What’s that photo up there? Why, it’s a pic of Lady Gaga accepting a Grammy back in 2010, the Best Pop Vocal Album award for The Fame Monster, one of three she picked up that night out of six nominations. Yes, long before the alien landscape of Chromatica stretched out to welcome Little Monsters confused and worried about an uncertain pandemic, and well before Ariana Grande and our Mother Monster begged the rain to come down upon them, a different monster existed.
This was, none other than The Fame Monster, released on November 18, 2009, technically a reissue of Gaga’s 2008 debut, The Fame, yes, but also so much more. This was the record that introduced us to the “Bad Romance” that Gaga would lead us all into, and so much more, including “Telephone” which eventually spawned one of the greatest collaborations of all time when Beyonce hopped on board a remix.
All this to say, it’s no surprise that longtime Gaga fans, reinvigorated by her return to form this year with the sticky dance-pop of Chromatica, are more than eager to celebrate the album’s birthday. I mean, it seems like everything is happening at the speed of light right now, and more than half of what every single person on the internet says right now is about politics, why not take a moment to remember a simpler time?
Consider, first of all, just how impactful this record was for Gaga’ career:
Today is the 11th anniversary of The Fame Monster. This 5x multi platinum album received universal acclaim with 5M certified units, 3 Grammys, and 8 VMAs. Lady Gaga was just 23 years old when she released it. pic.twitter.com/4dsm8Gsyii
— Lady Gaga Now 🃏 (@ladygaganownet) November 18, 2020
11 years ago today, @ladygaga released her Grammy-winning album/EP, “The Fame Monster”. It’s one of the most acclaimed and successful projects of all time and change her career and pop culture forever.
— Check out some achievements: pic.twitter.com/FsDfNNJjpx
— Lady Gaga Charts (@chartsladygaga) November 18, 2020
11 years ago, @ladygaga released "The Fame Monster". It is one of the best selling EPs this century.
Sales – 2.13 m.
Singles (30.6 m. / 6.67) = 4.59 m.
Spotify (1.172 b. / 1500) = 0.78 m.
YouTube (2.272 b. / 1500) = 1.52 m.
Others (809 m. / 1500) = 0.54 m.Total – 9.560.000 pic.twitter.com/7nZSnLGO0Q
— Gagacharts (@Gagacharts_) November 18, 2020
Others remember how unknown she was at the time:
HBD to The Fame Monster~* Here's a photobooth pic of moi, freshman year, after picking up my copy from the Union Square Barnes & Noble where the music seller behind the counter had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for Lady Gaga's new album lol anyway pic.twitter.com/RJnI7qK0NA
— Hayden (top 0.01% Romy listener) (@hiishaydenthere) November 18, 2020
Some just want to be nostalgic:
Imagine this. It's Nov. 18th, 2009. @ladygaga just released 'The Fame Monster.' Life is good 😎
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▶️ https://t.co/sNEMwMwaYj pic.twitter.com/hOgKmO8vMM— Vevo (@Vevo) November 18, 2020
since today is Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster’s 11th anniversary let me bless your timeline with these legendary pictures from its booklet pic.twitter.com/FKTDfJjml6
— The Countess 〄 (@HausOfMANiCURE) November 18, 2020
The Fame Monster era gave us these serves, visual aesthetics at it’s finest 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OImtl9q6z5
— Marco Stefano (@StefanoMarc0) November 18, 2020
Happy 11th birthday to The Fame Monster! This album is an absolute masterpiece 🙌 it really did change the music industry, every single song in this could have been released as a single and it would have done well! I can't believe its been 11 years already, wow time has flown by pic.twitter.com/IiHShoYqqd
— 🚨Free Woman🚨 (@HausofLorna) November 18, 2020
Or glory in how damn good the songs were:
https://twitter.com/alluregaga2/status/1328937525642190856
The only skip in that album is the silence between the tracks.
Happy Birthday The Fame Monster!🎉🥳 pic.twitter.com/lCGfvaokHU— 👾 Gagavirus 👾 ~ (@Gagaviruss) November 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/blueLemmynade/status/1328942387004116999
Finally, here’s that Grammy moment from 11 years ago:
https://twitter.com/ryanleejohnson/status/1329040977265381378
