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There is only one Lady Gaga.

 

From the beginning of her career, Stefani Germanotta has always been single-minded in her pursuit of finding greatness through her art. It's taken her on quite the journey so far - six solo albums, several off-shoot jazz records, an Oscar-winning movie soundtrack and, as of the time of writing, four UK Number 1 albums and six UK Number 1 singles.

 

To celebrate The Chromatica Ball tour (finally) making its way on the road and to the UK - where Gaga will play two shows at Tottenham Stadium - we've crunched the numbers and set messages up to Chromatica itself to reveal Lady Gaga's updated and official Top 40 biggest songs in the UK.

 

And for Gaga fans new and old, there's something for everyone to love here. Loved A Star Is Born? Cuts from Gaga's Oscar-winning soundtrack count for 11 of the Top 40 in total - including Why Did You Do That? (36) and several collaborations with Bradley Cooper, including I Don't Know What Love Is (28).

MORE: Everything we know about Lady Gaga's Chromatica Ball tour

 

But don't worry, the length and breadth of Gaga's career is here to study - from more recent dance-focused hits like Chromatica's Sour Candy with BLACKPINK (26), Joanne's misunderstood post-disco lead single Perfect Illusion (22) and early-career fan favourite Lovegame (19).

 

The highest charting non-album single goes to 2018's succulent and feather-light The Cure (16), while 2013's divisive ARTPOP's highest-charting track is its barmy and berserk lead cut, Applause (13).

 

Now, let's dive in to the Top 10 in more detail - and then scroll down for the Top 40 in full.

 

10. The Edge of Glory

Released: 2011

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 6

Total chart units: 918,000

Total streams: 34 million

 

Gaga's ode to embracing death was written in memory of her grandfather, and finds her ruminating on her final moments on Earth backed by legendary saxophonist Clarence Clemons.

 

9. Paparazzi

Released: 2009

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 4

Total chart units: 942,000

Total streams: 39 million

 

Much of The Fame is spent manifesting the kind of all-consuming celebrity that Gaga would embrace with open arms after the album's release. Nowhere is this more potent that Paparazzi, where Gaga quite literally begs the camera's for their full attention. For better or worse, they would listen.

 

8. Always Remember Us This Way

Released: 2018

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 25

Total chart units: 982,000

Total streams: 118 million

 

One of the tightest songs on A Star Is Born, both lyrically and melodically, Always Remember Us This Way has always been somewhat overshadowed by Shallow, but it's popularity on the Official Charts speaks for itself. Despite just reaching Number 25 here, Always Remember Us This Way is actually Gaga's third most-streamed track here, with 118 million streams to its name.

 

7. Born This Way

Released: 2011

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 3

Total chart units: 1.2 million

Total streams: 52 million

 

Don't be a drag, just be a queen. Born This Way is as bombastic and overly ambitious as the album that shares its name; it wants you to abandon hatred and help heal the world.

 

6. Telephone (feat. Beyoncé)

Released: 2009

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1

Total chart units: 1.2 million

Total streams: 58 million

 

The combination of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé didn't seem to make sense on paper, but in practice you can see exactly why they collaborated. Gaga - at the height of her fame at this point - helps Beyoncé embrace a fiercer, weirder persona than she'd been allowed to showcase previous, and the very presence of Queen Bey pushes Gaga to greater performance heights, especially on the barmy, Kill Bill inspired music video (still waiting on that sequel, girls).

 

5. Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande)

Released: 2020

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1

Total chart units: 1.3 million

Total streams: 155 million

 

The highest-ranking track on this list from Gaga's most recent album Chromatica, Rain On Me is a cathartic, disco triumph all about fighting your way through the other side of trauma. "I hear the thunder coming down," Gaga and Ari croon on the song's magnificent bridge, "won't you rain on me?"

 

Gaga's sixth and most recent UK Number 1 single, with 153 million streams to its name, it's also her second-most streamed track here.

 

4. Just Dance (with Colby O'Donis)

Released: 2008

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1

Total chart units: 1.6 million

Total streams: 72 million

 

How do you start a solo career that will help re-define the boundaries of pop music? Three simple words: RedOne, Konvict, Gaga (oh-oh-ay). Just Dance may now rank as one of (if the not the) most commercial offerings from the Gaga oeuvre, but time has done little to dull its shine.

 

As a road map for Gaga's career and the heights she would go on to reach, it's all neatly packed into Just Dance's 4 minutes and 1 second. Gaga's first UK Number 1 single, Just Dance has chart units in excess of 1.6 million in the UK, making it her fourth most popular song.

 

3. Bad Romance

Released: 2009

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1

Total chart units: 1.7 million

Total streams: 84 million

 

The song that indisputably turned Gaga from a pop girl of the moment into an undeniable superstar, it's hard to believe that Stefani Germanotta wrote Bad Romance on a tour bus in the middle of the night, somewhere in mainland Europe, aged just 23. Twenty-three!

