"Rain on Me" | ||||
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Single by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande | ||||
from the album Chromatica | ||||
Released | May 22, 2020 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:02 | |||
Label | Interscope | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Lady Gaga singles chronology | ||||
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Ariana Grande singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Rain on Me" on YouTube |
"Rain on Me" is a song by American singers Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande from Gaga's sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020). They co-wrote it with Nija Charles,Rami Yacoub,Tchami,Boys Noize and its producers,BloodPop and Burns. An upbeat house,dance-pop and disco song,the track features a synth-disco beat and funk guitars. It explores resilience in defiance of the hardships in life.
"Rain on Me" was released by Interscope Records as the album's second single on May 22,2020. Music critics lauded the singers' vocals as well as the song's message. Upon entering at the top of the Billboard Hot 100,the track became Gaga's fifth and Grande's fourth number-one single in the United States. It marked the first all-female collaboration to debut atop the chart and made Grande the first artist to have four songs debut at the top spot. On Spotify,"Rain on Me" was the seventh most streamed song of summer 2020 and the most streamed song by a female artist globally during the season. [1] Additionally,"Rain on Me" topped the charts in Canada,Croatia,Greece,Hungary,Ireland,Israel,Scotland,Singapore,and the United Kingdom.
The accompanying music video was directed by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez,and features Gaga and Grande dancing inside a giant arena during a rainstorm,with daggers falling from the sky. "Rain on Me" was nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards,winning for Song of the Year and two more other awards while being nominated for Video of the Year. The duo gave a performance of "Rain on Me" at the VMA show,while Gaga performed the song solo on The Chromatica Ball tour (2022). "Rain on Me" was further promoted with the release of mock news broadcasts in partnership with The Weather Channel in which Gaga and Grande both appeared. The song won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards,being the first female collaboration in history to win. [2]
The song was first mentioned in Gaga's March 2020 interview with Paper ,when she was unknown to be with Grande,was described as a "monster of a dance tune,but its message is about submitting yourself to devastation–a flawless dance floor crier as a "celebration of all the tears". [3] Gaga disclosed that she had collaborated with a "fellow female pop star who [had similarly experienced] immense trauma while in the public eye" and went into depth about the genesis of their song:"I sat with her and we talked about our lives. It's two women having a conversation about how to keep going and how to be grateful for what you do." [3]
In her May 21,2020 interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1,Gaga further talked about the writing process of the song:
[Grande] was so wonderful and I think that maybe she assumed that she was gonna come in and I would be like "here, just sing this and thank you so much for your time" right. But instead I asked her what she needed, how she wanted to do things. ...When she came to the studio I was still crying, she came up to me and said, "You're gonna be alright, call me, here's my number", and she was very persistent, she tried being friends with me so many times. But I was very ashamed, I didn't want to project all that negativity onto her. Then she came up to me and said "you're hiding", and I said "yeah, you're right, I'm absolutely hiding", and that's where our friendship blossomed. [4]
"Rain on Me" was written by Gaga, Grande, Burns, Nija Charles, Rami Yacoub, Bresso, Boys Noize and Chromatica executive producer BloodPop. [5] [6] Co-producer Burns explained that he wanted to create the "same energy" that songs like "Another Chance" by Roger Sanchez and "Music Sounds Better with You" by the French house group Stardust have, so that it could "feel classic but modern at the same time." [7] Initially, the song was "a stark, solo acid-house demo", and Burns disclosed how the track changed significantly during their process:
We all knew that "Rain on Me" had huge potential and was an incredible song, but the production didn't fit with the overall sound. So, Blood[pop] had asked if I could try some stuff with it. I took the vocal and wanted to try some new movement of the chords and explored different progressions to see if it changed the mood. It was kind of subconscious that I started playing the bassline from "All This Love That I'm Givin" by Gwen McCrae under the chorus, and that felt like another lightbulb moment. I remember Blood turning to me and smiling like we'd just cracked a code. [8]
"Rain on Me" is a house, dance-pop, and disco song, [9] [10] [11] with electropop, French house, and Eurodance elements. [12] [13] [14] It was composed using 4
