Awesome / Lady Gaga

• Her issuing of the statement that Updated Rereleases are a load of bull and proceeding to sell The Fame Monster both with and separately from The Fame.
• The "Bad Romance" video. Yes. All of it. But especially the ending.
  • The ending would also serve as a Funny Moment.
• Her mature, but brilliant response to a homophobic guy who insulted her and Adam Lambert ended with her tipping a drink over the guy. Crowning Moment of Awesome indeed.
  • It also revealed her Berserk Button: "Okay, that’s it. Call me anything you want, but when you start calling my friends names, it’s over – it’s war!"
• Duet. Elton John. That is all.
• Similarly, all of her collaborations with legendary jazz singer Tony Bennett. Despite their 60-year age gap and vastly different styles of performing, the two formed a close friendship and musical partnership that led to two jazz albums, proving that Gaga can sing multiple different genres of music.
• She's fainted a few times during her concerts. The awesome part is that instead of stopping the show, she continued singing lying down. She later said in an interview she'd rather pass out on stage than leave a concert mid-performance. Here's a clip of her concert in New Zealand where she almost passes out, but clearly struggles to keep up the performance. May also double as a Tear Jerker. Please, Lady Gaga, we know how hard you work. Take a break sometimes. We won't mind. When questioned why she didn't go off stage to take a break, Gaga claimed that she would rather die on stage than walk off to rest.
• More of a Crowning Moment for her fans (and for human beings in general), but after Fred Phelps (of the WBC) called for a boycott of her CDs, album sales skyrocketed.
• Australian comedian Adam Hills talked about Lady Gaga as they were both invited to perform for the Queen, along with many other artists. Many of the singers had made arrangements to lipsync to prerecorded tracks. Hills said Lady Gaga got to the theatre, looked at the size of the hall, looked at the full orchestra, then sat down with a pen, re-arranged the whole track and said "Fuck it, we'll do it live." And she did. And it was awesome.
  • Probably about the same performance: "Lady Gaga is hanging from the ceiling, playing the piano. [Shrug] Why wouldn't you?"
• When she accepted the award for video of the year she song the chorus of her new song Born This Way. Also qualifies as Heartwarming.
• The famous 2009 VMA performance that proved to the world that she was not a generic pop star.
• In this interview, after she is questioned about whether she's worried if her highly sexualized performance and lyrics would detract from her music, she responded:

  Lady Gaga: You see, if I was a guy, and I was sitting here with a cigarette in my hand, grabbing my crotch, and talking about how I make music because I love fast cars and fucking girls, you'd call me a rock star. But when I do it in my music and in my videos; because I'm a female, because I make pop music, you're judgmental. And you say that it is distracting...I'm just a rock star...

• Gaga has always been an advocate for gay rights. Her CMOA in this regard came when she made a deal with Target — who had come under fire for donating money to a "family values" politician — to give them an exclusive edition of "Born This Way" if they donated to a LGBT cause. And then when they continued to give money to anti-gay causes she walked away from the deal. Lady Gaga, we see you as a true ally to the community.
• She got a picture with Nicko McBrain. That's it, she officially rules.
• The music video for "Born This Way". SOMEHOW she managed to top herself AGAIN with it. And it was a truly glorious sight to behold. The video begins with the opening music of Vertigo, and proceeds to get more awesome as it goes on. Your Head A-Splode.
• She raised a quarter of a million dollars for Japan after the massive quake and tsunami in two days. Dayum. That is the power of the Little Monsters right there.
• She was at a Best Buy signing autographs for fans, who naturally lined up around the block for hours to wait for her. She felt bad that they were waiting so long to see her, so she ordered them pizza.
• How awesome is her music? Whenever the WBC shows up at a school, the students sing her songs...and it "banishes" them!
• "Yoü and I" is awesome not just because it's a great song, but because it's the song you should play for anyone who thinks Lady Gaga is all spectacle and no talent. All the parts about spectacle are true, but "Yoü and I" proves that the girl can sing!
• Her entire performance, monologue, and character at the 2011 VMAs.
  • Some of the reactions counted as Funny Moments, too.
• During a concert in Moscow in 2012, Gaga mentions how her managers tried to dissuade her from performing in Russia due to the country's views on LGBT rights. She then proceeds to march around the stage, daring the Moscow authorities to arrest her. This woman is pure badass.
  Gaga: My name is Lady Gaga. I'm 26 years old. I'm from Manhattan, New York. And I believe that men and women deserve to love each other equally! CUFF ME, RUSSIA! ARREST ME! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!
• As of Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strike's!, Lady Gaga is now officially a Batman villain. And she got away with it.
• One for her mother who allowed her, when she was only a teenager, to perform in bars. If not for that, Gaga might not have become who she is today.
• Lady Gaga pauses a concert to break up a fight.

