looks the best she's ever looked.
"She looks evolved. She got really fit for the video. She danced her ass off. She trained so hard." And Parris added of the star's upcoming album: "I would say it's bringing pop culture back to life."
Over the years, Gaga has been a shapeshifter — going to extremes with outfits almost as famous as the hits she writes and performs.
And her showbiz talents are as varied as her fashion statements, with her foray into acting not without success.
She won the Best Original Song Oscar in 2019 for Shallow from A Star is Born, and was also nominated for Best Actress in that year. And she received critical acclaim for her role in 2021 hit film House Of Gucci alongside Adam Driver.
Even though last year's sequel to the Joker movie, in which Gaga starred opposite Joaquin Phoenix, fell short of the original's success, her performance still won praise.
However, as she carved out a career in Hollywood, some fans missed her old quirks.
The star addressed accusations she had become "boring", saying she had simply adopted a healthier lifestyle. In an interview with Elle mag last month, she explained: "I used to drink a lot and smoke a lot, and I was always looking for an 'out'.
I used to call it the trap door. I used to be like, 'I need an escape route'. And I stopped doing that.
"Sometimes, I worry people will say I'm boring these days, but honestly, thank God I'm boring. Thank God! Because I was living on the edge."
While Gaga may have cleaned up her act, fortunately for fans she appears happy to indulge her former fashion habits.
In fact, the artist seems determined to step back into her old shoes — quite literally.
During her flirtation with Hollywood high-glamour, she ditched the fetish-like heels she favoured from designers including Alexander McQueen and Thierry Mugler.
But as she took to the stage at the Grammys, a pair of impossibly high black stilettos from Mugler's 2011 winter collection were firmly back on her feet.
This blast from the past certainly seems to be have Gaga marching towards a bright future.
Perhaps a star is reborn.
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