 

A strange and malformed pop song, Bad Romance was the ultimate vessel for Gaga's unlimited and unbridled ambition. Her third most popular track in the UK with chart units in excess of 1.7 million, Bad Romance also holds the distinction of being the Lady Gaga singles with the highest physical sales.

 

2. Poker Face

Released: 2009

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1

Total chart units: 1.8 million

Total streams: 83 million

 

Make no mistake, Gaga was indeed bluffing with her muffin on Poker Face, a slinky and multi-faceted bop all about the intricacies of your sexual identity. The perfect follow-up to Just Dance, it made Gaga into a sensation a world over and its still fascinating people now - Poker Face had the most Googled lyrics of any song in the UK in 2021, thanks to them discovering an explicit secret hidden in the post-chorus.

 

Overall, with 1.8 million chart units, Poker Face is Gaga's second most popular song in the UK, with 83 million streams too. It's also Gaga's most-downloaded song ever here, with over 1.1 million downloads since it first dropped in 2009.

 

1. Shallow (with Bradley Cooper)

Released: 2018

Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1

Total chart units: 2.6 million

Total streams: 336 million

 

After a few years in the wilderness post-Artpop, Gaga returned to the public consciousness with one hell of a start to her career's second act. Not only did Shallow (the theme from Bradley Cooper's 2018 remake of A Star Is Born, also starring Gaga in her cinematic debut) become Gaga's fifth Number 1 single in the UK (and first in nine years), it also won her the Oscar for Best Original Song.

 

Gaga's first mega-hit in the time of streaming means Shallow pulls ahead of the competition, entirely in a lane of its own. It has 2.6 million chart units to its name, more than any other on this list, and has more streams than Poker Face, Bad Romance and Just Dance put together. With streams of 336 million, it's obviously Gaga's most-streamed track in the UK. Perhaps surprisingly, Shallow also has the most video streams for any Gaga visual too; 88 million, more than the rest of the Top 10 put together!

 

Lady Gaga's Official Top 40 biggest songs in the UK

POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK YEAR

1 SHALLOW LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER 1 2018

2 POKER FACE LADY GAGA 1 2009

3 BAD ROMANCE LADY GAGA 1 2009

4 JUST DANCE LADY GAGA 1 2008

5 RAIN ON ME LADY GAGA & ARIANA GRANDE 1 2020

6 TELEPHONE LADY GAGA FT BEYONCE 1 2009

7 BORN THIS WAY LADY GAGA 3 2011

8 ALWAYS REMEMBER US THIS WAY LADY GAGA 25 2018

9 PAPARAZZI LADY GAGA 4 2009

10 THE EDGE OF GLORY LADY GAGA 6 2011

11 ALEJANDRO LADY GAGA 7 2009

12 I'LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER 27 2018

13 APPLAUSE LADY GAGA 5 2013

14 MILLION REASONS LADY GAGA 39 2016

15 STUPID LOVE LADY GAGA 5 2020

16 THE CURE LADY GAGA 19 2017

17 JUDAS LADY GAGA 8 2011

18 DO WHAT U WANT LADY GAGA 9 2013

19 LOVEGAME LADY GAGA 19 2009

20 MARRY THE NIGHT LADY GAGA 16 2011

21 YOU AND I LADY GAGA 23 2011

22 PERFECT ILLUSION LADY GAGA 12 2016

23 LOOK WHAT I FOUND LADY GAGA N/A 2018

24 IS THAT ALRIGHT LADY GAGA N/A 2018

25 MUSIC TO MY EYES LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER N/A 2018

26 SOUR CANDY LADY GAGA & BLACKPINK 17 2020

27 VIDEO PHONE BEYONCE FT LADY GAGA 58 2008

28 I DON'T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER N/A 2018

29 DIGGIN' MY GRAVE LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER N/A 2018

30 HEAL ME LADY GAGA N/A 2018

31 911 LADY GAGA N/A 2020

32 SPEECHLESS LADY GAGA 88 2009

33 JOANNE LADY GAGA N/A 2016

34 MONSTER LADY GAGA 68 2009

35 HOLD MY HAND LADY GAGA 24 2022

36 WHY DID YOU DO THAT LADY GAGA N/A 2018

37 LA VIE EN ROSE LADY GAGA N/A 2017

38 BEAUTIFUL DIRTY RICH LADY GAGA 83 2009

39 CHILLIN WALE FT LADY GAGA 12 2009

40 JOHN WAYNE LADY GAGA N/A 2016

 

©2022 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Edited by Mangø

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additionally going off the BPI website

12 I'LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER 27 2018 600k+

18 DO WHAT U WANT LADY GAGA 9 2013 400k+

22 PERFECT ILLUSION LADY GAGA 12 2016 200k+

 

I genuinely don't feel like 'Shallow' had anywhere near the same level of impact 'Rad Bromance' and 'Poker Face' did.

