Lady Gaga

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Lore & Background

Gaga and Grande's collaboration on "Rain on Me" began with deeply personal conversations about their lives, as Gaga revealed in a March 2020 interview with Paper. She explained that the track was created with another prominent female pop artist who had likewise endured intense public scrutiny and trauma, framing it as an exchange between two women reflecting on resilience, perseverance, and gratitude. During a May 2020 interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1, Gaga detailed how Grande approached the collaboration with empathy and openness. Gaga noted that during one studio session, she was still emotionally distressed, and Grande responded with persistent gestures of support, telling her, "You're gonna be alright," and repeatedly reaching out in an effort to build a friendship. Gaga later admitted she initially pulled back out of shame and a reluctance to project her emotional state onto Grande, but a candid exchange—when Grande told her, "you're hiding"—became a turning point that strengthened their connection. The song was co-written by Gaga, Grande, Burns, Nija Charles, Rami Yacoub, Bresso, Boys Noize, and Chromatica executive producer BloodPop. It was produced by Burns and BloodPop, with Tchami credited for additional production. The track was recorded during the broader Chromatica sessions, developed over roughly two years across several studios in Los Angeles, including EastWest Studios, Westlake Recording Studios, and Henson Recording Studios. Gaga's longtime engineer and vocal producer Benjamin Rice oversaw the recording and vocal production, employing an iterative workflow where vocals recorded during early songwriting sessions could later be incorporated into the final arrangement. The final mix was completed through a collaborative process between Rice and mixer Tom Norris, with Norris later describing "Rain on Me" as one of the most involved tracks on the album, noting it underwent multiple production revisions and mixing adjustments over several months.

In Their Own Story

The lights dimmed before the crescendo hit. Onstage at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga and Grande stood side by side, microphones in hand, ready to deliver an anthem of resilience. The duo performed "Rain on Me" at the ceremony, where the song was nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards, winning for Song of the Year and two other awards while being nominated for Video of the Year. The accompanying music video, directed by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, features Gaga and Grande dancing inside a giant arena during a rainstorm, with daggers falling from the sky. Gaga later included the song in her concert tour, The Chromatica Ball (2022), while Grande included it in The Eternal Sunshine Tour (2026). 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 the category.

Reader's Guide

Lady Gaga enters this narrative primarily as a collaborative force during the pivotal 2020 era, marking a significant intersection in their respective careers. Her visual presence in the "Rain on Me" music video, directed by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, features her dancing inside a giant arena during a rainstorm with daggers falling from the sky. In the context of Ariana's story, she represents artistic fearlessness, encouraging growth through partnership and shared vulnerability on a global scale. Gaga explained that the chorus was written to intentionally suggest both intoxication and sobriety, with its opening line sounding like either "I'd rather be drunk" or "I'd rather be dry," underscoring the song's central tension between numbing pain and pursuing healing. Their joint work became a cultural touchstone, with "Rain on Me" entering at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming 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. The song also topped the charts in Canada, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Scotland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Beyond the recording studio, their interactions were characterized by genuine camaraderie, as seen in promotional skits released on May 26 and May 28, 2020, in partnership with The Weather Channel, where Gaga and Grande delivered mock weather forecasts while holding umbrellas and joking about wanting to "celebrate the rain."

Did You Know?

• Gaga first referenced "Rain on Me" in a March 2020 interview with Paper, describing it as a 'celebration of all the tears' before her collaboration with Grande had been revealed.
• During a studio session, Grande told Gaga 'you're hiding,' which became a turning point that strengthened their connection, as Gaga recounted in a May 2020 interview with Zane Lowe.
• The song's chorus was written to intentionally suggest both intoxication and sobriety, with its opening line sounding like either 'I'd rather be drunk' or 'I'd rather be dry.'
• "Rain on Me" won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, becoming the first female collaboration in history to win the category.
• The song was promoted with mock weather forecast clips released on May 26 and May 28, 2020, in partnership with The Weather Channel, featuring Gaga and Grande holding umbrellas.