LoveGame

Did You Know?

• Gaga wrote the song in roughly four minutes after uttering the line "I wanna ride on your disco stick" to a stranger at a nightclub.
• A remix of the song features rock musician Marilyn Manson.

Critical reception

The song received mostly positive reviews from critics. Daniel Brockman of The Phoenix praised its catchy songwriting and "sheer high-in-the-club-banging-to-the-beat abandon," calling the refrain "the trashiest-yet-awesomest" he had heard on a major-label record that year. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine criticized the lyrics as "cheap" and noted a lack of sex appeal in Gaga's enunciation. BBC described the track as robotic in its "disco stick" line but deemed it brilliant, awarding Gaga the yearbook title of "pop star most likely to kill." Nick Levine from Digital Spy considered the provocative line a direct reason for Gaga's commercial success, acknowledging the song as attention-seeking yet effective. Genevieve Koski from The A.V. Club called it a "propulsive club anthem" and complimented its synths and drum programming, describing it as a dizzying sonic trip. Evan Sawdey from PopMatters praised RedOne's production, listing the song among the best on The Fame. Ben Hogwood from MusicOMH declared it "top notch, diamond-encrusted pop," though he found some lyrics odd. Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe noted its "gutter level quippage with sinuous moves." Priya Elan from The Times was unimpressed, calling the song calculated. Billboard editor Chris Williams gave a positive review, highlighting its radio-friendly electropop feel and catchy hook.

Chart performance

After its release, "LoveGame" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 96 for the week ending March 21, 2009, then fell off the chart. Seven weeks later it reached number ten with 107,000 digital downloads, becoming the week's greatest digital gainer. Two weeks after that it peaked at number five. The song reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart and became Gaga's third number one on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. The RIAA certified it triple platinum for shipment of three million copies in the United States, where it had sold 2.67 million digital downloads as of February 2019. In Canada, the song debuted at number 68 on the Canadian Hot 100 before its official single release, later climbing to a peak of number two. The CRIA certified it double platinum in June 2009 for 160,000 paid digital downloads. In Australia, it debuted at number 92 on the ARIA Charts and peaked at number four, becoming Gaga's third top-five single there; the ARIA certified it quadruple platinum for 280,000 equivalent units. In New Zealand, it peaked at number 12 and received a platinum certification from RMNZ for 30,000 equivalent units. On the Irish Singles Chart it peaked at number 30 after eight weeks, and in Finland it reached a peak of number 12.

Music video

The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and shot back-to-back with the video for "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" on January 9–10, 2009, inside a warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California. It premiered on March 23, 2009, in Australia and on August 13, 2009, in the UK on 4Music. The video is set in a New York City subway station, with scenes reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Bad" video. Gaga described it as a "giant" dance video that is "plastic, beautiful, gorgeous, sweaty, tar on the floor," featuring scary and dangerous-looking men. She enlisted downtown New York dancers who would not normally be cast. A prop developed for the video was a pair of wire sunglasses, which Gaga imagined as something a "downtown, bad-ass kid" would make from a fence. The video opens with three men moving through Times Square and opening a manhole cover marked "Haus of Gaga." Gaga appears naked with blue and purple paint and glitter, frolicking with two men who have "Love" and "Fame" shaved into their heads. The scene shifts to a subway where Gaga sings in a grey-white leotard with a hood, carrying her disco stick and wearing chain-linked glasses. The chorus shows Gaga and dancers moving through the subway and down a staircase, with two harlequin Great Danes on top of the stairs.

Live performances

Lady Gaga brought "LoveGame" to life for the first time in June 2008 during a special MTV Asia broadcast from the Isle of Malta. She followed that with a performance on the UK show The Album Chart Show on February 4, 2009, while promoting her debut album The Fame. An acoustic version had already been played at MTV Sessions in January 2009, and on March 20, she sang it at the AOL Sessions alongside other hits. On The Fame Ball Tour, "LoveGame" was the second song in the set, paired with "Starstruck." For that tour, Gaga wore a silver-and-black tutu-like skirt with a peplum shape, a triangular piece over her right breast, and ultra-spike high heels. She performed the track on the Australian talk show Rove on May 17, 2009, and later at the season eight finale of Dancing with the Stars. At the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, she mixed "LoveGame" with a remix of "Poker Face" during an indoor-outdoor street-side show, acting out a scene trapped in a fake subway car surrounded by fake police officers, which was meant as a tribute to New York City. In 2014, the Toronto Sun ranked that moment as the fifth most jaw-dropping in MMVA history, noting her introduction of the flaming bra. On September 8, 2009, she performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and later on Saturday Night Live, she delivered a full live band version while spinning inside a large gyroscope-like contraption.