I really have to thank Lady Gaga for timing the release of Mayhem to line up perfectly with my already-scheduled vacation. Thanks, Mother! I listened to the album all the way through, on repeat, for the duration of the flight, and the music set the scene for a blissful week away from the worst timeline we’re all living through. Having also listened to Gaga on the Las Culturistas podcast, it seems that was always her intention with Mayhem — to make people smile, and to let the acknowledgment of our own chaos serve as a pathway to healing. Right from the get-go, it’s abundantly clear that hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers are stoked and perhaps more prepared for a guest than they’ve ever been before, being dedicated little monsters themselves. And the fangirling reached its emotional peak about an hour in when Bowen shared that the release of “Born This Way” helped him come out after he’d gone to conversion therapy. Naturally, Gaga was very moved by the revelation:
Bowen Yang has made it clear that he is indeed a little monster, the moniker that supporters of Grammy-winning artist Lady Gaga have claimed.
Yang had his chance to tell Gaga just how meaningful her music and her advocacy is for the LGBTQ+ community — which he is a part of — when she appeared on a recent episode of his and Matt Rogers’ podcast “Las Culturistas.”
During the episode, the “Wicked” and “Saturday Night Live” star spoke about how important one Lady Gaga song in particular has been to him in his own journey.
“I think I had come out of the closet again when ‘Born This Way’ came out, because I went to conversion therapy, (which) obviously did not work out,” Yang said.
He went on to recount the day the 2011 track was first released as a single, while he and Rogers were en route to a comedy festival in New York State.
“We were just blasting that song for 48 straight hours,” he added, before Rogers chimed in saying that Yang “felt emboldened to come out that weekend.”
Clearly moved, Lady Gaga said, “That’s really, really special.”
“You’re so important to a huge swath of people who only want the best things for you and for each other,” Yang gushed to Lady Gaga. “But also, those people need leadership and you’ve always been that leader culturally, artistically, in so many ways.”
Gaga, who released her seventh studio album “Mayhem” earlier this month, said she was appreciative of that sentiment but that it’s more important to her to just “do my part.”
“I believe that we will continue to show people that are filled with hatred and ignorance that they should be looking up to the queer community and following and learning about love, and learning about grace, learning about kindness,” Lady Gaga said.
“I really believe that,” she said, “and I’m not giving up.”
I said it last week, and I’ll say again that I’ve found Mayhem to be a really emotional listen. All of us little monsters have been on this journey with Gaga, too (albeit from the cheap seats), and it’s cathartic to hear how she’s found a way to put all the pieces together into a creation that is uniquely her. During the podcast, Bowen and Matt are clearly ready to heap similar adoration on Gaga, but I was so impressed with how she took in the praise. She’d accept it graciously, if briefly, and always redirect to bring it back to her fans. When they ask her their signature question of when she knew she was part of the culture, she said she had few friends in high school, but the ones who did welcome her were gay, and she remembered that when the same community emerged as her biggest fans. She embraced them immediately, saying (I’m paraphrasing): “You were there for me then, I’m here for you now.” She also several times notes that she firmly believes her career and artistry are built on the stories fans and collaborators continually share with her, stories like Bowen’s.
If only she’d quit with that god-awful wig!! I could even take the bleached eyebrows, but the wig must be burned, along with most of her look for recording the pod: all black clothing, including leather gloves (they’re inside), a furry jacket, and a knit cap. It’s like she came dressed as Boris AND Natasha.
Photos credit: Backgrid, Avalon.red and via YouTube/SNL