Everything Lady Gaga has touched bears her conspicuous fingerprints, but the simple fact remains: there's no predicting in which direction she'll swerve next.

She hit the world stage by slugging out some of the most undeniable pop smashes of the late 2000s, like "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance." Then, she made a bold stride for LGBTQ+ representation with 2011's Born This Way. 

From there, the 13-time GRAMMY winner proved she could be it all, and do it all — from gonzo EDM (2013's Artpop) to confessional soft rock (2016's Joanne) to futuristic dispatches (2020's Chromatica).

In between, she's helped Tony Bennett conclude his career on a magnificent note with 2014's Cheek to Cheek and 2021's Love for Sale, shattered hearts as the co-lead of 2018's A Star is Born, and overall kept her scores of Little Monsters satiated with each creative move.

But if you've made it to this article, chances are you're looking for a few basic facts about the multi-hyphenate born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. So here are seven questions about Lady Gaga, answered — whether you're a brand-new fan or just want to brush up.

Who Is Lady Gaga, And Where Did She Come From?

Germanotta was born on March 28, 1986 into an Italian American family in New York City. She showed musical promise early on — she played piano from age 4 and went on to perform at open-mic nights.

Her mother, Cynthia Louise, is a philanthropist and businesswoman; her father, Joseph Germanotta, is an internet entrepreneur. She has a younger sister, Natali Germanotta.

After attending the all-girls school the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan, she studied music at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. And before her musical career took off, she danced in go-go bars in New York City.

Why Did Lady Gaga Change Her Name?

Her stage name is a nod to Queen and their classic song "Radio Ga Ga." Throw on the faux-royal title, and you've got a moniker that the world won't soon forget.

What Is Lady Gaga's Biggest Hit?

That depends on what metric you want to go by. Through a GRAMMYs lens, "Bad Romance," "Poker Face," "Shallow" (from A Star is Born) and "I Get a Kick Out of You" (with Tony Bennett) are up there, in terms of wins and nominations.

Spotify tells a slightly different story, at least at press time: While "Shallow" reigns supreme at 1.85 billion streams, her Ariana Grande collab "Rain On Me" and another Star is Born track, "Always Remember Us This Way" have broken 800 million streams ("Rain On Me" has nearly 833 mil, and "Always Remember" has more than 804 mil).

And according to the Billboard Hot 100, Lady Gaga's biggest hit is "Born This Way," which remained at No. 1 for six weeks. She had four other songs hit No. 1 on that chart, too: "Rain On Me," "Just Dance" (with Colby O'Donis), "Shallow" and "Poker Face."

How Many GRAMMYs Has Lady Gaga Won?

At press time, Lady Gaga has won 13 GRAMMYs and has received 34 GRAMMY nominations overall.

Did Lady Gaga Really Wear A Meat Dress?

She sure did — at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. But she didn't mean it as a knock against animal rights.

"It's certainly no disrespect to anyone that's vegan or vegetarian. As you know, I'm the most judgment-free human being on the Earth," Gaga explained to Ellen Degeneres post-VMAs, in one of many examples of her sociopolitically outspoken nature.

"It has many interpretations," she continued. "But for me this evening, it's [saying], 'If we don't stand up for what we believe in, if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones." (In this case, she was referring to "don't ask, don't tell" policies in the military.)

But flank steak aside, Gaga has touched the fashion and lifestyle worlds in many other ways — from her endlessly inventive outfits over the years to her cruelty-free cosmetics brand.

What Is Lady Gaga's Connection To Bradley Cooper?

Lady Gaga starred alongside Bradley Cooper in the 2018 film A Star is Born. In the film, Cooper plays Jackson "Jack" Maine, an alcoholic, drug-addicted musician whose career is dwindling. He later discovers and nurtures Ally (Lady Gaga), a struggling artist. The two fall in love quickly and deeply.

A Star is Born heavily features the chart-topping song "Shallow," the lead single off the film's soundtrack, performed by Lady Gaga and Cooper. Lady Gaga won the GRAMMY for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, shared with Cooper, and Best Song Written For Visual Media, both for "Shallow," at the 2019 GRAMMYs. The song also won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2019. At the 2020 GRAMMYs, Lady Gaga won the GRAMMY for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media for A Star Is Born as well as Best Song Written For Visual Media for "I'll Never Love Again (Film Version)," a single off the film's soundtrack.

