Lady Gaga Found Inspiration In Nine Inch Nails & Radiohead On New Album 'Mayhem'

Lady Gaga is releasing her new album, Mayhem, this Friday (7 March).

Not only have singles like Disease and Abracadabra seen the Poker Face singer return to the energetic pop that propelled her early career, but it turns out that Gaga was also inspired by art rock and industrial metal while making the album. Some of the acts she was influenced by include Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and David Bowie.

This week, Lady Gaga detailed the inspiration of Nine Inch Nails and “heavier and intense” music, saying on her new SiriusXM pop-up radio show, Gaga Radio, “When I heard Johnny Cash do [Nine Inch Nails’] Hurt, I realised that so many different kinds of music could find their way into these sorts of sounds,” she said.

She continued, “Closer is a huge inspiration for Mayhem.” That inspiration is clear on Disease, which also features a similar timed, intense beat.

In a recent interview with Elle magazine, Lady Gaga further discussed the “industrial inspiration” behind the sounds on her new album. She cited David Bowie, Prince, and Radiohead as acts she looked to.

“There’s a transitional moment on the album that’s rooted in ’90s music,” she revealed. “A sort of electro grunge defiance. That era in music, which was a response to the music that came before it. And then David Bowie theatrical rock, Prince, Radiohead. I was inspired by so much music that has grown roots in my veins.”

She also talked about the joy of making music for a living and her experience in the music industry. “The joy … resides in the very fact that I get to make music for a living,” she said.

“And then in the end, all of the things that I’ve been through and thinking, ‘I don’t know how am I going to get this industrial sort of pseudo 2000s beat to go with this electro grunge sound, and how am I going to get this kind of Bowie funky record to mesh with this 80s synth pop….’ I’m doing all these gymnastics. But the joy of it in the end is that I was able to make sense of it for me.”

In November, it was announced that Lady Gaga would headline this year’s Coachella music festival alongside Green Day and Post Malone. It’s a good time to be a little monster.

This isn’t the first time Lady Gaga has revealed herself as a rock fan. Last year, she shared that she was an extra in the AC/DC music video for Stiff Upper Lip as a teen, and sang with Brian Johnson in a festive edition of Carpool Karaoke.