Everyone is buzzing about Lady Gaga’s new song with Ariana Grande, ‘Rain On Me,’ but where does it fall in our ranked list of the top ten Lady Gaga collaborations? After all, she’s worked with everyone from Elton John to Tony Bennett to Beyonce to Florence Welch! She’s always given us the goods, but some of these collabs are better than the others. And some, you might not even remember at all.
Our top ten Lady Gaga collaborations list is ranked from least favorite to most favorite. Granted, all of them are our favorite collabs. Some of them didn’t even make the list. (Sorry, ‘Video Phone.’)
Here we go!
10. ‘Hello Hello’ with Elton John
We are still a week away from Chromatica, which means we will get Gaga’s new collab with Elton John called ‘Sine From Above,’ but they’ve worked together before. For the animated movie Gnomeo & Juliet back in 2011, the ‘Rocket Man’ singer served as the film’s executive producer and the one responsible for the soundtrack too. He tapped his friend Lady Gaga for this cute song called ‘Hello Hello.’ I think the fact that this happened at the peak of Gaga’s career with Born This Way, and that it is an animated movie, is why the song now exists solely in the shadows. But it’s still somewhat of a bop!
9. ‘Big Girl Now’ with New Kids On The Block
Yep, Gaga and New Kids On The Block have a song together. Back in 2008, Gaga was emerging as this new, exciting pop artist. New Kids On The Block invited her to open for them on their comeback tour, their first since the mid-90’s. For their return, they also recorded an album called The Block which includes a song called ‘Big Girl Now’ and features the young and talented Lady Gaga.
It obviously sounds very mid-2000s, but it is most definitely underrated. And, I bet most people don’t even know about its existence. There is also video of Gaga performing it with them on their tour on YouTube!
8. ‘The Lady Is A Tramp’ with Tony Bennett
This marked the beginning of a beautiful, yet unlikely friendship. Tony Bennett invited Gaga to duet on ‘The Lady Is A Tramp’ as part of his Duets II compilation album. This was one of three songs that were chosen as singles – the other two being duets with artists whose forte is jazz in Amy Winehouse and Michael Buble. Gaga can clearly dominate that type of sound too.
During this time, Gaga found a whole new audience. Her unbelievable voice was perhaps overshadowed by the over-the-top outfits and theatrical performances. But us little monsters knew. And with this, the world knew too.
7. ‘Starstruck’ with Space Cowboy and Flo Rida
The Fame, her debut album, is perhaps one of the most critically-acclaimed debut album in history. It has all the bops that brought Gaga into the spotlight such as ‘Just Dance,’ ‘Poker Face,’ ‘LoveGame,’ and ‘Paparazzi.’ But the B-sides in there are worth a listen too. One of those songs is the Space Cowboy and Flo Rida-assisted ‘Starstruck.’
Sure there is a little too much auto-tune, but the song still scores with that catchy chorus and Flo’s impeccable verse.
6. ‘Hey Girl’ with Florence Welch
This is a song that should have been a single. But then again, the entire Joanne era seemed to have suffered when it came down to proper promotion of the singles. Florence Welch and Gaga trade vocals masterfully in this cheeky take of what sounds like something very much influenced by ‘Bennie And The Jets.’ It’s easily one of the most underrated songs in Gaga’s entire catalogue.
Imagine a music video. Imagine a live performance. Damn.
5. ‘Do What U Want’ with R. Kelly Christina Aguilera
I’m sooooo glad that a duet with Christina Aguilera happened with this song because it saved this song! ‘Do What U Want’ is one of the best cuts from Gaga’s 2013 ARTPOP. R. Kelly was featured on the original version, and his participation in the song was near excellent. Unfortunately, R. Kelly is a piece of shit. However, at the end of that year, Gaga appeared on The Voice to promote the song and performed a duet with Christina. This duet was also recorded in the studio, and its own version was put out.
After R. Kelly’s legal troubles in the last two years, Gaga decided to remove ‘Do What U Want’ from the face of this earth – except, of course, this absolute banger of a duet with Christina Aguilera. It should have been the original version anyway.
4. ‘Cheek To Cheek’ with Tony Bennett
Some might not agree with this being in our ranked list of Lady Gaga collaborations.
‘Cheek To Cheek’ is the lead single, and title song for Gaga’s spectacular jazz album with Tony Bennett. Their take on all these classics from the Great American Songbook. It gave us the kind of music that you want to play at a candlelight dinner, or at a fancy ballroom. This took Gaga’s vocals to another level, and their take on ‘Cheek To Cheek’ is splendid.
Unlike a lot of Gaga stans, I do hope there is more jazz from Gaga in the future. But maybe not in the near future!
3. ‘Rain On Me’ with Ariana Grande
It just came out and it is already one of my top three Gaga collabs. Ariana Grande is the hottest female artist right now. It was smart for Gaga to bring her on for this instant classic in the Gaga discography. There is a rebirth of dance and disco pop happening right now, and the woman that brought this kind of sound back in the late 2000’s is definitely ready to participate too. After all, it worked well the first time around.
On top of that, it feels good to have Ariana do this kind of pop too. It’s always been where she’s been at her best. Sorry thank u, next, but Grande thrived with bops like ‘Break Free,’ ‘Into You,’ and ‘No Tears Left To Cry.’
If it wasn’t for COVID-19, all the gays would be infesting clubs around the world to shake their ass to this banger.
2. ‘Telephone’ with Beyonce
People have been debating on social media whether ‘Rain On Me’ is better than ‘Telephone,’ and that’s an insult to this gem from The Fame Monster. That album, or EP, is perhaps Gaga’s best overall piece of work. From top to bottom, every single song is single-worthy. Just like now that Gaga quickly partnered up with today’s hottest artist Ariana, back in 2009 Beyonce took the opportunity with the hottest artist during that time in Gaga. The song was made for the dancefloor, and the music video is perhaps one of the most iconic pop music videos of all time.
But there is still one collab that tops this one by miles.
1. ‘Shallow’ by Bradley Cooper
A Star Is Born brought a fresh breath of air to Gaga’s career that catapulted her back into the general public’s eye. Teaming up with Bradley Cooper was an excellent move, and the perfection that is ‘Shallow’ rightfully gave her another number one single. Simple, relatable, and captivating, ‘Shallow’ quickly attracted the ears of everyone – it appealed to the older generations, the Gaga generation of fans, and even the newer ones. It played on radio and streamed well.
There is a reason why this is the most awarded song of all time, and at number one on our ranked list of Lady Gaga collaborations.