4 common time in the key of C♯ minor, with a tempo of 123 beats per minute. [15] Most of the song follows a C♯m7–Amaj9 sequence, while the first verse and second pre-chorus add a B(add4) and both pre-choruses include an F♯m11 at the end. [15] The track features an upbeat production consisting of synth-pop instrumentals, an R&B-influenced synth-disco beat, synth claps, funk guitar strums, and rolling synths. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
It opens with a stripped-down verse with Gaga's vocals at the forefront. [21] Then, a French house bass and thundering percussion play in the background. [22] The mid-90s house-pop hook contains a pitched-down vocal loop. [22] In the chorus, which is described as thundering, [18] the beats build up, which then drops into a techno beat. [21] After doing ad-libs, Grande joins in the second verse, where hand-clapped beats are added. [23] [21] The final chorus "explodes" with the singers belting the song. [24]
Gaga's and Grande's vocals, which were described as "booming", [25] span from the low note of G♯3 to the high note of B5. [15] Vocally, Gaga makes use of spoken word deliveries, [26] and Grande uses her "signature" high note octave. [11] Described by Gaga as a "celebration of tears", the song uses the metaphor of rain for alcohol used to numb pain. [22] Its first verse sees Gaga thinking about the hardships of life, while Grande delivers lyrics about accepting reality in the second verse. According to Elle , the song is about "persevering through hardship, healing, and finding beauty in the pain, heartbreak, and life." [27]
"Rain on Me" was officially announced on April 22, 2020, when Gaga posted the tracklist of her Chromatica album. [28] On May 15, 2020, both Gaga and Grande posted the single's cover art on Instagram and Twitter to announce its release a week later. [29] [30] It premiered as the album's second single on May 21, 2020, at 21:00 PT (4:00 UTC on May 22, 2020). [31] The song was also promoted through an Amazon Music lyric video commercial. [32] To coincide with the single release, rain-themed merchandise items were made available in Gaga's official online store, such as rainboots, ponchos, and umbrellas. [33] On May 27, 2020, a limited 7-inch vinyl with alternate artwork became available to ship on Lady Gaga's official web store. [34]
On May 26, 2020, Gaga and Grande posted a one-minute skit in partnership with The Weather Channel, where they give a mock weather update while holding an umbrella, and talk about how they "would like to celebrate the rain". [35] [36] On May 28, 2020, they released another weather update, filmed in Gaga's pool and Grande's bathtub. [37] On August 26, 2020, Gaga announced an online competition with a $10,000 cash grand prize for the winner, where participants had to design a poster inspired by "Rain on Me", using Adobe creative apps. [38] "Rain on Me" was added to a list of songs played on Fortnite in-game radio stations. [39] The song was later used in the game again as part of Gaga's feature in the Fortnite Festival mode. The game's shop added the song as a purchasable Jam Track that can be played on instruments in the music-centered game mode. An "emote" titled "Rain Check" was added to game's shop that prompts a player's character to "perform" a portion of the track's official choreography in-game. [40] [41]
"Rain on Me" received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. [42] Adam White of The Independent gave "Rain on Me" four out of five stars, expressing that the song was "three minutes of euphoric melodrama" and a "theatrical and replenishing triumph". [26] Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Rain on Me" is "taking fans to sonic heaven" with the "therapeutic banger". [24] Mikale Wood from the Los Angeles Times called it "a fist-pumping self-empowerment jam". [43] Althea Legapsi of Rolling Stone labeled the song "rejuvenating", noting that the singers offer "a call-and-response exchange" as they "tout the rejuvenating aspects of the situation, despite the metaphorical bad weather sentiments." [23] Dave Quinn from People highlighted "Grande touching her signature high note octaves" and "Gaga's bold voice" that "echos throughout the track as she sings, "Rain on Me" and "Hands up to the sky/I'll be your galaxy". [44] Quinn Moreland of Pitchfork praised the song, writing that it "draws its power from two women connecting on an emotional level." [9] In a rave review, Brenden Wetmore of Paper described the song as "absolutely electric by its end, having charged up enough raw emotion and heartbreak to power an entire circuit party's worth of strobe lights." [20]
