Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney's Relationship Timeline: A Look Back

Global superstar Lady Gaga has admitted to having her fill of bad romances, but it would seem that her nearly-five-year love affair with Chicago Fire actor Taylor Kinney was quite good (despite their breakup, of course). After making an unforgettable first impression on the multi-Grammy award winner at work, the two kept it on the DL — until they didn't. Who can forget their infamous (read: very naked) cover of V Magazine? And what about their utterly romantic Valentine's Day engagement?

Although the pair decided to part ways in 2016, things still appear amicable between them. In fact, the singer gave her ex a shoutout while performing at a Pennsylvania rally for Joe Biden before the 2020 election. As for Kinney "liking" a negative Instagram comment about Gaga, it was a total accident.

So how did the Oscar winner and The Vampire Diaries alum go from perfect strangers to googly-eyed lovers to friendly exes, exactly? Here’s a look back at Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney's relationship.

July 2011: Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney first meet

The pair first locked eyes — and lips — on the set of Gaga's iconic "Yoü and I" music video back in 2011. When the cameras began rolling, Kinney, an actor in the video, went off-script.

"I went up and I kissed her, and she didn't expect it, and they cut and she slapped me," Kinney told Andy Cohen during a 2015 episode of Watch What Happens Live. "It was just awkward. And the next take I just did it again."

While that doesn't sound like the most winning first impression, Gaga told Ellen DeGeneres that she didn't mind the overture, though she was confused by it.

"I've got these pins sticking out of my head and I'm wearing cork and I've got no hair and I'm bald," she said of her on-set look. "We were in the middle of this scene and I remember that he kissed me and it wasn't scripted for him to kiss me. I was sort of like, 'Uh, you know, was that real or was that fake?' And he just didn't really say anything, and that was fine by me and we just kept filming."

September 2011: Lady Gaga and Tayor Kinney are first spotted together

In September, one month after the video's release, People reported that Gaga and Kinney were "hooking up." According to Marie Claire, they were also seen together on both coasts, going on dates near Kinney's California home and leaving a New York dance studio. Two months later, they became paparazzi-photo official. However, it wasn't until their appearance at NBC's 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards after-party in January 2014, which included some PDA, that their relationship status as boyfriend and girlfriend was solidified.

February 14, 2015: Taylor Kinney proposes to Lady Gaga

Kinney proposed on Valentine's Day in 2015, first presenting the pop star with a ring pop and then breaking out a heart-shaped diamond. "First he gave me a Ring Pop. That was kind of amazing and I was crying, I was so excited," Gaga told Access Hollywood of the proposal. "I said, "Yes!" right away and then he pulled out the heart-shaped diamond. First it was candy. I was happy with the candy."

Addressing the "M" word just two months before Kinney proposed, Gaga told ABC News, "If I get married I'm gonna be like hanging out of a pickup truck in a David's Bridal [gown] while my stylist is screaming at me, trying to put a blonde wig on my head!" But alas, her insouciant wedding day dreams with the Zero Dark Thirty cast member would not be coming to fruition.

July 2016: Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney break up

In July 2016, People reported that Gaga and Kinney had split (and, ostensibly, called off the David's Bridal-inspired wedding). One day later, the Art Pop singer shared her own statement via Instagram.

"Taylor and I have always believed we are soulmates," she wrote. "Just like all couples we have ups and downs, and we have been taking a break. We are both ambitious artists, hoping to work through long-distance and complicated schedules to continue the simple love we have always shared. Please root us on. We're just like everybody else and we really love each other."

In October, she appeared to hint at what had caused the split during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning. "[Women] just love with everything we have. And sometimes I don't know that that love is met with the type of dignity that we wish it would be met with," she explained. "You know, we're not trying to make you less of a man. We just want you to love us as deeply and as wholesomely and as fully as we love you."

The following year, Gaga commented on the breakup in her Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, noting that her professional successes tend to coincide with major breakups. "My love life has just imploded," she said on camera. "I sold 10 million [records] and lost Matt [Williams]. I sold 30 million and lost Lüc [Carl]. I did a movie and lose Taylor. It's like a turnover. This is the third time I've had my heart broken like this."

Despite the split, Kinney sent Gaga flowers on the day of her Super Bowl performance. "Nothing like flowers from your ex-fiancé on the day of the Super Bowl," she joked in the film.

#TBT: Check in every Thursday as we throw it back to some of our favorite celebrity couples of all time.