"Die with a Smile" is a song by American singer-songwriters Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. It was released on August 16, 2024, through Interscope Records. They wrote and produced the track alongside Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II and Andrew Watt while James Fauntleroy provided additional songwriting. The collaboration was a result of Mars inviting Gaga to his studio where he had been working on new music. He presented the track in progress to her and the duo finished writing and recording the song the same day. In the song, Gaga and Mars express a powerful longing to be with a loved one, highlighting the urgency and depth of their love in the face of uncertainty and potential endings.
Musically, the soft rock-leaning track has been compared to Gaga's own 2018 release, "Shallow", and Mars' work with Anderson .Paak as part of the Silk Sonic project. An accompanying music video directed by Mars and Daniel Ramos showing both singers performing the song on a retro stage set was released simultaneously alongside the track. Music critics lauded both singers' vocals and chemistry.
"Die with a Smile" is currently nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. It was also a commercial success, reaching number one in Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Japan (overseas chart), Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. The song additionally has peaked at number two in the United States and the United Kingdom and atop the Billboard Global 200 chart for eight weeks, becoming the longest-reigning song of 2024.
Development
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars first performed together at the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016, as a part of the lineup.[1] In June 2024, Mars mentioned he would like to collaborate with Gaga on a song or "sing with her on her Las Vegas residency".[2]
In a press release, Gaga revealed: "Bruno and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other and were talking about collaborating".[3] She revealed that the collaboration materialized while she was recording her upcoming studio album in Malibu. One night, after a long day, Mars invited Gaga to his studio to listen to music he had been working on and presented the track to her. At this point, she was "blown away" when she heard what he was working on.[4] The duo finished writing and recording the song on the same night. Gaga described Mars' talent as "beyond explanation" and "next level", while Mars added that Gaga made the song "magical".[5]
On August 12, Mars and Gaga started following each other on Instagram.[6] On the same day, Gaga posted a series of emojis on Mars' Instagram post from his tour stop in Mexico City. On August 13, Gaga shared a video of herself playing a few chords of the song on a piano. During the video, she wore a shirt with Mars' face.[7] The following day, Mars posted a photo wearing a T-shirt with Gaga's face on it.[8]
Release
Previously, a post from Hits magazine's "Rumor Mill", announced a collaboration between Gaga and Mars, revealing the song's title.[7] "Die with a Smile" was officially announced days later on August 15.[9] The accompanying artwork shows the artists dressed in "country-leaning" red-and-blue "Western" outfits with Gaga smoking a cigarette and Mars wearing a cowboy hat.[10] Representatives for Gaga confirmed the song would be a standalone single and Gaga herself added in its Instagram announcement that it serves as new content for fans while they wait for a new album.[9]
Composition
"Die with a Smile" featured writing and producing credit from Gaga, Mars, Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II, and Andrew Watt, with additional writing on the track by James Fauntleroy.[11] The song was written and recorded at Gaga's studio in Los Angeles in 2024.[12] It has been labeled as a soft rock song,[13] displaying the emotional style of a pop and soulballad.[14][15]Billboard's Kyle Denis described the song as a soaring ballad that blends pop, soul, country, and rock.[16] It has been compared to Silk Sonic, Mars' collaboration project with Anderson .Paak.[15] Critics found the sound to be closer to that of 1970s soft rock.[13][17]
Critical reception
"Die with a Smile" received critical acclaim.[18] Robin Murray of Clash magazine gave the song eight out of ten stars, describing it as "a homage to those lush 70s duets" that "also feels profoundly modern". He added that "both artists shine, but there's an undoubted chemistry here that lets 'Die With A Smile' have a character of its own". Murray noted that "there's a feeling of mutual respect on this latest single, with both artists serving to push each other to different spaces", and said that "it's camp in places, but that's simple exuberant fun and hyped-up colour – the essential songwriting remains intact, plucking at those heartstrings". He concluded that the collaboration is "an unexpected triumph, one that leans on the strengths of both artists, before presenting something new".[19] Jake Viswanath of Bustle wrote that the song "blends Gaga's emotive pop melodies with Mars' old-school R&B influences", with addictional "twang-y instrumentation", into a "sweepingly romantic and devastating" song which "portrays two lovers who want to experience their last moments with each other".[17] Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly defined the song as a "spiritual sequel" to Gaga's 2018 single "Shallow".[14] Writing for Music Talkers, Peter Källman called the collaboration "a soulful masterpiece".[20]Consequence gave a generally positive review: "both artists sound great — Gaga's vocal run as she starts her verse is perfect! — and, as Paolo noted, the production from Andrew Watt is solid as ever. And at the end of the day, new, perfectly fine music from Lady Gaga is better than no new music from Gaga at all."[21] Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone noted "the new track puts the duo's soaring vocals on full display".[22] Paul Grein from Billboard called the song a "match made in Grammy heaven" and an "instant smash".[23]The New York Times dubbed the song "a romantic, lightly apocalyptic slow-dance that offers both the opportunity to belt to the rafters."[24]
Commercial performance
United States