Read More: A Star Is Born: Do You Know These GRAMMY Facts?

And while Gaga's and Cooper's steamy performance of "Shallow" at the 2019 Oscars ginned up gossip about an offstage relationship, there's no evidence that's been the case. But on screen, they suffused the fourth remake of the film with crucial chemistry and verve.

Bonus fact: While some film historians believe actors Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay's relationship was the real-life inspiration for the original 1937 version of the film, A Star Is Born is not based on a true story.

Director William A. Wellman and screenwriter Robert Carson devised the original storyline together, based on a simple, shopworn conceit: a young woman has showbiz dreams and meets a famous man in decline — who charts her path to stardom while falling for her.

Next up: Lady Gaga will star alongside Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the 2019 blockbuster, Joker. Early reports on the film, which is reported to be a musical, indicate Gaga will star as Harley Quinn, Joker's devilish sidekick and love interest. Lady Gaga confirmed her involvement in Joker: Folie à Deux — as well as the film's release date, Oct. 4, 2024 — in a teaser video she posted on social media today.

When Will Lady Gaga Be On Tour Next?

Right now! Her Chromatica Ball Tour — which just wrapped its first leg in Europe — is set to swing North America before heading overseas to Japan. You can find her tour dates here.

For The Record: The Liberating Joy Of Lady Gaga's Born This Way At 10

Lyrics have a unique way of validating and soundtracking our real-world experiences. Perhaps this year, a celebratory drink called for Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" on repeat. Or maybe you professed your love with a playlist containing Billie Eilish's "BIRDS OF A FEATHER," and Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars' "Die with a Smile."

It's those small but significant moments that showcase the power of songwriting — and what makes GRAMMY's Song Of The Year award so necessary. In the 2025 SOTY nominee list, you'll find the above hits, plus Taylor Swift's "Fortnight" (feat. Post Malone), Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe," Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," Sabrina Carpenter's "Please Please Please" and Beyoncé's "TEXAS HOLD ‘EM."

Ahead of the 2025 GRAMMYs, take a deeper look into all the tracks that made the nominee list for Song Of The Year. Be sure to check out the full 2025 GRAMMYs nominations list ahead of Music's Biggest Night on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.

Shaboozey — "A Bar Song (Tipsy)"

Songwriters: Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Nevin Sastry, Chibueze Collins Obinna & Mark Williams

Before this year, Shaboozey was just another rising artist ready to make a name for himself. With the April release of "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," he blossomed into the most prolific country musician of 2024, coinciding with his 10th anniversary in the music industry.

By July, the J-Kwon interpolation simultaneously hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and the Hot Country Songs charts, making him the first Black man to conquer a feat. On Oct. 29, it broke the record for the longest-running No. 1 hit, previously set by "Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)" by Lil Nas X.

Billie Eilish — "BIRDS OF A FEATHER"

Songwriters: Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell

Most know Billie Eilish for her "sad girl" anthems, scaling topics of body dysmorphia, cruel exes and the relentless dissection of her life under the public eye. But on "BIRDS OF A FEATHER," a single from 2024's HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, the 22-year-old songbird unveils a softer, sweeter side of herself over a twinkling synth. The track details an unwavering connection.

"I don't know what I'm cryin' for/ I don't think I could love you more," she muses in the song's pre-chorus. "Might not be long, but baby, I/ Don't wanna say goodbye."

As Finneas O'Connell, Eilish's brother and longtime collaborator, explained on their American Express "Story of My Song" segment, "There's a lot of songs about dying for somebody and loving them until they die, and I thought it was really fun to lean in."

Songwriters: Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt

Put two musical legends together, and you get a masterpiece. For Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, that piece of artwork is "Die with a Smile," a grandiose ballad about not taking your relationships for granted. It's reminiscent of the sultry duets of the 1960s, such as Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" or Frank & Nancy Sinatra's "Somethin' Stupid."

The unexpected collaboration unfolded while Gaga finished her upcoming album in Malibu. "After a long day, he asked me to come to his studio to hear something he was working on [...] We stayed up all night and finished writing and recording the song," Gaga said in a press release.

As Gaga mentions in her announcement post, the song is a treat for Little Monsters "while you wait for LG7." But if the rest of the project is anything like "Die with a Smile," it's already looking like a hit.

