With hits after hits, it is an undeniable fact to say that both Katy Perry and Lady Gaga made themselves into pop staples early on in their careers. But have the two stars been able to maintain their popularity? Or have they been forgotten by the general public?
Katy Perry made her debut with a Christian album titled Katy Hudson, in March 2001. This was followed by her breakthrough album One of the Boys, released November 2007. Following these, in May 2010, Katy released one the best pop albums of the 2010s, Teenage Dream.
This album propelled Perry into icon status, solidifying her career, audience and sound. Lady Gaga, unlike Perry, debuted in 2008, with her album The Fame. This album was massively successful, and was followed by The Fame Monster in November 2008, and Born This Way in May of 2011.
These albums featured Gaga’s most popular songs, allowing Gaga, like Perry, to solidify herself as a pop icon because of her unique music and albums. Perry’s recent album 143, released in September 2024, categorises itself as a dance album. The album is 33 minutes long, includes 11 songs and contains features from Kim Petras, 21 Savage, Doechii and JID.
The album debuted at number 6 on both the US Billboard 200 and UK Album Chart. The title track “Woman’s World” sat at 63 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and 47 on the UK Singles Chart. The album received very mixed, but mostly negative, reviews from not only previously established fans, but from the general public.
Many compared Perry’s songs to AI generated music, which suggests that they found the songs to be so bad that they must not have been made by people. Furthermore, Perry went back to her roots, working with Dr. Luke who worked on her hit album Teenage Dream.
This caused more backlash and speculation due to Dr. Luke’s sexual assault allegations by Kesha. Perry saw the worst critical reception of her career with 143 because reviews were very harsh concerning the album.
Metacritic, for example, gave the album a score of 37/100, not only representing the lowest rating Perry has received across her career, but placing the album as the lowest rated of the 2020s. On the other hand, Gaga’s recent album Mayhem, released March 2025, categorised itself as mainly a synth pop album. The album is 53 minutes long, featuring Bruno Mars and Gesaffelstein. “Disease” and “Abracadabra” were released as singles prior to the album’s debut.
Songs from this album found themselves at number 5 on the Billboard Global 200, and number 13 on Billboard Hot 100. Gaga’s Grammy-winning song “Die With A Smile” reached its 17th consecutive week at number one on the Billboard Global 200. This album received very good reviews, from both fans and the general public alike, with many complimenting Gaga by mentioning how she had returned to her roots with a similar sounding album to The Fame, her debut album which gave Gaga the image she has now.
Comparing the two artists’ albums feels wrong, but has to be done. 143 and Mayhem are drastically different albums with different sounds and directions. Did Perry’s album deserve the hate it received? I believe so, as the album and songs were far too mediocre to warrant going back to working with Dr Luke, compared to Gaga, who successfully went back to The Fame sound and direction.
Perry poorly attempted to create a feminist anthem, which fell flat. But with that aside, have Mayhem and 143 proven that both Gaga and Perry are able to keep up with the new popstars, and the ever-changing trendy sound in the pop sphere? For Gaga, it is a simple yes, as Mayhem diverts itself away from the sounds of “Espresso” and “HOT TO GO!” and stands out with its unique sounding songs which allow Gaga to maintain her popularity but also keep up with the pop scene, through being herself and sticking to the sound that she knows best.
Contrastingly, Perry has demonstrated with the release of 143 that she isn’t really able to keep up with the current scene, and is struggling to create hits like she did early in her career. This makes one think, would it be best if Perry retired from music all together? Or could she take notes from the likes of Gaga, and go back to her iconic sound from albums like Teenage Dream to re-establish herself through her own sound rather than through chasing trends.