
Born This Way is the second studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released by Interscope Records on May 23, 2011. It was co-written and co-produced by Gaga with several producers, including RedOne and Fernando Garibay, who had previously worked with her. She also worked with artists such as E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons and Queen guitarist Brian May.
The music of Born This Way stems from the synth-pop and dance-pop styles of her previous material while incorporating different forms of instrumentation from that on her previous releases, such as electronic rock and techno. It features a broader range of genres, such as opera, heavy metal, disco, house, and rock and roll, while its lyrical topics include sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism, and individualism. Despite divided opinions among religious and conservative commentators, the album was well received by music critics, who praised the varying musical styles and Gaga’s vocals; others felt Gaga was trying too hard to please everyone through the album’s self-empowerment message. Several music publications included the album in their year-end best-of lists. Born This Way received three Grammy Award nominations, including Gaga’s third consecutive nomination for Album of the Year. In 2020, Rolling Stone included ranked it number 484 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Born This Way debuted in the top five spots of every major music chart worldwide, including the Billboard 200. In the United States, the record sold more than one million copies in its first week—the highest first-week album sales in five years; an estimated 440,000 copies were sold on Amazon in two days of its first week at a price of 99 cents. Four of the album’s singles—”Born This Way”, “Judas”, “The Edge of Glory”, and “You and I”—charted in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, where “Born This Way” became the 1,000th song to reach the number one spot since the inauguration of the chart in 1958. At the time of its release, the title track was the fastest-selling single in iTunes history. A promotional single from the album, “Hair”, also managed to chart in sixteen countries, peaking at number 12 in the United States. The album’s fifth official single, “Marry the Night”, charted within the top-thirty in the United States.
Gaga has performed songs from the album on different occasions, including the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards and the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, as well as in other events and on worldwide television, including her third headlining concert tour, Born This Way Ball (2012–2013). In November 2011, Born This Way, and its remix album, Born This Way: The Remix, were packaged as a compilation album titled Born This Way: The Collection. On May 28, 2021, Gaga announced Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary, “a special anniversary release” of the album featuring six renditions by artists of the LGBT community.
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Born This Way was the third global best-selling album of 2011. As of 2021, Born This Way has more than 5.8 billion global streams, 5.2 million physical copies sold and 31 million digital tracks sold.
- “Marry the Night” 4:25
- “Born This Way” 4:20
- “Government Hooker” 4:14
- “Judas” 4:09
- “Americano” 4:07
- “Hair” 5:08
- “Scheiße” 3:46
- “Bloody Mary” 4:05
- “Bad Kids” 3:51
- “Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)” 4:16
- “Heavy Metal Lover” 4:13
- “Electric Chapel” 4:12
- “You and I” 5:07
- “The Edge of Glory” 5:21
- “Black Jesus + Amen Fashion” 3:36
- “Bad Kids” 3:51
- “Fashion of His Love” 3:39
- “Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)” 4:16
- “Heavy Metal Lover” 4:13
- “Electric Chapel” 4:12
- “The Queen” 5:17
- “You and I” 5:07
- “The Edge of Glory” 5:21
- “Born This Way” (The Country Road Version) 4:22
- “Judas” (DJ White Shadow Remix) 4:08
- “Marry the Night” (Zedd Remix) 4:21
- “Scheiße” (DJ White Shadow Mugler) 9:35
- “Fashion of His Love” (Fernando Garibay Remix) 3:45
- “Born This Way” (Jost & Naaf Remix) 5:58
Andy Abad – requinto
Christina Abaroa – copyist, librarian, music preparation
Al Carlson – assistant
Cheche Alara – arranger, composer, instrumentation
Jorge Alavrez – vocals (background)
Stephanie Amaro – guitar
Gretchen Anderson – producer
Paul Blair – guitar
Bobby Campbell – marketing
Troy Carter – management
Clarence Clemons – saxophone
Kareem Devlin – guitar
DJ Snake – bass, drums, keyboards, producer
DJ White Shadow – composer, drum programming, keyboards, producer, programming
Lisa Einhorn-Gilder – production coordination
Nicola Formichetti – creation
Fernando Garibay – arranger, background vocals, composer, engineer, guitar, instrumentation, keyboards, musical director, producer, programming
Val Garland – make-up
Brian Gaynor – bass, keyboards
Kamau Georges – programming
Laurieann Gibson – creation
David Gomez – vocals (background)
Suemy Gonzalez – violin
Gene Grimaldi – mastering
Vincent Herbert – A&R, executive producer
Julio Hernandez – violin
Mario Hernandez – guitarron, vihuela
Peter Hutchings – assistant
Dyana Kass – marketing
Harry Kim – trumpet
Ken Knapstad – assistant
Nick Knight – creation, photography
Phillip Knight – assistant
Lady Gaga – arranger, composer, instrumentation, keyboards, musical director, producer, vocals
Robert John “Mutt” Lange – background vocals, producer
Jeppe Laursen – composer, producer
Brian Lee – background vocals
Bill Malina – engineer
Brandon Maxwell – stylist
Brian May – guitar
Sam McKnight – hair stylist
Eric Morris – assistant
Wendi Morris – management
Carlos Murguía – background vocals
Trevor Muzzy – engineer, guitar, mixing, vocal editing
Jennifer Paola – A&R
Paul Pavao – assistant
Kevin Porter – assistant
Jordan Power – assistant
RedOne – background vocals, composer, engineer, instrumentation, producer, programming, vocal arrangement, vocal editing
Olle Romo – engineer, programming
Dave Russell – engineer, mixing
Rafa Sardina – engineer, mixing
Justin Shirley-Smith – guitar engineer
Amanda Silverman – publicity
Clinton Sparks – keyboards, producer
George Tandero – assistant
Todd Tourso – creation
Anna Trevelyan – stylist
Peter Van Der Veen – background vocals
Horace Ward – engineer
Tom Ware – engineer
Kenta Yonesaka – assistant