Taylor Swift — "Fortnight" Feat. Post Malone

Songwriters: Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has become increasingly transparent in her artistry through whimsical lyrical metaphors and cinematic music videos. "Fortnight," the opening track of The Tortured Poets Department, is no exception as Swift likens a crumbling relationship to the failure of the American dream. In its sepia-toned visual, she's an asylum escapee taking the "Forget Him" pill, washing away their million-paged saga.

"'Fortnight' is a song that exhibits a lot of the common themes that run throughout this album. One of which being fatalism — longing, pining away, lost dreams," Swift told Amazon Music. "And 'I love you, it's ruining my life,' these are very hyperbolic, dramatic things to say. But it's that kind of album."

Swift first announced Tortured Poets during her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album (Midnights) at the 2024 GRAMMYs. At the 67th GRAMMY Awards, Swift will again vie for a chance to win Song Of The Year — her eighth nomination in the Category.

Songwriters: Daniel Nigro, Kayleigh Rose Amstutz & Justin Tranter

Chappell Roan might have written "Good Luck, Babe!" in three minutes, but this breakthrough single has left the impact of a lifetime as the singer's debut on the Billboard Hot 100.

The cathartic indie rock track wishes a hopeless flame well after denying their queer identity: "When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night/ With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than this wife/ And when you think about me, all of those years ago/ You're standing face to face with, 'I told you so.'"

"I think throughout the year, I'm like, "What can I get away with?" Because right now it's pretty tame for what it is like to be a gay artist," Roan told GRAMMY.com in March. "But I just want to push it to see how far can I go — with the most controversial outfits or things to rile people up. I'm not really afraid to do that."

Songwriters: Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar and Drake have been throwing shots at each other for the past decade, but it wasn't until Drake's claims of being the best of the "Big Three" rappers (including him, Lamar and J. Cole) in 2023 that the battle climaxed. 

The next six months saw back-and-forth diss tracks, such as Lamar's "Euphoria" and "Meet the Grahams." In a sweeping moment in May, Lamar reigned superior with "Not Like Us," poking fun at Drake's OVO brand alongside accusations of pedophilia and disingenuous relationship with other artists.

Upon its release, "Not Like Us" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and might be Lamar's first gramophone in the Song Of The Year category. 

Sabrina Carpenter — "Please Please Please"

Songwriters: Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter

If "Espresso" hadn't already catapulted Sabrina Carpenter as one of the biggest stars of 2024, "Please Please Please" solidifies her status as one of the music industry's key players.

In typical Sabrina fashion, this '70s-inspired tune features witty and playful lyricism, with the Short n' Sweet singer begging her new lover to stay faithful and true: "And please, please, please/ Don't bring me to tears when I just did my makeup so nice/ Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another/ I beg you, don't embarrass me, motherf—."

The single, co-written with Jack Antonoff, also marks Sabrina's first No. 1 track on the Billboard Hot 100, sitting comfortably above "Espresso's" No. 2 placement.

Beyoncé — "TEXAS HOLD ‘EM"

Songwriters: Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq

After more than two decades as a solo artist, Beyoncé's latest era has been defined by risk-taking experimentation. The first installment of her trilogy project, RENAISSANCE, revived house. Her latest addition, COWBOY CARTER, invites listeners to throw on their Western boots in her first full-length venture into country music, led by "TEXAS HOLD 'EM."

Aside from its addictive twangy instrumentation and chant-worthy lyrics ("This ain't Texas, ain't no hold 'em"), the COWBOY CARTER lead confirms Beyoncé's artistic range while simultaneously encouraging much-needed conversations about the diversity of the country genre. An ambitious venture, indeed, but one that paid off, making Queen Bey the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and earning her a spot on this year's Song Of The Year nominee list.

It's the final New Music Friday before Halloween, and this Friday (Oct. 25), there are tricks and treats for every kind of music fan.

As she's been promising for months, Lady Gaga kicked off the roll-out for LG7 with the as-yet-untitled album's sinister lead single. And while the pop star can no longer claim it's "STILL NOT OCTOBER," the pounding track doesn't give Little Monsters any more insight into those cryptic posts on their queen's social media feed.

Elsewhere, Green Day celebrates a major anniversary for one of the band's most beloved albums, Jin makes his return with an upbeat single, G Herbo drops the deluxe version of his latest full-length, and Addison Rae ascends to higher pop girl status by paying reverence to Madonna. 

