Lady Gaga Drops New Song “Applause” Early, Listen Here!

Let this be a lesson to all future Lady Gagas: When you're the biggest pop star on the planet and stop releasing music for two years, the world is going to be obsessing over every little music teaser you put out until the song properly drops...or it's inevitably leaked. Over the weekend, a snippet and various low-quality leaks of Lady Gaga's "Applause" single surfaced on the internet to the singer's dismay.

The leak was quickly scrubbed from the various music hosting sites thanks to a grassroots-esque effort by her diehard fans reporting every leak to the big guys. The general public, however, kept uploading the single and Gaga caved.

Defiant, filled with attitude, and deeply infused with an '80s electro beat, "Applause" is destined to be a big — nay, huge song. And yeah, it seems like Lady Gaga is calling it as she sees it: She does indeed live for the applause.