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Lady Gaga Confirms New Album ‘Harlequin’ Features Original Music She Wrote for ‘Joker 2’

The pop star also gushed about her seventh studio album arriving early next year.

Lady Gaga attends the UK Premiere of "Joker Folie à Deux" at the Cineworld Leicester Square on September 25, 2024 in London.

Lady Gaga attends the UK Premiere of "Joker Folie à Deux" at the Cineworld Leicester Square on September 25, 2024 in London.

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Lady Gaga shook up expectations this week by announcing a Joker: Folie à Deux companion album, Harlequin, just days ahead of its Friday (Sept. 27) release, confirming that it’s an entirely separate project from her highly anticipated seventh studio LP arriving in February.

And on the red carpet for the Joker sequel’s London premiere Wednesday (Sept. 25), the superstar shared details about Harlequin‘s relationship to the film, in which she stars as Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. “It’s a companion album for the film, so it has so much of the music that’s in Joker, as well as some original pieces that I wrote for the film,” she told the Associated Press at the event.


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“And one that’s for the album only, which is called ‘Happy Mistake,'” Gaga continued. “It’s all this really interesting, original production.”

The interview comes just one day after the 13-time Grammy winner announced Harlequinafter teasing the project through cryptic messages on Instagram and mysterious “LG 6.5” billboards in New York City and Los Angeles. On Tuesday (Sept. 24), she unveiled the companion album’s cover — a photo of her in Harley Quinn makeup, standing in the shower with a life jacket on — as well as its 13-song tracklist, featuring standards such as “Get Happy” and “Oh When the Saints.”

As previously confirmed, Gaga also has a full studio album slated for early 2025, led by a single that’s expected to drop in October. The full-length will come nearly five years after she released Chromatica, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

“My studio album is coming out in February and my first single is coming out really soon,” she gushed to AP. “I’m excited about that too.”

Watch Gaga spill details about Harlequin below.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.
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Rogers Stadium Rendering
Courtesy Photo
Rogers Stadium Rendering
Touring

Toronto's New Venue Rogers Stadium Shows The City's Status As a Top Touring Destination

The new 50,000 capacity venue in North Toronto was inspired by increased demand for the biggest tours in the world, says Live Nation Canada's president of music, Erik Hoffman — and one specific artist coming next year.

On Thursday (Sept. 26), Live Nation and Northcrest Developments announced Rogers Stadium, the new 50,000 capacity outdoor venue in Toronto opening in June 2025. The venue will instantly become one of the biggest in Canada, with a slightly higher capacity than Toronto's other stadium, Rogers Centre (home of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team). It's also one of the world's few venues of the size that isn't also home to a sports team.

After the press conference, Billboard Canada spoke to Erik Hoffman, president of music at Live Nation Canada, about why they decided to open the venue and why now. Hoffman says the decision was inspired by a specific artist who otherwise might have skipped Toronto, and also reveals that the entire 2025 slate of concerts is already booked. He says to expect some big show announcements to come.

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