Credit: WireImage
After releasing various bits and pieces over the course of several months, Lady Gaga has finally shown us the Full Monty: Born This Way has officially dropped! (Or, as Gaga might put it, emerged screaming from her studded, latex-clad womb.) Fan reactions on Twitter are predictably effusive, like that of baseball legend Jose Canseco, who would not mind becoming Lord Gaga. (I hear she's single now. Maybe she'll go for it!)
A cursory search of the #ladygaga or #bornthisway hashtag reveals hundreds more tweets just like this one from little monsters ecstatic to finally get their paws on a hard copy of the international superstar's second major release. With such glowing praise, one might think she'd be tempted to sit back and let her fan army do the rest to make the album a smash hit. But Gaga isn't leaving anything up to chance!
She's doing an insane number of things to promote it, including:
+ Selling digital downloads for 99 cents on Amazon in a limited-time offer that's bound to boost sales in the short term.
+ Signing autographs at the Best Buy in Union Square later today. She's gotta thank those baby monsters in person, of course!
+ Performing on the "American Idol" season finale this Wednesday and maybe even doing a duet with fellow guest Stevie Nicks. (She hasn't ruled it out!)
+ Blasting her music in every Starbucks.
Oh, and we haven't even begun to count the things she's already done, like:
+ Stopping by "The View" for an in-depth interview with Barbara Walters.
+ Filming "Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside," an exclusive special that will air on MTV this coming Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.
+ Starring, alongside her fans, in a commercial for Google Chrome. (The fan videos are all real submissions!)
+ Appearing on this past weekend's season finale of "Saturday Night Live" and k-i-l-l-i-n-g it!
If you haven't heard at least some of Born This Way by the time this week is over, then don't be surprised if Mother Monster shows up at your house, boombox in hand for a personal listening session. I mean, what won't she do for her fans -- past, present and future?
And don't miss MTV News' hour-long exclusive interview, "Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside," airing Thursday, May 26, at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.