Craig Jenkins of Vulture complimented the singers' vocals and the beat, and thought that the song "will be huge", because "it has that nebulous quality memorable pop hits have where the lyric seems distinctly about one thing but also not about anything in particular." [45] Hannah Mylrea from NME called it a "smash hit" that "may just be Gaga's best song since 2011's 'Born This Way"". [46] Rania Aniftos from Billboard thought that "the song showcases both Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga's unmatched vocals". [47] Billboard also named "Rain on Me" as the second best song off Gaga's Chromatica album, stating that "the incredible [...] production and uplifting song writing help make the song great, but its the unmatched chemistry between the two pop divas that makes it one of Gaga's best." [48] Chris DeVille of Stereogum called the song "epic", saying that "there is some genuine catharsis in there [...] when Gaga and Ariana Grande come together to persevere through trauma." [49] Matt Melis of Consequence wrote that "Gaga and Grande have vocal chops for miles", and called it a "dynamite feature". He also thought that "it's the release all of us have needed at least a couple dozen times during this pandemic", while highlighting its uplifting message: "No matter how bad the storm gets, we will endure and perhaps come out a little cleaner on the other side for the pain." [50] Allison Stewart from The Washington Post called the song a "big-voiced superdiva summit" that is "engineered to be irresistible". [51] Evan Sawdey from PopMatters named it "one of [Gaga's] all-time greatest singles", that "flies through its three-minute run time so quickly you barely realize it's about alcohol abuse". [52] Alexa Camp of Slant Magazine was less enthusiastic, and while she opined that "Rain on Me" is "an improvement over previous single 'Stupid Love '", she described the song as "two overzealous vocalists duking it out to see who can out-sing the other over the course of the track's three chart-maximizing minutes" and criticized the song's bridge. [22]
"Rain on Me" was considered one of the best songs of 2020 by many critics. Ben Beaumont-Thomas from The Guardian named "Rain on Me" as the best song of 2020, stating "it's that sense of transcendence that makes it such a potent song in 2020, by acknowledging the rain and dancing through it". [53] Billboard staff also named "Rain on Me" as the best song of the year, calling it a "stratospheric level of pop perfection" and stating "the song's true historical legacy will become clearer years from now when we look back on 2020, 'Rain on Me' stands apart as the song that helped millions of people cope with the uncertainty, tragedy, and anxiety of an endless downpour of a year". [54] Chris DeVille from Stereogum named "Rain on Me" as the best pop song of 2020, calling it an epic dance track that finds euphoria in resilience and stating "Over a mammoth '90s-vintage house beat, Gaga and Grande channeled every ounce of their diva power, not quite erasing their trauma and struggle but vanquishing it for three minutes at a time". [55] Helen Ainsley from the Official Charts Company picked "Rain on Me" as her favorite song of 2020, stating that "like a sudden downpour after a heatwave, 'Rain on Me' was an antidote to the drudge and uncertainty of the first few months of lockdown. This candid collab between two of pop's most beloved powerhouses was a rousing reminder that while we may be struggling, at least we're alive, packaged inside a dance-pop stomper that would have dominated clubs had they been open." [56]
Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
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Billboard | The 100 Best Songs of 2020 | 1 | [54] |
DIY | Best Tracks of 2020 | 7 | [57] |
The Guardian | The 20 Best Songs of 2020 | 1 | [58] |
Insider | The 30 Best Songs of 2020 | 7 | [59] |
The New York Times | Lindsay Zoladz's Best Songs of 2020 | 5 | [60] |
Official Charts Company | Helen Ainsley's Favourite Songs of 2020 | 1 | [56] |
Pitchfork | The 100 Best Songs of 2020 | 11 | [61] |
Slate | Chris Molanphy's Top 20 Singles of 2020 | 2 | [62] |
Stereogum | The Top 40 Pop Songs of 2020 | 1 | [55] |
Vulture | The Best Songs of 2020 | 10 | [63] |
"Rain on Me" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Gaga's fifth and Grande's fourth number one single, as well as Gaga's seventeenth top 10 entry and Grande's sixteenth. It additionally became the first female collaboration song to debut at number one on the chart. "Rain on Me" is Gaga's second song to debut at the top following "Born This Way", making her the fourth female artist to have two songs debut at number one, following Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, and Ariana Grande, and seventh overall, following Drake, Justin Bieber, and Travis Scott. Gaga is also the third artist, following Carey and Beyoncé to accumulate a number-one single in the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s decades. Grande became the first artist to have four number-one debut singles, surpassing Carey, Drake, and Bieber. Gaga also earns her eighth Digital Song Sales No. 1 and Grande adds her seventh. The song generated 31.5 million streams, 73,000 downloads, and 11.1 million audience impressions in the week ending May 28, 2020. On March 17, 2021, "Rain on Me" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for moving 2 million units in the United States. The song's sales were aided by four physical/digital combination offerings during the tracking week; consumers could also purchase cassette, CD, and vinyl singles, each with a digital download. [64]
"Rain on Me" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart becoming both Gaga and Grande's sixth UK number-one single and Gaga's first single to debut atop. Gaga became the fourth female artist to have a number-one single across three consecutive decades.