Billboard reported that "Die with a Smile" sold over 14,000 digital copies in the United States during its first four days of availability and a full tracking week of 21,000 copies sold (digital and physical combined). It peaked at number one on Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes during its release week.[25] The track debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week dated August 31, 2024, becoming Mars' 19th top 10 and Gaga's 18th in the country. The duet debuted at number one on the Digital Song Sales chart, becoming Mars 10th chart topper and Gaga's 9th.[26] In its second week on the charts, the song fell to number 6 on the Hot 100, selling another 6,000 copies. However, with its ongoing stay in the Top 10 on Hot 100, the song eventually reached its new peak at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with three new versions. The "Live in Las Vegas" and instrumental versions were released on October 29, while an acoustic version was released on October 31, 2024. All the versions, including the original track, were discounted to 69 cents on the iTunes store during the tracking week. The song reached 45.3 million listeners on the radio, 22.6 million streams, and sold 16,000. It was able to top the Digital Song Sales for a second week, it entered the top ten of Radio Songs, at number nine. It became Mars's 19th top 10 and Gaga's 12th. The ballad marks her first Radio Songs top 10 this decade and her highest rank since "Applause" reached number seven in 2013.[27] On the BillboardPop Airplay chart, the song reached the top, becoming Gaga's first chart topper there since 2011's "Born This Way" and eighth overall in her career. It also becomes Bruno Mars' first since 2016's "Finesse" and tenth overall in his career. In addition, Gaga also becomes the fourth act to earn number-one entries in each of the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s decades, following Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus.[28]
International
"Die with a Smile" debuted at number seven on the UK Singles Chart, making it Mars' 11th top 10 on the chart and Gaga's 15th. The song slowly climbed the chart for the following three weeks before entering the top 5 at number five in its fifth week on the chart. In its ninth week on the chart, the song reached a new peak of number two.[29] In Australia, it debuted at number 10 on the ARIA Singles Chart on the chart dated August 26, 2024, becoming Mars' 17th top 10 on the chart and Gaga's 15th. The song ascended through the top 10 of the chart for several weeks before reaching a new peak of number two in its fifth week.[30]
In New Zealand, the song debuted at number one on the Top 40 Singles Chart, having so far remained at the peak of the chart since release.[31] After four weeks, it climbed to the top of the Philippines Hot 100 chart, becoming the first international acts to achieve this milestone.[32] In Brazil, "Die With a Smile" debuted at number 13 on the Billboard Brasil Hot 100, the highest-charting international song on the chart that week;[33] it peaked at number four on the chart dated October 19, 2024.[34] Elsewhere, the song topped the national charts in Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
In only its second week on the charts, the song reached the summit of the BillboardGlobal 200 and Global Excl. US singles charts, becoming the first chart-topper on both charts for both artists - having accumulated over 97 million streams globally, 30 million of which were from the US alone.[35] The track remained at the top of both Global 200 charts for a second week, the week dated September 14, 2024, accumulating over 105 million streams and over 10,000 sales globally.[36] In its fourth week, the song remained at the summit of both Global 200 charts once again, accumulating over 111 million streams and over 9,000 sales globally.[37] In its fourth week at number one, the song accumulated 117.3 million streams and sold 9,000 units globally.[38] It maintained its top spot on the Global 200 chart the following week, with an additional 117.8 million streams worldwide.[39] Streaming figures remained steady, and "Die with a Smile" continued to hold the top position. In its seventh week on the chart, it generated 117.3 million streams globally.[40] The song spent a seventh week at number one with an additional 115.5 million streams (down 2%) and 8,000 units (down 13%).[41] In its eighth week at number one on the Global 200 chart, the song collected 110.3 million streams. "Die with a Smile" has exceeded 100 million streams worldwide for ten consecutive weeks – the most such weeks for any song in the chart's history to date.[42] It became the longest-reigning song of the 2024 calendar year atop the chart.[43] It is the only song streamed over 100 million times globally during eleven weeks.[44] On November 20, 2024, "Die with a Smile" set a new record as the first song to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify in under 100 days, completing the feat after only 96 days, surpassing the previous record held by Jungkook and Latto's "Seven" (2023), which achieved the milestone in 108 days.[45]
Live performance
Gaga and Mars performed "Die with a Smile" live for the first time on August 15, 2024, as part of Mars' show for the opening of Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The duo donned attire similar to what they wear in the song's accompanying visuals. After Mars welcomed Gaga to the stage as part of the show's encore, they replicated the song's music video on stage, with Mars at the guitar and Gaga playing the keys.[13] On August 27, 2024 the duo performed the song twice at his concert residency, Bruno Mars at Park MGM in Las Vegas. The video was later released on Mars' YouTube channel on October 29, 2024.[46]
Mars performed a solo piano version of "Die with a Smile" during his promotional tour, Bruno Mars: Live in Brazil, which ran from October 4 to November 5, 2024.[47] The tour featured 14 shows across various Brazilian cities, including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.[48]
Music video
Gaga revealed via Instagram alongside the song's announcement that its accompanying music video would be released simultaneously with the track at 9 PM PDT.[10] The music video, directed by Mars and Daniel Ramos, shows Gaga and Mars in the blue outfits they are wearing on the song's cover art.[49][50] The clip shows the duo performing the song on a retro stage of a TV studio set, populated by faceless mannequins, as a black-and-white camera records them.[14][51] Mars plays the guitar wearing a cowboy hat as Gaga plays the keys while sporting red tights.[52]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 47. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 45. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
^"Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. Retrieved November 30, 2024. Note: Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
^"Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. Retrieved October 7, 2024. Note: Select 'Songs – TV'. Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 7. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 45. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
