What if gaga had released BTW in 2012 or late 2011 instead of february 2011?

[HeavyCapiLover 4,389]

Might br a weird useless question but I often wonder what would have happened if they would have waited more between TFM era and the start of BTW. Like instead of releasing BTW in february 2011, they would have released it one year later in early 2012, or maybe in late 2011.

Would it gain even more success? Or in the contrary would the long wait impact negatively the "lady gaga hype" that there was back then. In 2011, the concurrence between popstars was craazy, gaga was competing with Adele, Katy, Rihanna, all at the peak of their carreer. 2012 was a much lesser competitive year for pop music in comparaison, wich could have left more space for gaga to dominate the charts. 

Also they could have milked TFM era by releasing Monster or Dance in the dark in september 2010, it would have been another guaranteed hit for gaga, perfect for autonm season, but I guess they didnt do it to focus on the next era and build the hype for the release of BTW. But releasing it later would maybe have given the opportunity for gaga to milk her era, and not be in a constant exausting rush idk. 

[meltedplastic 839]

idk she was really in her own lane with BTW it really didnt sound like anything else in pop music. tfm and btw era all eyes were on her and edm pop was becoming the trend as gaga was like dropping 5 minute long 80s pop rock tracks lol, if anything ARTPOP needed to come out in 2012

[TEANUS 16,090]

I always wonder if her health would have taken much less of a hit if she had had a little break after The Monster Ball before kicking off an international promotional tour followed by another global tour. Imagine Born This Way (the single) dropping alongside the conclusion of The Monster Ball or even the 2011 VMAs and the album close to Black Friday?

I think 2012 might’ve been a tad bit too late. Her star power might’ve faded a bit in the back end of 2011 before its release while all the other pop girls were dropping and having hit after hit. Basically my suggested timeline looks like this:

May 2011 - Monster Ball Concludes, Gaga officially announces Born This Way for “the end of the summer”

August 2011 - Born This Way (Single) Released

November 2011 - The Edge of Glory Released + Born This Way (Album)

November 2011 - April 2012 - BTW Promo Tour

September 2012 - Born This Way Ball begins

Edited November 3, 2025 by TEANUS

[ImMatt 2,047]

2012 was a weird year in pop as there's was so few 'big' artists that released that year, other than Taylor Swift's 'Red'. Most artists did the 2011 and then 2013 pattern which is why the biggest songs of the year ended up being random ones from Carly Rae Jepson and Psy...

On the other hand, people seemed to be pushing in a more alternative direction from 2012 onwards (I think of Lorde's 'Pure Heroine', Frank Ocean's 'Channel Orange'...even Beyonce's self titled). BTW was pop, but a slightly different pop so maybe you're right about 2012 being better for BTW. The downside is I cant see ARTPOP in 2014, so it would have been a quicker turnaround between BTW and ARTPOP which I'm not sure would have worked.

[Elizabeth 738]

The entire trajectory of my life would've been different I fear 

 

In terms of Gaga's career, personally I think with the record being announced at the 2010 VMA's in the most iconic way (in the meat dress), and then not released it until 2012, would've meant it lost some of the impact. 

Edited November 3, 2025 by Elizabeth

[LauraPalmer 1,773]

“was Born This Way a mistake?” 

[Controversiaga 13,949]

10 minutes ago, LauraPalmer said:

“was Born This Way a mistake?” 

Yes

[nATAH 55,237]

it would have been a much needed break or another single from TFM (Monster or DITD)

[Zombiecat 17,801]

3 hours ago, HeavyCapiLover said:

 

Would it gain even more success?

no 

[27monster27 15,558]

I understand why they wanted to make 2011 "her year" by starting at the Grammys, but it really wouldn't have hurt to wait until later in the year. Besides, waiting over a year after an era has started to launch a tour is rare. She could've started the era later in 2011 and still have had the tour commence at the same time it did for us.

EDIT: Also, I feel like a lot of people aren't focusing on the over-exposure element. Going silent for a bit of 2011 while people like Adele emerged would've allowed for the huge exposure she had in pop culture to die down a bit so people would be less tired of her.

Edited November 3, 2025 by 27monster27

[Guest]

Born This Way was always a mistake. Regardless of when it’s released, it was doomed to have the same fate. It’s because Alejandro music video was the first big mistake she did and mistakes causes other mistakes to happen. 

[The Fame Monster 4,550]

3 hours ago, LauraPalmer said:

“was Born This Way a mistake?” 

It was. And The Fame Monster too.

[Ziggy 13,592]

5 hours ago, ImMatt said:

2012 was a weird year in pop as there's was so few 'big' artists that released that year, other than Taylor Swift's 'Red'. Most artists did the 2011 and then 2013 pattern which is why the biggest songs of the year ended up being random ones from Carly Rae Jepson and Psy...

On the other hand, people seemed to be pushing in a more alternative direction from 2012 onwards (I think of Lorde's 'Pure Heroine', Frank Ocean's 'Channel Orange'...even Beyonce's self titled). BTW was pop, but a slightly different pop so maybe you're right about 2012 being better for BTW. The downside is I cant see ARTPOP in 2014, so it would have been a quicker turnaround between BTW and ARTPOP which I'm not sure would have worked.

Astute observation with one major omission: Adele.

BTW already faltered a bit bc of 21’s huge success that served as a foil to the bombast of BTW. Had she waited until 2012 she’d absolutely have been out of step in a major way. So I agree with your assessment generally but she really couldn’t have waited and hoped to find success with the album even comparable to what she did

[Ziggy 13,592]

43 minutes ago, The Fame Monster said:

It was. And The Fame Monster too.

*sees username*

[The Fame Monster 4,550]

2 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

*sees username*