"Disease" | ||||
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Single by Lady Gaga | ||||
Released | October 25, 2024 | |||
Recorded | 2023 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:49 | |||
Label | Interscope | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Lady Gaga singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Disease" on YouTube |
"Disease" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga. It was released on October 25, 2024, through Interscope Records, as the lead single from Gaga's upcoming eighth studio album. She wrote and produced the song with Andrew Watt and Cirkut, while Michael Polansky provided additional songwriting. Musically, "Disease" is a dark pop, electropop, dance-pop, synth-pop, and EDM song. The melodramatic lyrics of the song discuss love's ability to heal a lover's disease. "Disease" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its production and Gaga's vocals, although some found the lyrics uncreative.
An accompanying music video, directed by Tanu Muino, was released on October 29, 2024. It features Gaga facing different versions of herself and trying to control her personified fears. The video received praise from fans and critics, with critics particularly praising the video's theme and fashion costumes. "Disease" debuted at number 14 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and has reached the top 10 in Greece, San Marino, and the United Kingdom as well as the top 20 in the Commonwealth of Independent States, Ireland, and Latvia along with the top 30 in Brazil, Canada, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, and the United States.
Gaga first spoke of new music while celebrating her 38th birthday on March 28, 2024, saying via social media that she was "writing some of my best music in as long as I can remember". In July 2024, she posted another update from a recording studio.[1]
Cirkut revealed in an interview with Billboard that he was invited to work with Gaga via Andrew Watt, who had already worked with her on "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" (2023), a collaboration with The Rolling Stones from their Hackney Diamonds album, "sometime last year [in 2023]". According to Cirkut, who co-produced the song alongside Gaga and Watt, the track was conceived "fairly early in the process" of their creative collaboration. He shared that the song quickly became an obvious "cornerstone" of their work together for her eighth studio album.[2] In a social media post, Gaga shared that "Disease" and its music video were inspired by facing her own fears and inner darkness.[3]
Following the release of "Die with a Smile", a collaboration with American singer Bruno Mars, on August 16, and while attending the 81st Venice International Film Festival ahead of the premiere of her film Joker: Folie à Deux, Gaga announced that the lead single for her upcoming eighth studio album was to be released in October.[4][5]
On October 18, 2024, Spotify updated the titles of seven different tracks from Gaga's discography to spell out the word "disease", hinting at an upcoming single.[6][7] Three days later, the release of "Disease" was confirmed by Universal Music Group through a pre-save website.[8] The cryptic website depicted a glitch of the phrase "I could play the doctor" against a black screen.[9] Alongside the announcement, Gaga revealed via her social media the official logo of "Disease", a promotional poster, and the exact release time for cities globally.[10] On October 25, Interscope Records released "Disease" worldwide digitally for download and streaming and in the United States to the contemporary hit radio.[11][12] Universal released the song to the Italian radio airplay on the same day.[13]
"Disease" is 3 minutes and 49 seconds long.[11] It was written and produced by Gaga, Andrew Watt, and Cirkut, while Gaga's fiancé, Michael Polansky, co-wrote the track with them.[14] Music journalists have identified "Disease" as an upbeat electropop,[15] dark pop,[16] dance-pop,[17] synth-pop,[18] and EDM song,[19] with gothic, industrial rock,[20] rock, and rage influences.[21] It features "simple" vocal hooks singing "ah-ah",[17] grungy guitars, ominous layered harmonies, and midtempo industrial, EDM, and techno-heavy four on the floor beats.[22][23][24] On the final chorus, Gaga pares everything back to her falsetto register and piano notes, before a final growl and rip-roaring salvo.[22] Critics found "Disease" thematically similar to Gaga's singles "Bad Romance" (2009) and "The Cure" (2017)",[a] with Alexis Petridis of The Guardian particularly finding Gaga's "strident" and "imperious" vocals similar to her singles "The Cure" and "Poker Face" (2008).[24] Roisin O'Connor from The Independent found Gaga's vocals and the "squelching" synth line similar to those of George Michael's single "Freeek!" (2002).[22] According to the Tunebat Platform and the sheet music published at SheetMusicDirect.com by Sony Music Publishing, the song is performed in the key of B minor with a tempo of 101 beats per minute in common time.[26][27]