  Gaga: Stop the music! Stop fighting. Do not fight at this show.

• When "Weird Al" Yankovic wanted to do a parody of "Born This Way", Gaga's management didn't allow it. Weird Al posted his parody, "Perform This Way", online anyway, which is where Gaga herself heard it for the first time. She loved it so much that she proceeded to give "Perform This Way" her full approval, even stating that she's a fan of Al.
• Her performance at the 2013 VMAs involved her switching through six different costumes in the span of three and a half minutes. Of these costumes, five of them were switched directly on stage, without her missing a single beat. An added bonus is that almost all of them were fairly normal, going against the stereotype that she only goes for shock value.
• Her tribute to The Sound of Music at the 2015 Oscars. If there was anyone left on the planet who thought she couldn't really sing, they're gone now. Double awesome in the fact that she did justice to the work of the legendary Julie Andrews, a feat most singers wouldn't even try. Hell, she moved Julie Andrews to tears.
• So what if ARTPOP couldn't touch Prism in sales? She had a highly successful run with Tony Bennett, some six decades older, and proved she had a knack for swinging standards.
• Despite some initial worries, Gaga's acting has been one of the more higher acclaimed features of American Horror Story: Hotel, with many impressed with the acting chops she has displayed. This was recognized enough for her to be nominated for a Golden Globe! And winning it!
• Her 7 minute tribute to David Bowie (with Nile Rodgers on guitar!) at the 2016 Grammies. Complete with morphing Bowie make-up projected on her face, back-flipping dancers, and a ROBOT PIANO. She was the perfect person for the job and, like with Julie Andrews, she didn't miss a beat while honoring a true legend.
• "Til It Happens to You", a furious condemnation of people who try to downplay the effects of sexual assault without ever having experienced it themselves. ^note  sadly, Gaga has Written for the documentary The Hunting Ground, it was then nominated for an Oscar, with every bit of emotion pouring from Gaga's face throughout her performance at the awards, and eventually surrounded by numerous other actual rape survivors standing in solidarity.
• Performing at the Super Bowl? Awesome. Sang the National Anthem one year and became the halftime act the next? Double awesome. Performing on the stadium roof and rappelling down onto the stage? ^note It should be noted that she didn't jump off the roof live as seen in the broadcast, the jump was pre-recorded and the roof was closed during the actual Halftime Show. She still rappelled down onto the stage though.
• Her and Bradley Cooper performing "Shallow" at the Oscars in 2019. No costume change, no prep backstage. A piano got brought out and they just got up from their seats and killed it. Two standing ovations later, she was taking home a no-doubt Oscar.
  • As she pointed out herself, being such a good actress that no matter how many times they both deny it, a sizable number of her fans remain convinced that she and Cooper really are madly in love.
• She topped the above National Anthem performance by singing it again at the inauguration of Joe Biden as President. And it was stunning.
• Her performance of "Hold My Hand", the Love Theme from Top Gun: Maverick, at the 2023 Oscars. In its original context, the song is a gorgeous, '80s-esque power ballad that fits the film and Official Couple Maverick and Penny's love story perfectly. But here? Here it's just Gaga, her instruments, and pure emotion with incredible vocals. No overwrought orchestration, no bombast or vocal acrobatics — just her, her voice, and a love song for the ages.