Below, press play on nine new releases to round out your spooky season playlists.

Lady Gaga launches her hotly anticipated LG7 era with "Disease," a glitchy, industrial lead single that's sure to serve as a cure-all for many a Little Monster's pop music maladies.

Casting aside the Great American Songbook she sang circles through on the recently released Harlequin, Gaga opts to return to a darker, more techno-infused aesthetic on the track, which sounds like a spiritual descendent of Born This Way-era deep cuts like "Government Hooker" and "ScheiBe" with shades of "Alejandro" thrown in for good measure.

"Poison on the inside/ I could be your antidote tonight," the superstar promises on the throbbing pre-chorus before snarling, "I could play the doctor, I can cure your disease/ If you were a sinner, I could make you believe/ Lay you down like 1, 2, 3/ Eyes roll back in ecstasy/ I can smell your sickness, I can cure ya/ Cure your disease." Consider us infected, Mother Monster.

It's been an exciting month for the BTS ARMY! Just eight days after j-hope completed his military service, Jin — who was the first BTS member to be discharged earlier this year — unveiled a brand new single, "I'll Be There."

The rockabilly-inspired, high-energy song is a preview track from Jin's forthcoming debut solo album, Happy, which arrives Nov. 15. As Jin's first solo music since 2022's "The Astronaut," the guitar-charged "I'll Be There" hints that his album may feature more rock influence than his previous solo releases.

As Jin switches from Korean to English across the song, he makes fans a sweet promise in the chorus: "I will be there forever (Forever)/ I don't change/ I'll be there for you/ There for you, oh-oh-oh/ I'll tell you with this song/ I swear that I will always sing for you."

Two decades after brashly declaring, "Don't wanna be an American idiot!," Green Day are celebrating their politically-charged pièce de résistance with a 20th anniversary re-release.

The band's punk rock opera spawned four hit singles, a Broadway musical, its own rock documentary (2015's Heart Like a Hand Grenade) and a tidal wave of pearl-clutching from the pre-MAGA conservatives of the early 2000s — not to mention GRAMMY wins for Best Rock Album and Record Of The Year. The album's latest, well-deserved victory lap includes a treasure trove of bonus material for fans, including 15 unreleased demos, nine previously unreleased live recordings, and an entire 2004 concert recorded at New York City's Irving Plaza.

The four-disc 20th anniversary edition of American Idiot also arrives in a wide array of physical formats for collectors, from a Super Deluxe Box Set that include a brand-new 110-minute documentary titled 20 Years of American Idiot and new liner notes penned by producer Rob Cavallo and journalist David Fricke to vinyl and CD Box Sets each with their own unique merch.

Read More: 10 Reasons Why 'American Idiot' Is Green Day's Masterpiece

Just seven weeks after dropping the standard edition, G Herbo re-ups on his sixth studio album with Big Swerv 2.0.

The rapper's follow-up to 2022's broad double LP Survivor's Remorse gets front-loaded with seven new bonus tracks including "YN," "Dark Knight," "Clap" and "Nothin." Meanwhile, collaborations with Chris Brown (the melodic, sexual "Play Your Part"), Meek Mill (the heartfelt "Ball") and Lil Durk (emotional highlight "In The Air") add to the star-studded list of guest features on the LP, which already included the likes of 21 Savage, Sexyy Red, Chief Keef, and others.

Katie Gavin — 'What a Relief'

After three albums of shimmering, intimate indie pop with MUNA, frontwoman Katie Gavin strikes boldly out on her own with the release of her debut solo album What a Relief.

Pre-release singles "Aftertaste," "Casual Drug Use" and "Inconsolable" each made clear that the queer icon in the making would be spreading her wings on the LP, but she continually mines both new sonic terrain (the fiddle-riddled "The Baton," the sour '90s-alt of "Sanitized") and undiscovered layers of lyrical vulnerability (heartrending love song "Sweet Abby Girl") throughout its 12 tracks.

Gavin recruits Mitski, meanwhile, for the album's emotional cornerstone, which makes a lifetime of quiet domesticity and resolute partnership sound "As Good As It Gets."