In "Disease", Gaga sings about love's potential to cure and heal a lover's "tortured" disease.[16][15][17] She sings in the pre-chorus, "Screamin' for me, baby/ Like you're gonna die/ Poison on the inside/ I could be your antidote tonight", over a pulsing electronic beat.[7] Describing the lyrics of the pre-chorus, Petridis stated that "if they don't bear much resemblance to the work of the Metaphysical poets, do seem a bit dominatrix-y".[24] Gaga sings later in the chorus, "I could play the doctor, I can cure your disease/ If you were a sinner, I could make you believe/ Lay you down like one, two, three/ Eyes roll back in ecstasy/ I can smell your sickness, I can cure your/ Cure your disease".[14] Elle's Erica Gonzales described Gaga's vocals in the chorus as "rock" and "growly".[16] Robin Murray from Clash considered the chorus one of Gaga's best choruses and found the song's energy and directness similar to punk music.[28] Gaga sings in the second verse to the lover, "You're so tortured when you sleep, plagued with all your memories/ You reach out and no one's there, like a god without a prayer".[25] Nick Levine of the BBC dubbed the song's lyrics "melodramatic" and believed the song's composition is a "welcome reminder" that Gaga "stormed the mainstream by making music that was catchy and freaky in equal measure".[17]
"Disease" received positive reviews from music critics,[29] who considered it a return to Gaga's pop roots.[b] Journalists from Consequence named it the "Song of the Week" upon its release, describing it as "a four minute reminder that pop music is where so many elements of performance have the opportunity to coalesce".[31] In a five-star review, Evening Standard's India Block called "Disease" a "high gothic blast that's perfect for spooky season" and praised Gaga's vocals, the production, and the religious themes.[30] Murray gave the song a nine out of ten rating, dubbing it a "wild blast of outsider pop music". He described it as "lustful" and "salacious" and compared its "heavy-duty electronics" to works by American band Nine Inch Nails.[28] In a positive review, Bianca Betancourt from Harper's Bazaar described "Disease" as "classic Gaga in the best way possible" and considered it an "edgier" and "more mature" version of "Bad Romance".[21]
Alexa Camp from Slant Magazine and O'Connor described the lyrics as "cliché" but praised the production, with O'Connor stating that "Disease" is Gaga's "best in a long while" in her four-star review.[19][22] Petridis gave the song four stars out of five and praised the song's production and ability to "evoke memories of late 00s Gaga and still fit with the messy, post-Brat pop climate" through its excessive mood and sound.[24] Petridis felt "Disease" is stylistically reminiscent of the music in Gaga's debut studio album The Fame (2008), while Camp felt it is more reminiscent of Gaga's subsequent releases The Fame Monster (2009) and Born This Way (2011).[19][24] Marcus Wratten from PinkNews placed the song at number four in a ranking of Gaga's seven lead singles, considering it her most "macabre" lead single since "Bad Romance" and deeming the lyrics "not her biggest lyrical masterpiece".[32] In a ranking of Gaga's entire catalog, Vulture's Kristen Hé placed "Disease" at number 15, saying that Gaga is "no longer consumed by darkness but in control of it".[33]
In the United States, "Disease" debuted at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the chart dated November 9, 2024, becoming Gaga's twenty-seventh top-forty song in the country.[34] Despite this, it scored her lowest first-week chart debut for a lead single since "Just Dance" entered at number 76 in August 2008.[35] The same week, the song debuted at number 34 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart and number 19 on the Pop Airplay chart, becoming her highest debut since 2011's "Born This Way" on the latter. In its second week on the Billboard Hot 100, the song descended to number 58, Gaga's biggest second week drop on the chart for a lead single since "Perfect Illusion" descended 27 places to number 42 on its second week in September 2016.[36]
In the United Kingdom, "Disease" debuted at number seven on the UK Singles Chart on November 1, 2024, marking the sixteenth top-ten song in Gaga's career there, and second in 2024, following "Die with a Smile".[37] In its second week on the chart, the song remained in the top-twenty at number 12, before descending to number 21 in it's third week.[38] In Brazil, it debuted at number 21 on the Billboard Brasil Hot 100.[39]
On Billboard's Global 200 chart, the track debuted at number 14, becoming her second top 20 entry on that chart in 2024, following "Die with a Smile".[40]
On October 22, 2024, Gaga teased the release of the music video for "Disease", previewing a snippet from it via her social media. The 11-second video features Gaga wearing a white dress and running from a car driving directly towards her on a suburban street; Gaga turns back to the mystery driver several times throughout the video as she tries to escape. Piano notes are played during the video before a percussive hit at the end.[10][41] Gaga's white dress in the snippet video has been compared to that of Samara Morgan from the 2002 psychological horror film The Ring.[42] The music video premiered via Gaga's Vevo channel on YouTube at 18:00 Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00) on October 29.[43][44][45] Gaga revealed via her social media that the inspiration behind the concept of the song and music video was her personal "inner darkness" and her relationship with her "inner demons". She expanded upon this concept in the video and wanted to convey the "claustrophobic" feelings that experiences when she's seduced by the darkness in her life. She also commented that the video shows that she will always meet the darker and "scary" parts of herself once again, "even if only for a moment", and that she feels she's finally able to find answers to "scary questions" as a sense of comfort in the "plays that are [her life]".[46][47]