The song attracted 70,000 chart sales, besting DaBaby's "Rockstar", and achieved the best ever opening week streaming numbers by an all-female collaboration in the UK, with 8.1 million plays in seven days. At six number-one singles each, Gaga and Grande match Britney Spears and Rod Stewart with the tenth-most number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart. [65] With 515,000 chart sales during the three-month period, "Rain on Me" was the third best selling song of summer 2020 in the UK, being the biggest song by a female artist in the country. [66] "Rain on Me" was the seventeenth biggest song of 2020 in the UK, while also being the fourth biggest song by female artists in the country. It was the twelfth-best-selling and twentieth-most streamed song of 2020 in the United Kingdom. [67] As of July 2022, the song had sold 1.3 million copies, gained 153 million streams, [68] and had been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). [69]
In Ireland, "Rain on Me" debuted atop the Irish Singles Chart, becoming Grande's sixth and Gaga's seventh number-one single in the country. "Rain on Me" also scored the biggest opening week of 2020, surpassing the previous best set by Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die". "Rain on Me" is Gaga's first song to debut in pole position in over nine years since "Born This Way" in 2011 and Grande's sixth to lead the top 50 in Ireland, and in doing so, she matched Rihanna as the female artist with the most number-ones of the past ten years. [70] "Rain on Me" was the 20th biggest song of 2020 in Ireland and the 5th biggest song by a female artist in the country. It was also the fastest-selling single of 2020. [71]
In Canada, "Rain on Me" entered the Canadian Hot 100 chart at the top position on the issue dated June 6, 2020, becoming Gaga's sixth and Grande's fourth number one single in the country. [72] It also debuted at number one on the Canadian Digital Songs Sales chart. [73] In Australia, "Rain on Me" debuted at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart dated June 1, 2020, becoming Gaga's fourteenth and Grande's fifteenth top ten singles in the country. For Grande, it is the second top 10 duet single to debut in that tier in three weeks, following "Stuck with U". [74] It remained at number two in its second week, still behind DaBaby's "Rockstar". [75]
"What I really wanna do in this video so much is celebrate women and I wanna show people how to do it."
—Gaga talking about her main goal behind the video. [76]
The music video for "Rain on Me" was filmed in Los Angeles from February 20 to 24, 2020, shortly before the state of California went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [77] Laura Pulice designed the outfits that Gaga and Grande were wearing, and Vex Clothing, a business that specializes in latex suits, made them. [78] Pulice said that the inspiration for Gaga's look was "futuristic sci-fi punk" and "a heavy metal album sex symbol", while for Grande they "wanted to keep with the style that she's comfortable with, while staying with the futuristic theme of the video." [77] The singers' makeup was done by Sarah Tanno, who used products from Haus Laboratories and "wanted the looks to feel powerful, pop, with a mix of dangerous rebellion." [79] The fashion of the video includes lots of "dominatrix-esque" [80] latex and PVC. [81] Choreographer Richy Jackson aspired to develop choreography that was uplifting and easy to recreate for those who watched it. He added that he really enjoyed the process because he was "able to work with both Gaga and Ariana and design their dances based on their individual artistic personalities, unique likenesses and differences, as well as how they each sang their lyrics." [82]
Prior to the release of the video, Gaga talked with Beats 1's Zane Lowe about working with Grande on the video, saying that "she was so open to trying things that she hasn't done before". [4] The music video was directed by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who had previously worked with Gaga on the films Machete Kills (2013) and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014). [24] It premiered on May 22, 2020, at 10 a.m. PT. [83] On August 6, 2020, Gaga released the forty-eighth episode of her web series Gagavision, showing her and Grande going through rehearsals and filming the music video. [76]
The video starts with "Gaga lying on the ground in a pose similar to that on the Chromatica artwork with a dagger stuck in her thigh", which she later pulls out. [85] [84] Gaga appears in a pink outfit and platform boots, leading a troupe of dancers also dressed in pink as in her previous video for "Stupid Love", [86] while Grande wears a purple outfit and a "shiny black metallic miniskirt with butterfly wings", with her respective group of dancers also in purple. [87] [88] They are all dancing inside a giant arena during a rainstorm, with daggers falling from the sky. At one point in the clip, Gaga sports Grande's "trademark high pony" hairstyle, with Grande having her hair down. [81] The video also features "some dramatic close-ups of Gaga with rain pouring down her face" behind a pane of glass and a scene where the two singers are holding hands, "each with lengthy Sailor Moon hair floating in the wind behind them". [88] [87] The video ends with a shot of the two singers hugging each other.