No story is taken solo on Bastille's new full-length, "&" (Ampersand). Yes, every song on the English pop band's fifth studio effort contains the connective punctuation mark of its title, from opening salvo "Intros & Narrators" to inventively titled album cuts like "Drawbridge & The Baroness" and "Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze."

Frontman Dan Smith gives insight into the album's storybook-like approach in the swirling opener, singing, "Maybe, to me, other stories are more interesting/ Maybe, to me, they're a mirror back on everything." By the end of "Intros & Narrators," however, he warns, "Never lay your trust in the narrator," so it's up for each listener to come to conclusions about the meaning of the 13 musical fables he and the band then lay out about Eve, Marie Curie, Oscar Wilde, the Greek myth of Narcissus, legendary 19th century Chinese pirate Zheng Yi Sao and more.

Fresh off her viral appearance at the Madison Square Garden stop of the Sweat Tour alongside Troye Sivan, Charli XCX and Lorde, Addison Rae continues to step into her power as a rising pop star with new single "Aquamarine." 

"The world is my oyster/ Baby, come touch the pearl," she nonchalantly declares at the outset over the track's gauzy, glittering production. (And is it just us, or is that a clever reference to Madonna's "Ray of Light" in the second verse?) 

The song's chic music video, meanwhile, begins as a party girl's tour de Paris — complete with an avant-garde masquerade, Louboutins walking dimly lit streets and spritzes of Chanel No. 5 — before morphing into a transfixing, lyrical dance break with the kind of vogueing that would make Her Madgesty proud.

BØRNS might just be falling to pieces. Or at least that's what the indie rocker thinks on his single "Letting Myself Go."

The simplistic visual for the track opens with a home video of the artist born Garrett Borns as a toddler, adorably demanding, "Stop singing, I want everybody to hear what I'm singing!" From there, the grown-up BØRNS' inner monologue takes center stage as he wonders aloud, "Do I have to burn the pages/ Written in my heart?/ I'm done running through the mazes/ Tell me how to break the cages/ Now I know/ And I can't wait another second/ I think it's time I let myself go."

Sade — "Young Lion"

Red Hot Organization teases its forthcoming concept album TRANƧA with a five-track EP, TRANSA: Selects. The project features Sade's first release in six years, which marks perhaps one of the most personal songs of her career: "Young Lion," a stirring and hopeful ballad dedicated to the four-time GRAMMY winner's son Izaak, who came out publicly as trans in 2016.

"Young man/ It's been so heavy for you/ You must've felt so alone/ The anguish and pain, I should've known," Sade sings over downcast orchestration, pleading with her son for forgiveness for not intuiting his struggle before telling him, "You shine like a sun." (For his part, Izaak effusively thanked his famous mom for supporting his transition back in 2019.)

TRANSA: Selects also includes previously releases collaborations between Sam Smith and Beverly Glenn-Copeland ("Ever New") and Lauren Auder and Wendy & Lisa ("I Would Die 4 U") as well as a 26-minute experimental opus in allyship by André 3000 titled "Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand But I'm Happy To Stand For The Understanding."

The full TRANƧA compilation will arrive Nov. 22, and, according to a press release, "highlights the gifts of many of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working in culture today, and celebrates the beauty of trans life."

Hope you're ready for a little musical time travel, because this week's New Music Friday is filled with music old, new and everything in between.

Luke Bryan finally unveils his latest album "Mind of a Country Boy" after teasing it with two years' worth of singles, and Moneybagg Yo adds seven new tracks to SPEAK NOW OR…, the deluxe edition of his fifth album Speak Now. Plus, Michael Bublé compiles the greatest hits collection Best of Bublé as he takes his seat in one of the spinning chairs on "The Voice"; Gavin DeGraw celebrates the 20th anniversary of his debut album with a re-recorded version, Chariot 20; and Christina Aguilera honors the 25th anniversary of her self-titled debut with live versions of classic singles.

Elsewhere, Rosalía is still riding high from the Sept. 24 release of her new single "Omega," Miranda Lambert teams up with Jake Worthington on new single "Hello S—ty Day," and Kygo recruits Imagine Dragons for "Stars Will Align." There's even two intriguing covers to enjoy: Sierra Hull's roots-laced rendition of the Grateful Dead's "Black Muddy River," and Nile Rodgers and Cedric Gervais's revved-up dance remix of the Sister Sledge classic "We Are Family." 

