Bruno Mars would cancel the idea of making the hit number Die with a smile with Lady Gaga.
Mars’ collaborator James Fauntleroy revealed that the singer decided not to perform the demo until he heard about Gaga’s role in Joker: Folie à Deux.
The collaborator stated, “He [Bruno] was such a genius to pull it out of his subconscious memory because of the timing of that movie, which is also how Lady Gaga entered his mind as a collaborator.”
He continued, “So by the time we found out it wasn’t going to be a thing, he had already kind of started the ball rolling because Bruno’s power compels you.”
When Bruno heard Lady play the piano, the 40-year-old singer changed his mind.
Gaga literally sat down like a musician, learned the chords and the whole song right then and there.
“And they performed and sang it together. And that’s when I should have known it was going to be something special,” James shared Black.
Eventually, when the song was released, it became a huge hit and even won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
