As Lady Gaga soared into her 2017 Super Bowl performance, her career hit a new high.
To perform a halftime show is already a milestone moment for any musician, but the exposure it provides during one of the most watched events of the year can position a star for mega success far beyond their 15 minutes on stage. This year's act, the five time Grammy-winning Lady Gaga, instantaneously reaped the benefits of her Super Bowl exposure. After all, she was the second most-watched act in the games' history with 117.5 million viewers, according to Fox.
With all of those eyeballs tuned in to her fiery routine, her music sales surged with roughly 150,000 song and album downloads on the night of the show, Nielsen Music reported. Her fame was no "perfect illusion"—fans new and old liked what they heard on the Houston stage and wanted more.
"I think that even if you have my music, or if you don't have it, there's something about watching a live performance that can reignite the fan in you," Gaga told Ryan Seacrest, reacting to the news of her sales spike. "It made me feel good."
Gaga fed that increasing demand just hours later when she announced plans to embark on a world tour in honor of her newest album, Joanne—her sixth concert series to date. "I can't wait to bring the #JOANNEWorldTour to all of you. See you very soon! Xoxo, Joanne," she tweeted to her 65 million followers.
The music played on when the star surprised fans with a fresh music video for her track, "John Wayne," on Wednesday. With just hours on YouTube, the video has already accumulated hundreds of thousands of views. However, Gaga's sights weren't solely set on music.
Already a success on the small screen as a Golden Globe winner for American Horror Story, Gaga's face made an unexpected appearance in a newly released trailer for Season 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race on Tuesday. "The time has come! I'm joining the girls on the season premiere of @RuPaulsDragRace!" she said on social media. "#DontBeADrag #JustBeAQueen."
While the week was only halfway through, Gaga had already gracefully fought her body critics and made a sartorial splash when she sat front row at Tommy Hilfiger and Gigi Hadid's collaborative fashion show in Los Angeles Wednesday night. Sporting rhinestone eye makeup, the star even made a statement from the sidelines.
Now, just days away from taking the stage at the 2017 Grammy Awards, the superstar is riding the newest wave of her hard-earned success.
"I'm getting ready to perform with Metallica and I'm super excited," she told Seacrest. "I don't know if it's just recently, over the past few months, but I've become really kind of zen and calm and confident about all the work that we're doing."
As her colleague RuPaul's famous slogan goes, "You better work!"—and working she certainly is.