Considering some of the bangers they’re collectively responsible for – including massive hits like Bad Romance, Rain On Me, Telephone, 24K Magic, Uptown Funk and Finesse – when we heard that Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars were teaming up on a new song, our imaginations went a bit wild considering what they might have cooked up.
What we hadn’t anticipated was that they’d have put their all into a theatrical ballad more in keeping with the A Star Is Born soundtrack or her Oscar-nominated Top Gun: Maverick offering than the top-tier pop songs many of us associate with her.
In the early hours of Friday morning, the pair unveiled Die With A Smile, their first ever collaboration, as well as its accompanying visuals, which throw it right back to the 1970s.
In the music video, Bruno and Gaga can be seen dressed in matching Western outfits, with the former performing in a cowboy hat while the latter sits at her piano, puffing on a cigarette with her hair stacked in a fabulous beehive.
Intrigued? Well, check out the Die With A Smile music video below:
While Gaga has been teasing her long-awaited seventh album for some time, she’s made it clear that Die With A Smile is a stand-alone single that most likely won’t feature on the collection.
Gaga said: “Bruno and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other and were talking about collaborating. I was finishing up my own album in Malibu and one night after a long day he asked me to come to his studio to hear something he was working on.
“It was around midnight when I got there and I was blown away when I heard what he had started making. We stayed up all night and finished writing and recording the song. Bruno’s talent is beyond explanation. His musicianship and vision is next level. There’s no one like him.”
“Getting to work with Gaga has been an honour,” Bruno added. “She’s an icon and she makes this song magical. I’m so excited for everyone to hear it.”
Last month, Gaga teased snippets of the song to fans in Paris, where she’d been performing as part of the Olympics Opening Ceremony.