Born This Way (International Standard Version) Album • Lady Gaga • 2011

Born This Way is the second studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released by Interscope Records on May 23, 2011. It was co-written and co-produced by Gaga with several producers, including RedOne and Fernando Garibay, who had previously worked with her. She also worked with artists such as E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons and Queen guitarist Brian May. The music of Born This Way stems from the synth-pop and dance-pop styles of her previous material while incorporating different forms of instrumentation from that on her previous releases, such as electronic rock and techno. It features a broader range of genres, such as opera, heavy metal, disco, house, and rock and roll, while its lyrical topics include sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism, and individualism. Despite divided opinions among religious and conservative commentators, the album was well received by music critics, who praised the varying musical styles and Gaga's vocals. Several music publications included the album in their year-end best-of lists. Born This Way received three Grammy Award nominations, including Gaga's third consecutive nomination for Album of the Year. In 2020, Rolling Stone included it at number 484 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Born This Way debuted atop in various major music chart worldwide, including the Billboard 200. In the United States, the record sold more than one million copies in its first week—the highest first-week album sales in five years; an estimated 440,000 copies were sold on Amazon in two days of its first week at a price of 99 cents. Four of the album's singles—"Born This Way", "Judas", "The Edge of Glory", and "You and I"—charted in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, where "Born This Way" became the 1,000th song to reach the number one spot since the inauguration of the chart in 1958. At the time of its release, the title track was the fastest-selling single in iTunes history. A promotional single from the album, "Hair", also managed to chart in sixteen countries, peaking at number 12 in the United States. The album's fifth official single, "Marry the Night", charted within the top-thirty in the United States. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Born This Way was the third global best-selling album of 2011. As of 2021, it has more than 5.8 billion global streams, 5.2 million physical copies sold and 31 million digital tracks sold. Gaga has performed songs from the album on different occasions, including the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards and the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, as well as in other events and on worldwide television, including her third headlining concert tour, Born This Way Ball (2012–2013). In November 2011, Born This Way, and its remix album, Born This Way: The Remix, were packaged as a compilation album titled Born This Way: The Collection. On May 28, 2021, Gaga announced Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary, "a special anniversary release" of the album featuring six renditions of Gaga's songs by artists of the LGBT community.