Amy Mackelden of Harper's Bazaar thought the music video "is nothing short of iconic", and "features dramatic costume changes, and killer dance moves". [89] Erin Vanderhoof of Vanity Fair called it a "lavishly produced and animated video" with "TikTok–friendly" dance moves, and found it "a bit of nostalgia to [...] the pre-coronavirus days". [84] Kyle Munzenrieder of W magazine also noted that the choreography would translate well to TikTok videos as "the singers mostly stay static in place and pull the kind of moves one could easily record themselves doing in their bedroom". [13] Stefanee Wang of Nylon complimented the performances of Gaga and Grande in the video, saying that "neither of them miss a single beat". She added that the visual for the song "makes a convincing case that, when the world falls, society should really just become a huge dance party. [90] Brendan Wetmore of Paper found the video "equally as sparkly" as the single, "putting the two '10s dance-pop icons alongside each other for a riot in the rain." [20] Critics found inspiration in the video from Blade Runner , [87] Mortal Kombat [81] and Bayonetta . [91] The music video garnered 12 million views in its first 11 hours. [92]
On August 30, 2020, the duo performed the song at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, marking its first live performance. The track was part of a medley of songs from Chromatica. After performing "911", Gaga changed into a purple outfit with a spiky shoulder-piece and started singing "Rain on Me". Grande joined her on stage, sporting long pigtails and high, white platform shoes. Accompanied by dancers, they performed the choreography as seen in the music video for the song, which included their synchronized jumping. [93] [94] Joey Nolfi from Entertainment Weekly called the performance "epic", as "the two singers hit high notes and performed exuberant choreography, wearing futuristic masks the entire time." [95]
In 2022, Gaga performed "Rain on Me" at The Chromatica Ball stadium tour. Similarly to the music video, she starts singing the song flat on her back. [96] The show in Los Angeles, – which was recorded for an unknown project, – involved fireworks exploding over Dodger Stadium during the closing part of "Rain on Me". [97]
On July 17, 2021, remixes of "Rain on Me" done by Ralphi Rosario and Purple Disco Machine were released digitally. [98] [99] On August 9, 2021, Venezuelan producer Arca announced via Discord that she produced her own remix of the song for Gaga's third remix album Dawn of Chromatica (2021). [100] Her rendition samples the songs "Time" and "Mequetrefe" off her fourth studio album Kick I (2020), as well as the Changa tuki track "Mételo Sácalo" by DJ Yirvin. [101]
In a review of Dawn of Chromatica, Slant Magazine's Alexa Camp praised Arca's remix of the track, claiming that "it offers a glimpse of what Chromatica might have sounded like had Gaga's music lived up to the avant-garde pop image she's created for herself." [102] It also earned the praise of Pitchfork's Jamieson Cox, who thought it was Dawn of Chromatica's "most radical cut" that "situate[s] Gaga and Ariana Grande within Kick I's gossamer avant-pop." [103] Writing for Clash , Robin Murray thought that Arca's "mosaic-like approach" to the deconstruction of the song has "a sly, subversive edge." [104] Sam Murphy of Junkee opined that Arca's remix "emerges from a sonic sludge, slowly revealing the song's euphoria bit-by-bit. The euphoria is harder to access but by the time it builds to its climax, through glitchy synths and chopped vocals, the pay-off is glorious." [105] Alex Rigotti from Gigwise appreciated the producer's risk-taking in the remix, saying that "Arca lets the track simmer and steam, never letting up", and opined that "the decision to make all of 'Rain on Me' high-strung and tense with no resolution was certainly a big choice". She, however, added that she "respect[s] the intentions more than the product", saying that this remix is not one she "personally would come back to a lot". [106]
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Credits adapted from the liner notes of Chromatica. [6]
Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [245] | 5× Platinum | 350,000‡ |
Belgium (BEA) [246] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [247] | 3× Diamond | 480,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [248] | 2× Platinum | 160,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [249] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [250] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [251] | Gold | 200,000‡ |
Hungary (MAHASZ) [252] | Gold | 2,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [253] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [254] | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
Norway (IFPI Norway) [255] | 2× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [256] | 3× Platinum | 150,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [257] | Platinum | 10,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [258] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [69] | 2× Platinum | 1,300,000 [68] |
