DIE WITH A SMILE
by LADY GAGA & BRUNO MARS

Die With A Smile is the first-ever collaboration between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, released August 16 2024 via Interscope Records. 

A soft rock ballad that conjures images of lounge singers performing in rooms full of cigarette smoke, as well as a direct homage to a specific sub-set of 70s duet duos like Elton John and Kiki Dee and Sonny and Cher.

Written by Gaga and Mars, James Fauntleory, D'Mile and Andrew Watt (the latter two co-produced the track with its performers), Die With A Smile was announced with less than 24 hours notice and was something of a surprise release, given the hype around Gaga's forthcoming seventh album, of which Die With A Smile constitutes a separate release. 

Revealing the genesis of the song, Gaga said she was finishing work on her seventh album when Mars invited her to his Malibu studio and played her a demo of the song, which the two agreed to work on.

Die With A Smile is defined by the mutual respect Gaga and Mars clearly have for each other as artists; Gaga gamely meets Bruno in his tried-and-tested funk production, but injects her own pop sensibilities, giving a vocal performance that's both profoundly vintage while recalling her work on A Star Is Born's original soundtrack. 

The title of the track, of course, could be a cheeky reference to Gaga's upcoming role as Harley Quinn alongside Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Foile a Deux.

A music video, directed by Mars and Daniel Ramos, casts the two performers as a duo on the set of a retro 70s TV show, populated by nothing but mannequins.