Lady Gaga - Applause - Single

"Applause" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, taken from her third studio album, Artpop (2013). Written and produced by Gaga and DJ White Shadow, the song was released on August 12, 2013 by Interscope Records as the album's lead single. Originally intended for a release through mainstream and rhythmic airplay on August 19, 2013, it was rush-released a week earlier after two snippets of the song were leaked online on August 10. Details of the song were revealed throughout 2013 as Gaga tweeted its lyrics in early 2013. Written while touring for her Born This Way Ball, "Applause" was almost left out of Artpop.

Musically, the song contains electropop and Eurodance. Lyrically, it deals with how she is dependent on her fans' adoration, while her vocals on the track have been compared by music critics to those of Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics and David Bowie. While, overall, the song received generally positive reviews, contemporary music commentators incessantly compared the track to Katy Perry's "Roar", due to the proximity and nature of their releases. Pervasively, the commercial competition between the two songs has been the subject of many news articles and musical critiques.

"Applause" was commercially successful. It became Gaga's twelfth top-ten single in the United States, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The record reached number-one in Lebanon, Greece, Hungary, South Korea, and Spain, peaking within the top five in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Wallonia while also peaking within the top 10 in over 15 other markets.

To promote the record, Gaga performed at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, with many other notable live performances following. Additionally, Gaga sported the dramatic and colorful makeup employed on the single's cover art as a promotional tool on the day of release and after, encouraging her fans to wear it as well. The concept was inspired by a scene from the track's music video, which saw an official release on August 19. While on Good Morning America, Gaga premiered the video on the screens in Times Square. Beforehand, Gaga released an impromptu lyric video that she shot herself at the Mickys' drag nightclub.