United States (RIAA) [259] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
Streaming | ||
Japan (RIAJ) [260] | Gold | 50,000,000† |
Sweden (GLF) [261] | Platinum | 8,000,000† |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Version | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | May 22, 2020 | Original | Interscope | [124] | |
Digital download | Instrumental | [126] | |||
United States | May 25, 2020 | Original | [262] | ||
May 26, 2020 | Contemporary hit radio | [263] | |||
Italy | June 5, 2020 | Radio airplay | Universal | [264] | |
Various | July 17, 2020 |
| Purple Disco Machine remix | Interscope | [98] |
Ralphi Rosario remix | [99] |
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for reinventing her image and showcasing versatility in entertainment. Gaga started performing as a teenager by singing at open mic nights and acting in school plays. She studied at Collaborative Arts Project 21 before leaving to pursue a music career. After a contract cancellation by Def Jam Recordings, Gaga worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing. In 2007, she signed with Interscope Records and KonLive Distribution. Her breakthrough came the following year with her debut studio album, The Fame, and its number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". The album was later reissued along with The Fame Monster (2009), which yielded the successful singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro".
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The American singer, songwriter, and actress Ariana Grande has released seven studio albums, one soundtrack album, one live album, two compilation albums, two extended plays (EPs), fifty-four singles, and fifteen promotional singles. Throughout her career thus far, Grande has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she has sold over 131 million units, across albums, singles, and features, and 12 million albums and 93.5 million digital singles units as a lead artist. In the U.S., Grande has moved 22.4 million album units, and garnered over 23.6 billion streams across lead artist credits, according to Luminate. Having amassed over 105 billion consumed streams thus far, Grande is the most streamed female artist ever. She is also the most streamed female artist of the 2010s on Spotify and Apple Music. She has amassed 85 chart entries on the Billboard Hot 100—the third most entries for a female artist—including nine number ones and 22 top-10 hits altogether so far. Grande was named the sixth top female artist of the 2010s decade, and was ranked among Billboard's Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists, at number 78. Grande is also one of the best selling female artists in the UK, with over 31 million units.
"Love Me Harder" is a song by the American singer Ariana Grande and the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released by Republic Records on September 30, 2014, as the fourth single from Grande's second studio album, My Everything (2014). It was written by the Weeknd, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Ali Payami and Belly. The song was produced by Payami and Peter Carlsson, with Svensson serving as a vocal producer. Sonically, "Love Me Harder" is a pop, synthwave, synth-pop, R&B ballad with a "throbbing, electro-heavy chorus", a guitar riff and "big vacuum-esque synths". Lyrically, the song features double entendres about rough sex.
"Into You" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on June 28, 2016, by Republic Records as the second single from her third studio album Dangerous Woman (2016). Grande co-wrote the song with Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, and its producers Max Martin and Ilya. The song was made available for digital download on May 6, 2016, via pre-order of the album, and was later serviced to US contemporary hit and rhythmic radio stations on June 28 as the album's second single. It is a dance-pop, house, electro, and EDM song that features a club beat, synths, and sharp clicks. The song is about Grande's desire for her partner to show more affection in their relationship. The song received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised the production and the lyrics of the song.
"Always Remember Us This Way" is a song from the 2018 film A Star Is Born and its soundtrack of the same name, performed by the film's star Lady Gaga. It was released as soundtrack's second single in Italy and France in January 2019. The song was written by Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey, and Lori McKenna, and produced by Dave Cobb and Lady Gaga.
Chromatica is the sixth studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released on May 29, 2020, by Interscope Records and subsidiary Streamline. Gaga supervised the production with longtime collaborator BloodPop and a variety of other producers to create the album. Musically, Chromatica is a dance-pop record inspired by early 1990s house music, returning Gaga to her dance music roots and eschewing the stripped-down style of its predecessors Joanne (2016) and A Star Is Born (2018). The album's visual aesthetic saw Gaga adopt a cyberpunk-inspired persona.
