Lady Gaga on the Rock Artists Who Inspired Her New Album ‘Mayhem’
Lady Gaga releases her seventh studio album, Mayhem, tomorrow (March 7), and the pop star shared that she was inspired by many rock artists on this LP.
Gaga has done a number of interviews and other media appearances where she talked about her rock inspirations on Mayhem. In one media appearance, she cited the Nine Inch Nails classic “Closer” as a big influence on the album. In a recent chat with Zane Lowe, Gaga noted that one track on the album titled “Perfect Celebrity” was an “electro grunge song” inspired by The Cure’s “Never Enough.”
Earlier this year, Gaga spoke with Elle and detailed the inspirations behind Mayhem, saying, “There was industrial inspiration with a lot of the sounds. There’s a transitional moment on the album that’s rooted in nineties music. A sort of electro grunge defiance. That era in music which was a response to the music that came before it. And then David Bowie theatrical rock, Prince, Radiohead. I was inspired by so much music that has grown roots in my veins.”
Lady Gaga Was Once an Extra in an AC/DC Music Video
Lady Gaga revealed in December 2024 on a special Christmas episode of Carpool Karaoke that she once appeared as an extra in the 2000 music video for AC/DC’s “Stiff Upper Lip.”
In the episode, the pop star was being driven around Los Angeles by Lowe when she shared a video with him showing her grandmother singing “Highway to Hell.” Lowe then tells Gaga he “got her something for Christmas.” He gets out of the driver’s seat, and then Brian Johnson appears saying, “Hello, my darling!”
Gaga laughs with joy and exclaims, “Oh, my God! You brought me Brian Johnson?!” Gaga, Johnson, and Lowe then enjoy a fun sing-a-long to “Highway to Hell.”
Afterward, Gaga shared with Johnson her extra appearance in “Stiff Upper Lip” when she was 17 years old. Johnson was stunned by the revelation. Gaga noted, “I was an extra in the back. I was headbanging and they were like, ‘Hmmm. Don’t head bang, we want it to be modern.’ And I was like, ‘No, there’s only one move that I can do.'”
Gaga can be spotted at around the 2:55 mark in the video.
