Born This Way was released worldwide on May 23, 2011. A special edition of the album is also available, and has three additional songs and five remixes. While accepting the Video of the Year award for "Bad Romance" at the MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga announced the album's title before declaring that she promised that she would reveal it if she won that award. This revelation was followed by Gaga singing a few lines from the title song: "I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes; I'm on the right track baby, I was Born This Way." Given as a Christmas "gift" to her fans, Gaga announced via Twitter the release dates of the album and its lead single at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day 2011. Supplementing this announcement came a black-and-white photograph in which Gaga is "nude from the waist down, with her hair blowing about, and sporting a jacket with Born This Way emblazoned in what looks like bedazzled jewels."
Upon the performance of a ballad, "You and I", on Today's Toyota Concert Series in July 2010, Gaga confirmed that it would be featured on the album yet the song bared "a different sound than the [rest of the] album." The track was then added to her set list at The Monster Ball. In a further atypical manner, she released the complete set of lyrics to "Born This Way" on her official Twitter page in late January 2011.
To promote the album, Lady Gaga has released songs on Farmville (Gagaville). Zynga made a farm for her and tasks had to be completed in order to unlock streamings for three unheard songs from the album.