"Stupid Love" is a song recorded by American singer Lady Gaga. The track was officially released on February 28, 2020, as the lead single from Gaga's sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020), after being leaked in January 2020. It was written by Gaga, Max Martin, Ely Rise, and the song's producers, Tchami and BloodPop. The lattermost stated this was what started his work on Chromatica with the singer. It is a house-infused dance-pop and electropop song that talks about gathering the courage to fall in love again after a heartbreak.
"Alice" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga recorded for her sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020). It appears as the album's second track, preceded by a string arrangement titled "Chromatica I". It was written by Lady Gaga, BloodPop, Axwell, Justin Tranter, and Johannes Klahr, and produced by BloodPop, Axwell, and Klahr. The song references Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
"Free Woman" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga recorded for her sixth studio album Chromatica (2020). Gaga co-wrote it with the song's producers BloodPop, Axwell and Johannes Klahr. "Free Woman" was released as the album's fifth track, several weeks after a high-quality demo version of the song was leaked onto the Internet. It is a Eurohouse and Eurodance song that draws influences from the music of the 1990s. Gaga was inspired by her real life events; the song talks about her coping with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), from which she suffered after being sexually assaulted by a music producer. Gaga also wanted to celebrate her LGBT+ fans; she wrote the song especially with the trans community in mind. The song's lyrics talk about reclaiming one's identity and answer the question "what does it mean to be a free woman?".
"911" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga recorded for her sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020). It appears as the album's eighth track, preceded by a string arrangement titled "Chromatica II". It was written by Gaga together with Justin Tranter, BloodPop, and Madeon, with the latter two also producing along with Benjamin Rice. It is a Eurodisco, synth-pop, and electropop song with influences from techno and funk. Gaga sings in monotonous, robotic vocal effects for most part of the track. Lyrically, "911" talks about mental health and the antipsychotic medication Gaga takes.
"Stuck with U" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande and Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released through Republic Records, Def Jam Recordings, and Silent Records Ventures as a single on May 8, 2020. Both artists wrote the song alongside producers Freddy Wexler and Gian Stone alongside Whitney Phillips, their manager, Scooter Braun, and Skyler Stonestreet. The song marks the second collaboration between Grande and Bieber, following their duet on the remix of the latter's chart-topping single, "What Do You Mean?"; the original song and remix both appear on his fourth studio album, Purpose (2015).
"Sour Candy" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga and South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released for digital download and streaming on May 28, 2020, as a promotional single off Gaga's sixth studio album, Chromatica. The song was written by Gaga, Madison Love, Rami Yacoub, Teddy Park, and its producers BloodPop and Burns. It is a deep house, dance-pop and electropop song with a house, dance and electronic beat and lyrics which compare the artists to the titular sour candy.
"Sine from Above" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga and English musician Elton John from the former's sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020). It is included as the album's fourteenth track, and is preceded by a string arrangement, "Chromatica III", which leads right into the beginning of the song. It was produced by BloodPop, Burns, Axwell, Liohn and Johannes Klahr, and had a wide array of songwriters involved. It is an electronica-influenced electropop song with a drum n' bass breakdown, and lyrically it talks about the healing power of music.
"Positions" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on October 23, 2020, by Republic Records as the lead single from Grande's sixth studio album of the same name (2020). The song was written by Grande, Angelina Barrett, Brian Vincent Bates, Nija Charles, James Jarvis, Tommy Brown, London on da Track, and Mr. Franks, and produced by the last three.
Dawn of Chromatica is the third remix album by American singer Lady Gaga, released on September 3, 2021, by Streamline and Interscope Records. Consisting of remixes of songs from Gaga's sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020), the album embraces an underground, hyperpop production and features collaborations with numerous pop, electronic and Brazilian musicians.
"Hold My Hand" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, released on May 3, 2022, through Interscope Records. It is the lead single to the soundtrack for the film Top Gun: Maverick (2022). The song was written and produced by Gaga and BloodPop as "a love letter to the world during and after a very hard time". Benjamin Rice received additional production credits. Musically, "Hold My Hand" is a "hopeful" arena rock track, featuring an anthemic chorus and an electric guitar.
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