Directed by Tanu Muino and choreographed by Parris Goebel,[48][49] the four-and-a-half-minute video takes place in a quiet suburban neighborhood and finds Gaga facing different versions of herself and trying to regain control of her deepest personified fears.[50][51] One of the versions features Gaga having red eyes and wearing an all-black leather outfit, a zippered mask, towering heels, and long fingernails studded with steel.[50][52] The red-eyed version of Gaga runs over a "more innocent" version wearing a nightgown with a floral print.[53] In an observation room thematically similar to the horror anthology television series American Horror Story, a version of Gaga wearing white crop top and briefs walks over her clone while being handcuffed to the ceiling.[46][53][47] Another version wearing an ombré mesh dress with dip dye appears in a dark vomit pool before two colliding walls close in on her.[53][54] At different points of the video, the different versions of Gaga either fight, run down the street, dance, or hug each other.[52]
The music video received praise from fans and critics.[55] Gonzales described the video as "spooky", "haunting", and at times "disturbing".[46] Attitude's Jamie Tabberer dubbed it "dark", "twisted", and "deeply personal" and compared it to horror films.[56] Christian Allaire from Vogue and Gonzales praised the video's theme and "avant-garde" fashion costumes.[46][53] Flisadam Pointer from Uproxx commended Gaga's performance, the production, and the "extravagant" wardrobe changes.[57] W's Matthew Velasco dubbed the video "cinematic" and said that it has "almost theater-like experience". He found the video's theme reminiscent of The Fame Monster era and the music videos for Gaga's singles "Bad Romance" and "Alejandro" (2010).[58] Nylon's Dylan Kickham also compared the video's horror-leaning artistic direction to Gaga's previous works, including her 2022 single "Bloody Mary".[59] Audra Heinrichs from Jezebel praised the video and its cinematography, comparing it to the themes of the Kill Bill and John Wick film franchises.[47] Danielle Chelosky of Stereogum found the video stylistically similar to the gothic film Edward Scissorhands (1990).[54]
Credits are adapted from Qobuz.[60]
Chart (2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[61] | 39 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[62] | 52 |
Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[63] | 93 |
Brazil (Brasil Hot 100)[64] | 21 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[65] | 28 |
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[66] | 35 |
CIS (TopHit)[67] | 20 |
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[68] | 58 |
Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[67] | 107 |
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[69] | 40 |
France (SNEP)[70] | 66 |
Germany (GfK)[71] | 70 |
Greece International (IFPI)[72] | 6 |
Global 200 (Billboard)[40] | 14 |
Ireland (IRMA)[73] | 11 |
Italy (FIMI)[74] | 53 |
Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard Japan)[75] | 3 |
Kazakhstan Airplay (TopHit)[76] | 21 |
Latvia (LaIPA)[77] | 14 |
Latvia Airplay (LaIPA)[78] | 18 |
Lithuania (AGATA)[79] | 26 |
Lithuania Airplay (TopHit)[80] | 1 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[81] | 25 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[82] | 54 |
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[83] | 5 |
Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[84] | 43 |
Portugal (AFP)[85] | 25 |
Russia Airplay (TopHit)[86] | 21 |
San Marino (SMRRTV Top 50)[87] | 9 |
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[88] | 55 |
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[89] | 40 |
South Korea BGM (Circle)[90] | 152 |
South Korea Download (Circle)[91] | 179 |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[92] | 58 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[93] | 53 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[94] | 27 |
Ukraine Airplay (TopHit)[95] | 56 |
UK Singles (OCC)[96] | 7 |
US Billboard Hot 100[97] | 27 |
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[98] | 26 |
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[99] | 26 |
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[100] | 18 |
Venezuela (Record Report)[101] | 38 |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Version(s) | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | October 25, 2024 | Original | Interscope | [11] | |
Italy | Radio airplay | Universal | [13] | ||
United States | Contemporary hit radio | Interscope | [12] | ||
Various | November 13, 2024 |
|
[102] | ||
Italy | Radio airplay | The Antidote Live | Universal | [103] | |
Various | November 20, 2024 |
|
Interscope | [104] |
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