It’s 2017, Beyoncé announced that she was pregnant with twins, Taylor Swift gagged her fanbase with Look What You Made Me Do, and Lady Gaga was headlining at Coachella. Now history is set to repeat itself, at least by some measure, with Mother Monster’s return to the Coachella itinerary for 2025. And these are some of the songs we hope will make an appearance on Lady Gaga’s Coachella setlist.
Between multiple Grammys and MTV Video Music Awards, an Oscar, and two Golden Globes, there’s no contesting Lady Gaga’s prominence in global pop culture since her debut with the splashy electropop single, Just Dance. With over six studio albums spanning the gamut of conventional pop music to soulful jazz ballads and even country bops, there’s nary a genre in contemporary popular music that she hasn’t exerted her influence upon to great success.
This is further bolstered by her inimitable stage presence, where her untempered eagerness to push the envelope in the world of fashion and visual arts has resulted in some of the most iconic and memorable moments in entertainment history. From her 2009 VMA performance of Paparazzi that had her bleeding on stage, to her infamous meat dress that ruffled the feathers of animal rights groups, as well as more recent odes to Hollywood glamour in Tiffany jewels, Lady Gaga is well and truly a multihyphenate diva for the times.
With her upcoming return to the Coachella grand stage, it’s anybody’s guess as to which of her many hit singles she may include in her setlist. But if we had any say in the matter, these are some of our most coveted wishlist songs for Lady Gaga’s Coachella setlist.
Lady Gaga at Coachella setlist wishlist: Songs we hope to see her perform
1. Rain On Me ft Ariana Grande
Released during the very thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rain On Me has since gone on to become one of Lady Gaga’s most career-defining singles, which was only made all the more special by her collaboration with Ariana Grande. Surpassing all conventional expectations and hurdles that came with the lockdown, the song’s narrative of bold resilience against life’s trials and tribulations proved especially resonant during a time of global strife. Such was its magnitude that it went on to win the award for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, marking the first time in history a female duo successfully cinched the accolade.
2. 911
Another single that would make a great addition to Lady Gaga’s Coachella setlist in 2025 would have to be 911. A bold synthpop track that was preceded by a now-iconic string arrangement, the song depicts a period in Gaga’s life when her mental health was in decline, describing how her mind often felt at war with her body, in addition to the effects that her antipsychotic medication had on her psyche. The surrealist, Sergei Parajanov-inspired music video has gone down to become one of her most memorable in recent memory, racking up 87 million views to date.
3. John Wayne
Every pop diva has had a country era at some point – Beyoncé did it with Cowboy Carter, while Taylor Swift practically owes her pop career to her country music roots. Lady Gaga is no exception, having released the highly introspective Joanne album in 2016 that veered sharply from her typical electronic pop music propensities for the path less travelled along the Deep South. With that said, John Wayne still gave die-hard Little Monsters a slice of that high-octane glam rock sound that has served as a foundation for her early career, describing Gaga’s love for dangerous thrills with equally dangerous men. A risque addition to our Lady Gaga Coachella setlist wishlist, but one we simply cannot do without from Joanne.
4. G.U.Y (Guy Under You)
Gianni Versace may always be eternalised as one of Italian fashion’s truly venerated godfathers, but his sister, Donatella Versace, has proven herself to be of equal merit by taking over the label after his untimely passing in 1997. So much so in fact that contemporary pop culture has dedicated more than just a few pages out of its book to her, among which includes Lady Gaga’s not-so-subtle ode to the Versace matriarch herself in her ARTPOP single, G.U.Y. Describing a woman who despite her supposed subservience in a relationship remains in full control of her independence and autonomy, the song proved to be a sleeper hit after its glitzy music video debuted online, starring Gaga in a Donatella-esque platinum blonde do.
5. Applause
Teased to no end before being released during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards in typical Gaga fashion, Applause was the lead single from her third album, ARTPOP. While the album itself didn’t chart nearly as successfully as Born This Way and The Fame Monster did, make no mistake as to how commercially popular Applause would go on to become. Inspired by the cheers and applause from her fans during the Born This Way Tour, during which she performed in pain due to a hip injury, the song delves into Gaga’s willingness to make profound personal sacrifices to pay respect to the art of performance. If Lady Gaga is looking to end her Coachella setlist on a high note, this would be our pick.
6. Marry The Night
Music videos are a relatively new concept, insofar as entertainment is concerned. Michael Jackson popularised the template with Thriller, and every other major artist since has produced accompanying visuals to pair alongside their singles. But long-format music videos that extended beyond the usual 4-minute mark were comparatively less common, with Lady Gaga’s Marry The Night being one of the standout productions that occupied this niche with a 13-minute (!) long music video/short film. A loving homage to New York and her adoration for the city’s nightlife, Marry The Night was well-received by critics and became a longstanding classic among fans.
7. Born This Way
A cultural reset: that is probably the best way to describe Born This Way. The lead single off the album of the very same name that emerged during the early months of 2011 in a violent whirlwind of leather, liquid eyeliner and body horror, Lady Gaga fully leaned into the media’s depiction of her oddball black sheep pop diva reputation and chose instead to celebrate the differences that make us all human. The song came at an especially fortuitous time when the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Act, a highly contentious policy which ordered LGBQT members of the American military to keep their sexualities hidden, was repealed, leading to a wider discourse surrounding the rights of marginalised communities in North America.
8. Judas
While other names in pop music were happy to simply chart on Billboard and nab a couple of awards in the process, Lady Gaga took no problems in doing that while kindling the flames of controversy with the Roman Catholic Church. Well aware of the religious institution’s disdain for her irreverence, she chose to debut her single, Judas, on Easter Sunday in 2011 to much uproar. While conservatives clutched their pearls, fans rallied behind the song’s depiction of attempting to walk a path of redemption while being tempted by malice, propelling it to landmark commercial triumph.
9. Paparazzi
One of several earworm tunes from her debut album The Fame, Paparazzi was arguably the most grown-up of the lot between Just Dance and Poker Face. Boasting darker lyrics that spoke of obsession to the brink of psychosis as well as the addictive nature of fame, this was the song that arguably defined Lady Gaga’s capacity for depth in not just her songwriting, but her choice of imagery as well. A music video shot by Jonas Åkerlund cemented the latter, depicting the then-up-and-coming popstar careening off a lethal trajectory, dressed in archival Thierry Mugler. A truly apt addition to the Lady Gaga Coachella setlist.
10. Bad Romance
If Paparazzi gave Lady Gaga her songwriting and creative direction credibility, then it is Bad Romance that truly cemented her staying power as a genuine force to be reckoned with. Released in 2009, the single’s catchy rah-rah-ro-ma-ma hook instantly went viral for its catchy quality, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart before being certified platinum a whopping eleven times since its release. The Francis Lawrence-directed and Alexander McQueen-outfitted music video achieved similarly legendary status, picking up seven MTV Video Music Awards and the Grammy for Best Music Video in 2010, while briefly becoming the most-viewed YouTube video in history. Mind you, Lady Gaga was only 23 at the time.
Feature and hero image credits: Lady Gaga/YouTube