Below, press play on nine more new releases, including a surprise side project from Lady Gaga to celebrate her starring turn in Joker: Folie á Deux, a powerhouse duet from country powerhouses Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood, a solo career kick-off from Måneskin frontman Damiano David and more.

One week before the curtain rises on Lady Gaga's latest acting role in Joker: Folie à Deux, Little Monsters got something else they've long been waiting for: a brand new album from their queen.

Gaga's Harlequin serves as a companion album to the upcoming Joker, filled with thrillingly genre-defying reinterpretations of the Great American Songbook that give insight into the lush soundtrack playing inside the mind of Lee Quinzel — the pop star's take on Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix's clown-faced Arthur Fleck.

Songs like the free-wheeling "Get Happy" and "That's Life" (made famous by Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, respectively) land stylistically in the realm of Gaga's GRAMMY-winning jazz albums with late friend Tony Bennett, and the album also contains a pair of original tracks — the waltzing "Folie á Deux" and vulnerable centerpiece "Happy Mistake." All of it should keep Little Monsters everywhere temporarily sated as they anxiously await LG7.

Stevie Nicks pens a powerful rallying cry for women's rights in the form of new single "The Lighthouse." Spurred to action following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the legendary singer/songwriter said in a statement that she's been working on the anthem "ever since."

Nicks continued: "I have often said to myself, 'This may be the most important thing I ever do. To stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters — and the men that love them."

The iconic Fleetwood Mac frontwoman refuses to pull any punches on the timely protest anthem, warning, "Don't close your eyes and hope for the best/ The dark is out there, the light is going fast/ Until the final hours/ Your life's forever changed/ And all the rights that you had yesterday/ Are taken away/ And now you're afraid/ You should be afraid."

Cody Johnson teams up with Carrie Underwood for "I'm Gonna Love You," the first bonus track off the deluxe edition of his 2023 album Leather and the "American Idol" champ's first release since news broke she'd be replacing Katy Perry on the judging panel of the reality show's ABC reboot.

On the stunning ballad, the two country stars weave together an all-encompassing love story that lasts a lifetime. "So good that it almost hurts/ Steady and true as a Bible verse/ My heart skips just thinking of you/ Go on and bet it all, baby we can't lose," they sing in harmony as herds of wild horses thunder across the screen in the Dustin Haney-helmed music video.

SOPHIE's posthumous, self-titled album is equal parts love letter to the late producer (whose life was cut devastatingly short after falling from a rooftop in Athens, Greece in January 2021) and an enduring testament to her influence as an avant garde pioneer of hyperpop, electronica and underground dance music.

Completed by her family, SOPHIE's 16-song project is filled with the producer's trusted collaborators and friends, including Kim Petras (lead single "Reason Why"), LIZ (one-two punch "Live in My Truth" and "Why Lies"), Hannah Diamond ("Always and Forever") and more.

"Sophie didn't often speak publicly about her private life, preferring to put everything she wanted to articulate into her music," SOPHIE's family shared on social media ahead of the album's unveiling. "It feels only right to share with the world the music she hoped to release, in the belief that we can all connect with her in this, the form she loved most. Sophie gave all of herself to her music. It's here that she can always be found."

After nearly 10 meteoric years fronting Måneskin, Damiano David launches his solo career with the unveiling of his debut single "Silverlines."

Produced by Labrinth, the intimate track is a surprising departure from the Italian rock god's signature, high-energy stylings. Instead, David shows off a more vulnerable and emotional side of himself as he sings, "I feel sorrow no more/ The calm after the storm/ And peace belongs to me/ Until my tears run dry/ And clouds fall from the sky / And all my fears, they disappear/ And I see silverlines."

Rahim Redcar — 'HOPECORE'

Just 15 months after releasing the transcendent concept album PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE, the artist formerly known as Christine and the Queens officially retires his stage name and reintroduces himself to the world as Rahim C Redcar with the new LP HOPECORE.

Though just seven tracks compared to its predecessor's sprawling triptych of angelic visitations in 20 songs, HOPECORE is equally prodigious in its ambition. Redcar shifts his gaze from the heavens to the club, describing pulsating highlights like "ELEVATE" and "DEEP HOLES" as "a call of the flesh, a prayer for justice and freedom" and "a healing, metatronic purple grid."

To support the latest chapter in his artistic vision, the French auteur will embark on a club tour of Europe and the U.S. this November, with stops in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, New York, and more.

