Lady Gaga has revealed that she performed five shows of her Chromatica Ball tour while testing positive for Covid.
The “Stupid Love” singer will soon release her concert film, Gaga Chromatica Ball, documenting her performance of her show at the Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles in September 2022.
The performance was one of 20 dates for the tour, which took place in countries across Europe, North America and Asia.
On Thursday (23 May), at the launch of the film, Gaga – real name Stefani Germanotta – shared some insight into her commitment to performing on the tour, recalling the “special time” and circumstances that surrounded it.
“I’m so incredibly lucky to be here with all of you. I’m so excited,” Gaga told the crowd, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“This was such a special time. This tour went on during a time that people didn’t think that you could tour [amid the pandemic] and stadiums were packed all over the world and they were sold out, all dressed up and dancing and singing. I’m just so excited for you all to see what we made up close.”
The star then revealed that she “did five shows with Covid” as she didn’t want to cancel and disappoint the tens of thousands of supporters who planned to attend.
She explained: “I shared [the news] with everyone on my team. I said, ‘I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable at work and you don’t have to perform and you don’t have to work that day, but I’m going to do the show’ because I just didn’t want to let all the fans down.
“And the way that I saw it also is like the fans were all putting themselves in harm’s way every day coming to the show.”
In response to the singer’s admission, fans have shared a range of views on social media, with some shocked at her actions.
“She performed with WHAT and WHERE during WHEN???” an aghast X user wrote.
A different user chimed in: “Ummm why on earth would you reveal that? You’re just giving yourself backlash because you’re putting the health and safety of not only yourself, but THOUSANDS of people at risk…,” while another simply claimed: “That’s just irresponsible.”
However, others were more understanding of the singer’s decision to perform while having the airborne virus.
“She was vaccinated around a group of the same 30 people for four months and they all knew when she was sick & consented to performing… CALM DOWN,” one person wrote on X.
Elsewhere, fans were impressed with the Grammy and Oscar-winning star’s ability to get through several shows while being unwell.
“This is actually very impressive given how much of a toll that virus puts on your body, she’s truly one of our greatest performers,” reads one X post.
The Independent has reached out to a representative of Lady Gaga for further comment.
Gaga Chromatica Ball will air on HBO on Saturday 25 May; a UK air date has yet to be confirmed.
