After three pop-heavy solo albums and a collaboration album with jazz legend Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga took a different turn with her fourth solo album Joanne — released 10 years ago this week in 2016.
Departing from the turbo-pop sonics she rose to fame with, the singer-songwriter delved into country, rock, Americana and folk influences to create what is considered by many to be her most personal discography entry, upon its release.
Named for her aunt Joanne Germanotta, Gaga dedicated Joanne to her father’s deceased sister. Joanne Germanotta died of lupus at the age of 19, in 1974, and she has influenced Gaga throughout her career, inspiring poems, a tattoo, and eventually resulting in this album being made in homage to her. Gaga has opened up multiple times about how she’s felt a connection to her late aunt, especially considering she was also an artist. While themes of trauma and grief make up a lot of the cathartic album’s weight, others such as female friendship, vulnerability, self love, and social justice also contribute. It’s sort of a coming-of-age piece altogether.
Produced by Gaga, along with main co-producers Mark Ronson and BloodPop, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and received multiple accolades, notably best pop vocal album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2018. Tracks “Million Reasons” and “Joanne” received nominations for best pop solo performance in 2018 and 2019 respectively, with the latter winning the award. Joanne also began a trend of pop stars leaning into back-to-roots phases, like Miley Cyrus with Younger Now (2017), Kylie Minogue with Golden (2019), and Kesha with Rainbow (2017) and High Road (2020).
As the album hits its 10th anniversary, let’s take a look at the track list, including the three bonus tracks from the Deluxe edition, from worst to best.
