Lady Gaga Spills the Tea on Recording "Die With a Smile" with Bruno Mars

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Lady Gaga recently took fans on a nostalgic journey, sharing behind-the-scenes stories about her duet with Bruno Mars on the hit song Die With a Smile. Speaking with DJ Zane Lowe during Apple TV’s A Carpool Karaoke Christmas, the 38-year-old pop icon opened up about the "crazy" recording process.

Gaga revealed that the collaboration came together during an impromptu late-night studio session. “I went to see him at like 10 o’clock at night”, she said, describing how the two artists worked through the early hours. “He [Mars] played me the idea, and then we wrote the second verse and cut it at two in the morning.”

It wasn’t an easy session, though. Gaga recalled Bruno’s perfectionism as he pushed her to deliver exactly what he envisioned. “Bruno had me singing for four hours”, she shared. “He had an exact way that he wanted to hear it, and I wanted to give him that.”

The Bad Romance hitmaker also reflected on her pre-fame days, recounting an amusing moment from when she was an extra in a music video. Gaga revealed that while filming AC/DC’s Stiff Upper Lip music video, she was told not to headbang. “I was 17... and I was headbanging. They were like, ‘Don’t headbang. We want it to be modern.’” Gaga’s cheeky response? “There’s only one move I can do.”

This look back at her journey—from aspiring headbanger to global icon—gives fans yet another reason to admire Gaga’s relentless drive and dedication to her craft.