Lady Gaga Calls ‘Die With A Smile’ Featuring Bruno Mars a ‘Significant Part’ of Her Upcoming Album

Lady Gaga’s Upcoming Album

Lady Gaga's duet with Bruno Mars, “Die With A Smile”, will be an important part of her upcoming album.

The singer first debuted her as-yet-untitled seventh solo studio album back in October, two months after releasing her collaboration with Mars.

The track, which received Grammy nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo Performance, was initially promoted as a standalone single, but Gaga said Los Angeles Times in a new interview that she will be part of an album that will eventually be released in February.

“It's a huge part of my album,” Gaga, real name Stefani Germanotta, shared. “It was like there was a missing piece. When asked if the track is related to her film Joker: Folie à Deux or the accompanying album Harlequin, the star responded: “I don’t think so. I mean, it wasn't meant to be. But this was happening in my life at the time we were writing it and making it, so it's hard to say no completely because these things always ricochet off each other.

Meaning Behind the Song

She continued: “I think the humor that we found in the video must have been something that was bouncing around inside of me – this idea of ​​a sad story that had some comedy in it. Singing about death is not something you associate with smiling, but somehow it all makes sense when you think about the sweetness of what we're trying to say.”

Gaga explained that the song came about after she and Mars were discussing working together when he called her and said he had an idea. “I really wanted to hear what he was doing, so I got there really late and he showed me the beginning of the idea,” she said. “He had a few different ideas, but I said, ‘This is a love song. I think people would love to hear us sing a love song.”

She said she was captivated by the lyrics and felt the song was something “people need to hear”: “I write music all the time, and sometimes it feels like you're making something that some people will like.” But there are times when you're working on something and you just know it's going to affect all kinds of people. I understood it immediately.”

Explaining that they recorded her part together, she said she wanted the harmonies to be “super '70s” and said she was referring to the Carole King/James Taylor collaboration, before adding: “I think 'Die With a Smile’ is in some ways a unique song in 2024. We say some things that maybe don't happen on every record.”

Exploring Different Genres

Elsewhere in the interview, Gaga described the album as “full of my love for music” with a variety of genres and styles. She said: “He jumps between genres in an almost corrupt way. And it ends with love. So the answer to all the chaos in my life is that I find peace through love. Every song I wrote, I just kept drifting into different dreams I had about the past—almost like flashbacks to all the bad decisions I'd made in my life. But it all ends in this very happy place.”

She also addressed her headlining spot at Coachella 2025, revealing she was putting together a visual representation of the album to showcase at the festival, and discussed her 2017 headlining slot, which came after Beyoncé pulled out due to her pregnancy.

Gaga explained: “I didn't have time to fully do what I really wanted… I did it and I loved it. But you know when you have a vision in your head of how you want to do something? It's time to make it happen.”

In addition to “Die With A Smile,” Gaga has already shared the single “Disease” from her upcoming album. Earlier this month, she said the song “felt like a path into the chaos of the album, which is kind of an exercise in chaos—the different sides of who I am as a person.”

Gaga's last album, excluding Joker 2 Harlequin's soundtrack and accompanying album was 2021's Love For Sale, starring the late crooner Tony Bennett, a close friend of the singer.

Her most recent solo album was 2020's Chromatica. NME gave it a four-star review, writing: “On 'Chromatica,' Gaga throws herself into creating a pure pop album. The record is replete with catchy choruses and glossy production – but it goes much deeper than that. “Chromatica” is “about healing and about bravery,” she explained ahead of the album's release, adding: “Sound is what healed me at that time in my life, and it healed me again by making this record.” You can certainly hear it. From the stirring melodies to the positive, hopeful lyrics, Chromatica is a celebration, and a well-deserved one.”