 

Not that I'm trying to play it down, it totally turned her career around but I feel like it being released in a different time gives it that advantage on this list.

Surprised Bad Romance is still behind Poker Face actually. I knew the latter had a 100k or so lead from the digital era but Bad Romance just feels like her signature song now.
Bad romance having more streams than PF and noted as having more physical sales than any other gaga song yet still behind PF? Make it make sense.
Bad romance having more streams than PF and noted as having more physical sales than any other gaga song yet still behind PF? Make it make sense.

 

Must be downloads that swung it?

 

Physical sales in 2009 will probably have been fairly negligible.

Like others Bad Romance and Pokerface had more impact than Shallow!

'Shallow' did win basically every award though. I don't think it's wildly behind in terms of "impact". Would probably still say 'Bad Romance' is her signature song but I'd put 'Shallow' pretty on par with if not ahead of 'Poker Face'. It did basically reboot her entire relevance after all.

 

Disclaimer: I also don't particularly like 'Poker Face' while 'Shallow' is my favourite song by her so I am biased. x

 

Also yes, it says in the article that 'Poker Face' is her most downloaded song - I can't imagine many of her songs have more than negligible physical sales so that's a bit of a strange thing to include in the article :lol:

She has such an iconic catalogue already and beyond that top 10. I was asking my husband what he thought was in there and he was shocked Alejandro wasn’t or A million reasons. Then again he didn’t even remember rain on me so I guess there are some blips!
Bad Romance should be her best-selling song and i am very confused that it is behind pokerface. We all know that the edge of glory did not recieve the attention it needed/still needs. I'm surprised how high applause and million reasons are. Stupid love and rain on me are some of her best tracks and will probably overtake some of her other songs.

We stan an icon :wub:

 

I think Shallow and Bad Romance/Poker Face cater slight different audiences. PF the straightforward bop that is not really adored by critics, BR is a bop adored by critics, and Shallow is a karaoke classic, so each of them are signature songs in their own way.

Ahh Gaga, a true legend.

 

I’ve always thought poker face hasn’t aged well over the years, it sounds very much of the time. Although when it was out I was obsessed with it but Just Dance and paparazzo for me is pop perfection and the standouts from the fame. Bad Romance I would say is her signature song and personally in my top two of hers, always surprised me how that never sold more back at the time.

 

Shallow though has to be one of my favourite no1s from the 2010s just because I still can’t believe it actually managed it. It was so different to anything else out at the time and the whole ASIB era has to be one the biggest musical comebacks in years. I think if Shallow had come out in the download era then it probably would have matched pokerface and BR if not bettered it. Also I wish the occ would stop this nonsense with soundtracks, it was no1 on the official album charts therefore it’s a no1 for Gaga so she’s technically on five no1 albums, not four.

Yeah and 2009 was the peak year for downloads wasn’t it?

 

The peak year for downloads was 2012 or 2013. I can't remember which but one of those two. The actual peak was around summer 2013 when they were frankly enormous, and then one week, all of a sudden they took a massive decline and they kept falling ever since. And nobody knows why. One of the biggest mysteries in pop music ever in my opinion.

 

Also I don't know why people are surprised about Poker Face. I remember it was always like 100,000 ahead of Bad Romance in the download days. In the United States even Just Dance outsold Bad Romance by a big margin. The media attention for her outfits helped an incredible amount for Just Dance and Poker Face. She had newspaper articles written about her EVERY day in early 2009 because of whatever silly outfit she wore the previous day. And this was back before smartphones so physical newspapers were still a very common thing, on every train, bus, in every office, waiting room, bank, etc. It was fantastic promotion and meant that older people who had no interest in current pop music at the time knew who she was, but this all had already died down a lot by later part of the year when Bad Romance was out.

Shallow is more of a locals hit, Bad Romance and Poker Face had more cultural impact
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The peak year for downloads was 2012 or 2013. I can't remember which but one of those two. The actual peak was around summer 2013 when they were frankly enormous, and then one week, all of a sudden they took a massive decline and they kept falling ever since. And nobody knows why. One of the biggest mysteries in pop music ever in my opinion.

Downloads fell because streaming became popular. Hardly much of a mystery? Unless you were being sarcastic in which case you should work on your sarcasm :P

^ I guess he means it’s a mystery why they kept gradually increasing until Summer 2013 and then suddenly fell quite sharply. I remember that well and it was odd - obviously the bigger picture of streaming replacing downloads wasn’t a mystery.

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