PETALING JAYA: The love for Lady Gaga in Malaysia is far from Shallow - fans went crazy ahead of her concerts in Singapore, with Google searches about the pop star shooting to its highest in three years.
More people began searching for the words "Lady Gaga" on Google in Malaysia when news of her shows in Singapore went online on March 10.
Such interest levels kept growing until it hit a peak level of 100 during the week tickets went on sale between March 16 and 22 - the highest level recorded since 2022.
The interest level on Google is ranked from 0 to 100, with 100 being the peak popularity for the search term.
Known for her hits like Poker Face and Bad Romance, the American singer-songwriter will be performing at the National Stadium in Singapore on May 18, 19, 21 and 24 - her only concerts in Asia in her tour.
The singer-songwriter and actress, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, 39, is currently touring to promote her latest album Mayhem.
In other Asean countries, the fandom was strong too - similar trends were observed among fans, affectionately known as Little Monsters.
Below shows how fans in South-East Asia grew more interested in searching for information about the star ahead of her show.
Click on the arrow buttons below to see the next image:
Applause, applause, applause
It's a song about wanting to be with someone you love - even if the world was ending and your time on earth was through.
But it's obvious that fans are not through with Die With A Smile, the chart-topping duet by Lady Gaga and singer Bruno Mars.
In Malaysia, it was the most played song on music streaming app Spotify until March 20 this year, racking up a total of 10.84 million streams.
The track was only dethroned on March 27 by Chinese-Canadian musician Yung Kai, when his single, Blue, went viral on TikTok and Instagram.
Watch how Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' song maintained a steady lead before taking the second spot:
Globally, the duet was a major success - in February, Die With A Smile was named the best pop duo or group performance in the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.
Although the song was released eight months ago, the music video on YouTube hit one billion views, based on a report by American music and entertainment magazine Billboard on April 30.
The soulful ballad was also at No.1 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year, first beating other songs on the chart on Jan 11.
Listen to a snippet of the song in the chart below, which lists Malaysia's most played tunes on Spotify as of April 3 this year:
Searching for Mama Monster
For fans searching online for Lady Gaga, sometimes known as Mother Monster or Mama Monster, most just really want to know the words to her songs.
The most popular related queries to "Lady Gaga" on Google are "lady gaga lyrics", followed by "lady gaga song" and "die with a smile".
Here's a look at the top related search terms in Malaysia when it comes to the singer, from April 2020 to April 2025.
Scoring is on a relative scale where a value of 100 is the most commonly searched query.
Our local "little monsters"
Interestingly, data from Google shows that the term "lady gaga" was most popularly searched in Miri, Sarawak compared with other cities in Malaysia.
Miri, the second largest city in Sarawak, scored 100 on the scale, meaning that it had the highest proportion of searches for the singer among all other queries within its area.
Coming in second and third place for the most interest in the singer are Penampang and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.
Unleash the Mayhem
Meanwhile, Malaysian fans are hyping themselves up to see their star put on a stunning performance in her Singapore shows.
Rahman Halim, 37, a communications officer, is looking forward to watching Lady Gaga perform her two current hits, Abracadabra and hopefully, Die With A Smile.
"She is known for her captivating and theatrical live performances, so that's what I'm really eager to see," said the fan, who became a "Little Monster" after growing to love her hits like Poker Face and Born This Way.
In 2012, he had also gone for the pop star's Born This Way Ball concert in Singapore, which he described as amazing.
"I hope this coming concert will be even better and that Lady Gaga will show off her talent by performing on the piano," Rahman said.
Another fan, who only wishes to be known as Natasha, 37, also attended Lady Gaga's 2012 concert in Singapore and can't wait to see her again this round.
"The 2012 concert was the best, and still is, the best show I've ever seen.
"So I'm looking forward to seeing how different it will be this time 13 years later," said Natasha, who is in the healthcare industry.
For the coming concert, she will be attending it with her best friend, who will be watching Lady Gaga live for the first time.
"I'm really excited to be experiencing this with her," Natasha said, describing Lady Gaga's repertoire as spanning across genres so "there's really a song for every mood you're in."
Ahead of the show, Natasha said she was planning to wear platform shoes for the concert - a nod to Lady Gaga's fondness for platform boots and pumps.
"I still have the t-shirt that I bought at the 2012 show so I'm still contemplating on how to make it more Little Monster-appropriate," she said, adding that she expected to dance a lot during the concert.
An architect who wishes to be known as Emy, 37, described Lady Gaga as a creative and passionate individual.
"I am excited to see and experience that energy in her live performance.
"She has an amazing voice and I am sure the production will be spectacular, especially with the costumes, set pieces and dancers," she said, adding that it will be her first time watching the singer live.
While Lady Gaga is known for her danceable tunes, Emy loves her slower songs as it allowed her vocals to shine.
"I was obsessed with Die With A Smile when it came out because it had a nostalgic appeal," she said, adding that she was thrilled to have both Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars on the same track too.
As the concert day approaches, Emy said she was hyping herself up by watching clips of Lady Gaga's recent performance at the Coachella music festival in the US earlier in April.
"I have definitely taken notes of which songs she will likely play for the Singapore concert and have been listening to them to learn the lyrics," she said.
Writer Eileen Ng, in her 30s, is hoping that her concert will be a memorable night.
"Lady Gaga's shows blend music, dance, and visual artistry to create a unique experience that I am very much looking forward to," she said.
Among Lady Gaga's long list of hits, Ng particularly enjoys the older singles like Bad Romance, Shallow, The Edge of Glory and Million Reasons.
Ng said she admired Lady Gaga for putting 100% effort in everything she does, and her concerts are known to be very energetic.
"I am also looking forward to her numerous avant garde costumes.
"Whatever she has in store, I am sure her upcoming concert in Singapore is going to be spectacular," she added.
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