Queer Classic: 2008—The Year Mother Monster Found The Fame

Interviewed by Out in September 2009, Lady Gaga reflected on the phenomenon that was The Fame, the album that established her as a ubiquitous presence in American culture, and not only within the queer subculture she championed. Although it began as a slow burn, Gaga's debut would spawn multiple hits, including "Poker Face," "Just Dance," and "LoveGame," with its tongue-in-cheek plea to "take a ride on your disco stick."

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It would also herald the most self-consciously chameleonic pop sensibility since David Bowie -- from a coat made of Kermits to her infamous meat dress (a protest against the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, then still in effect). It was all deliciously OTT and camp. "I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream," she told Out at the time. "It's not an underground tool for me. It's my whole life. I always joke the real motivation is to just turn the world gay."