We promise: You haven’t heard this one before. Lady Gaga’s Ariana Grande collab “Rain on Me†is out now, the second song from Chromatica ahead of the album’s delayed May 29 release; its video will be released Friday, May 22 at 1 p.m. ET. This might be the first element of this rollout to not be cursed in some way, after first single “Stupid Love†leaked, the album artwork leaked, Gaga postponed the album due to the coronavirus pandemic, Target accidentally revealed the tracklist, and, just to salt the wound, hackers leaked some of Gaga’s legal paperwork. We’d already waited years for a team-up between two of pop’s reigning queens anyway, and maybe we needed something to look forward to during [waves hands] all this.
Ahead of its release, Gaga talked to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about the behind-the-scenes of the collaboration years in the making. “It was just awesome to watch her. You haven’t seen the video yet, but she was so open to trying things that she hasn’t done before,†she said of current chart-topper Grande. “It was this beautiful, I think very healing process for me, not necessarily having a female artist that mentored me as I came up.†On the song itself, Gaga added, “This is about an analogy of tears being the rain. And you know what it’s also a metaphor for, is the amount of drinking that I was doing to numb myself. I’d rather be dry. I’d rather not be drinking, but I haven’t died yet. I’m still alive. Rain on me. Okay, I’m going to keep on drinking. This song has many layers.†And now you’ve got a full week to unpack them before Chromatica comes out — barring any leaks, of course.
Following the song’s release, Gaga and Ari tweeted the emotional backstory to the song, including bonding over their shared passion for overindulging in all the wine and pasta. A win for Italians worldwide!
And for your further enjoyment, courtesy of meme queen Ari herself: