Lady Gaga’s ‘Harlequin Live’ Christmas Eve Concert Special Inspired by “Joker: Folie à Deux” is Coming to YouTube

Lady Gaga is bringing her fans a very special Christmas treat. Her concert film, Lady Gaga in Harlequin Live — One Night Only, will be released on YouTube on Christmas Eve at 4 p.m. PT.

The special features songs from her 2024 album Harlequin, which was inspired by Joker: Folie à Deux. The news comes after a recent premiere at the Grammy Museum, where Gaga participated in a Q&A with Variety’s Chris Willman about the project and the album behind it.

The concert was filmed at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles on September 30, 2024, during a late-night performance that went past midnight. Only a small group of fans attended at the time, making it feel like a secret, almost mythical event.

Variety was the only media outlet to review the show, calling it “one of the best things she’s ever done.” Gaga explained why the concert is being shared now. “I’m feeling like: Why not? We have this thing that’s so special to us, so we’re just really happy to share it with the fans. It’s kind of a rebellious project. And, by Harlequin standards, Christmas is the perfect time to release something rebellious,” she said.

The concert features the full Harlequin album performed live with a six-piece band. The setting is designed to look like a messy apartment, giving the show a raw and intimate feel. Gaga drew inspiration from the album’s artwork and her own early days performing in small, run-down apartments on the Lower East Side of New York. “That’s how the emotional and raw quality of how we made it made its way into this performance,” she said.

Gaga said the performance was originally planned to be just three songs. “A couple days before, Michael and I were like, ‘What? We’re just gonna do the whole album,’” she explained. She rehearsed only briefly with her band before the show, wanting to capture a loose, emotional vibe. Gaga also mentioned that she and her musicians drew inspiration from surf punk and jazz influences to shape the album’s sound.

The concert includes a special nod to Tony Bennett, her late collaborator on previous traditional pop albums. A small black-and-white TV on the stage plays a looping video of Bennett during her performance of the song Smile. “Well, he loved ‘Smile,’” Gaga said. “And man, could he sing it, too — Tony’s version of ‘Smile’ was my favorite, after Nat King Cole’s.”

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