Continuing the momentum from his 2022 single "SLUT ME OUT" featuring Sexyy Redd, NLE Choppa doubles — and triples — down on the raunch factor with his new project SLUT SZN.

The eight-track collection contains both "SLUT ME OUT 2" and "SLUT ME OUT 3" featuring Whethan and Carey Washington as well as "SLUT ME OUT 2 — COUNTRY ME OUT" with J.P. Other tracks include opener "Gang Baby," recently released single "Or What" and Yausel LM collaboration "Catalina."

Mickey Guyton delivers the heat with her sophomore album, House on Fire. On pre-release single "Make It Me," the four-time GRAMMY nominee splashes her country sound with a dose of flirtatious dance-pop while album cut "My Kind of The Country" finds her happily eschewing Nashville elitism in favor of inclusivity ("Go on make yourself at home/ On my side of the country") as she leads a do-see-do-ing line dance and proudly declares, "Yeah, we got country coast to coast!"

Elsewhere, the LP includes "Nothing Compares To You," a resplendent duet with Kane Brown and "Scary Love," a tribute to her three-year-old son Grayson in the wake of a recent near-death experience.

A decade after their last release, The Fray returns with a new EP, appropriately titled The Fray Is Back.

Now a trio following the departure of frontman Isaac Slade in 2022, the four-time GRAMMY nominees behind 2000s hits like "How to Save a Life" and "Over My Head (Cable Car)" deliver more reliable pop-rock anthems like the wistful "Time Well Wasted" and the crescendoing "Don't Look Down." To mark the new era of the band, The Fray have also embarked on a headlining tour across the U.S., with sold-out stops in Washington, D.C.; New York City; Chicago and more.

Summer may be slowly edging toward fall, but the red-hot streak of this summer's musical output shows no signs of slowing down.

This New Music Friday (Aug. 16), Post Malone goes country with his sixth studio album F-1 Trillion, Meghan Trainor adds four songs (and rearranges the track list) to the deluxe edition of her latest LP Timeless, and global girl group KATSEYE unveil their debut mini-album SIS (SOFT IS STRONG). Plus, Muscadine Bloodline share their fourth full-length The Coastal Plain and Nikka Costa drops Dirty Disco, her first album in eight years.

When it comes to singles, there's just as many new songs to explore — from superstar collabs like ROSALÍA and LISA's empowered "NEW WOMAN" to the latest releases from Hozier and Peggy Gou. 

Below, dive into eight more new releases from pop and K-pop to rap, rock, country, dance, and more.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars gave the world just 12 hours notice that they were dropping "Die With a Smile" this week, sending Little Monsters and Hooligans alike into a tizzy as they braced themselves for the surprise duet.

Mars' sensual vocals lead off the moony, apocalyptic love song, which marks Mars' first release since his GRAMMY-winning work with Anderson .Paak as Silk Sonic. Strumming an electric guitar, the 15-time GRAMMY winner vows, "I, I just woke from a dream/ Where you and I had to say goodbye/ And I don't know what it all means/ But since I survived, I realized/ Wherever you go, that's where I'll follow." 

As for Mother Monster's oeuvre, "Die With a Smile" lands somewhere between Joanne and "Shallow" as her fans wait impatiently for LG7. Not to be outdone, Gaga takes over on the second verse, supported by Mars' swooning harmonies as the duo crescendo the intensity of their devotion to meet the literal end of the world.

On New Music Friday eve, BLACKPINK member LISA added to her blossoming collection of solo bangers with "NEW WOMAN," an empowering shapeshifter of a duet that sees her joining forces with ROSALÍA.

"Hit it when I serve/ B—, you better swerve/ Revving up my aura/ Focus on my mind/ Taking my time/ I'm a new woman, woman," the K-pop star proudly announces on the chorus of the song before Rosalía slams on the brakes to sing and rap her way through a sultry verse in her native Spanish that translates, in part, to "I was born pure, yes/ Not an era will be a flop in my future/ W—, I'm Rosalía, I only know how to serve."

The accompanying Dave Meyers-directed video is filled with high-fashion looks (thigh-high boots on fire, that massive, floor-sweeping pearl necklace…or is it made of ball bearings?), Y2K nostalgia (flip phones!) and a bevy of quirky, genuinely off-beat moments that will be sure to help drive the conversation as LISA continues to establish herself — and her nascent LLOUD partnership under RCA Records — as a global force in control of her musical destiny.

