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Lady Gaga says she thought she’d never perform on stage again: 'I couldn’t even dream anything but a painful nightmare'

The singer's highly-anticipated Chromatica Ball tour kicks off on Sunday, July 17 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
/ Source: TODAY

Lady Gaga expressed her past fears about never returning to the stage in a candid post on social media.

Two days before the start of her highly-anticipated Chromatica Ball tour — which will run from July 17 to September 17 this year — the singer penned an emotional note on Twitter about her feelings of performing on stage.

“There was a time I thought I’d never be on stage again,” the 36-year-old wrote. “I was so sad I couldn’t even dream anything but a painful nightmare. I’ve overcome my nightmare with love, support, trust, truth, bravery, talent and dedication. I am so grateful. I’ll see you in BABYLON.”

The Chromatica Ball tour

The Chromatica Ball tour was initially announced on March 5, 2020 to support her studio album “Chromatica” but was ultimately postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She released the rescheduled dates for her summer tour in March 2022, which will kick-off in Düsseldorf, Germany on Sunday and end in Miami, Florida.

Her last tour was the Joanne World Tour to support her 2016 studio album “Joanne,” running from August 2017 through the beginning of February 2018. 

In the years between, Lady Gaga has balanced multiple projects and career milestones.

She starred in the 2018 movie “A Star Is Born" alongside Bradley Cooper, earning multiple nominations and accolades for her performance. Lady Gaga received an Academy Award nomination for best actress in a leading role, as well as a Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe for the song “Shallow” from the film.

Her other acting endeavors includ starring in the 2021 film “House of Gucci” opposite Adam Driver where she portrayed the role of Patrizia Reggiani in the crime drama.

When it came to her music, in addition to releasing her new album in 2020, she continued her Las Vegas residency at the Park Theater at Park MGM called Enigma + Jazz & Piano, which kicked off in December 2018, was put on pause because of the pandemic before concluding in May 2022.

She also performed the national anthem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden in January 2021. Later that year on August 3 and August 5, Lady Gaga reunited with her frequent collaboration Tony Bennett for two shows at Radio City Music Hall, which was documented in the live concert special “One Last Time: an Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga” and are regarded as their final performances together.

Lady Gaga then made an appearance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in April 2022, where she was sweetly introduced by Bennett to sing a medley of two of their songs from their album, “Love for Sale.”