Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me”, the second single from Chromatica, is out now.
Ahead of Chromatica’s release, Gaga sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to discuss the record. On working with Ariana Grande on “Rain on Me”, Gaga said that “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.”
“It was this beautiful, I think very healing process for me, not necessarily having a female artist that mentored me as I came up,” she continued, adding: “This is about an analog 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. OK, I’m going to keep on drinking. This song has many layers.”
On Twitter, Gaga and Grande discussed the backstory of the song, including bonding over food and wine. “One time... I met a woman who knew pain the same way I did... who cried as much as I did, drank as much wine as I did, ate as much pasta as I did and who’s heart was bigger than her whole body. She immediately felt like a sister to me,” Grande wrote.
Chromatica is out on May 29, following a pandemic-related delay from its original release. It includes collaborations with Elton John and BLACKPINK. The album is executive produced by BloodPop® and Lady Gaga.
The “Rain on Me” video is directed by Robert Rodriguez. Watch it below.