Fresh off "Death Wish Love" — his folksy contribution to the Twisters soundtrack — Benson Boone uses his newest single "Pretty Slowly" to celebrate his sudden rise as one of pop music's shiniest new stars.

The deceptively upbeat track's lyrics reflect on the dissolution of a relationship lost to all the recent, stratospheric changes in his life as he croons, "Oh, how come all the best things fall apart/ And it started pretty slowly/ When you asked about the old me/ Oh, is he gone? Oh, is he gone/ Oh, I don't know/ I think I left him somewhere I no longer go."

However, the song's accompanying music video acts as a both a victory lap in the wake of his debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblade, from earlier this summer and and energetic peek into the "Beautiful Things" breakout's high-octane live show — complete with thousands of ecstatic fans and his signature, onstage backflips.

YG — 'Just Re'd Up 3'

More than a decade after his 2013 mixtape Just Re'd Up 2, YG adds to the series with the long-awaited Just Re'd Up 3.

The Compton native has released six other albums and a litany of other mixtapes and collaborative projects in the interim, and his decade-plus in the spotlight allows him to recruit a wide array of contemporaries for the two-disc LP — from Saweetie ("SHE PRETTY") and Ty Dolla $ign ("IT'S GIVIN," "RESCUE ME") to Tee Grizzley and G Herbo ("MALIBU") and Lil Yachty and Babyface Ray ("STUPID").

"Die For Me," Jean Dawson's new collaboration with Lil Yachty, blends the experimental leanings of the L.A.-based polymath (and musical arranger on Beyoncé's COWBOY CARTER) with the bubblegum trap rapper's one-of-a-kind flow — and the result is magnetic.

Sonically, the swirling track feels like a logical follow-up to Bad Cameo, the "Poland" rapper's recent collaborative album with James Blake. After Dawson warbles the hook ("Don't show up at my funeral/ If you won't die for me"), Lil Yachty grabs the mic for a blunt-force eulogy that demands repeated listening.

Morgan Wade — 'Obsessed'

Morgan Wade preceded her fourth album, Obsessed, with delicate, heart-on-her-sleeve singles like "2AM in London" and "Time to Love, Time to Kill." Arriving almost a year to the day since her previous full-length Psychopath, the country upstart — and occasional Real Housewives of Beverly Hills guest star — is just as vulnerable on the rest of the album.

Showing off her aptitude for laying bare emotional storytelling and heart-crushing nostalgia, Wade cleverly exposes her fragilities and regrets across the album's 14 tracks — whether she's gender-flipping Shakespeare and competing with Romeo on the forbidden "Juliet," finding somber inspiration in fairy tales on the wistful "Hansel and Gretel," or duetting with Kesha on the repentant "Walked on Water."

Seven years since 2017's Coming Home, Falling In Reverse are back with their fifth studio album, Popular Monster. The LP's rollout has been spread across nearly half a decade, with the title track being released as the lead single way back in November 2019. Six additional singles have followed in the lead-up to the long-awaited project, including collaborations with Tech N9ne and Slaughter to Prevail vocalist Alex Terrible ("Ronald") and Jelly Roll ("All My Life"), as well as a reimagined cover of Papa Roach's "Last Resort."

And while Popular Monster's cover art is plastered with frontman Ronnie Radke's 2012 mugshot for alleged domestic assault, the release is hardly a solo project. In fact, it's the first Falling in Reverse album to feature Max Georgiev on guitar, Tyler Burgess on bass and Luke Holland on drums. (Derek Jones, the band's late rhythm guitarist, also contributed to the title track before his untimely death in 2020 from a subdural hematoma.)

Fridayy is practically begging to keep things simple on "Complicated," his yearning, pulsating new collaboration with DJ Snake. "Tell me what you want/ Girl, I want to know/ Please don't make it complicated/ We ain't gotta complicate it," he repeats over the DJ's hypnotic rhythms filled with Spanish guitar and distant jungle sounds.

Eventually, the three-time GRAMMY nominee's desperate pleas morph into an atmospheric echo as DJ Snake's handiwork takes center stage, plunging the track into a spellbinding synth breakdown that dances all the way to the finish.