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Disease (Lady Gaga song)
2024 single by Lady Gaga From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Disease" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga. It was released as the lead single from her studio album Mayhem on October 25, 2024, by Interscope Records. She wrote and produced the track 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 with grungy guitars and four on the floor beats. The melodramatic lyrics discuss the ability of love to heal a lover's disease.
"Disease" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its production and Gaga's vocals. The track peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached the top 20 on the national charts of Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. The music video for "Disease", directed by Tanu Muino, was released on October 29, 2024. It depicts Gaga facing different versions of herself and trying to control her personified fears.
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Development
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Lady Gaga spoke of new music on March 28, 2024 while celebrating her 38th birthday: "I am writing some of my best music in as long as I can remember".[1] During an interview with Billboard the following November, producer Cirkut revealed that he was invited to work with Gaga through Andrew Watt, who had already worked with her on "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" (2023). According to Cirkut, who co-produced "Disease" alongside Gaga and Watt, the track was conceived "fairly early in the process" of their creative collaboration and quickly became an obvious "cornerstone" of their work together for her then-upcoming studio album.[2] In a social media post, Gaga shared that "Disease" and its music video were inspired by her facing her own fears and "inner darkness".[3][4]
Gaga wrote "Disease" with Watt, Cirkut, and Michael Polansky. Paul Lamalfa recorded the track at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California; Marco Sonzini provided additional engineering, while Tyler Harris worked as the assistant engineer. "Disease" was mixed by Serban Ghenea at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound Studios in Edgewater, New Jersey. Gaga additionally played synthesizer; Watt played synthesizer, drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, and percussion; and Cirkut played synthesizer and keyboards and provided drum and bass programming. Bryce Bordone worked as the assistant mixing engineer, and Marc VanGool served as the studio technician.[5]
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Release
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Following the release of "Die with a Smile" on August 16, 2024, and while attending the 81st Venice International Film Festival ahead of the premiere of her film Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), Gaga announced that the lead single from her then-upcoming studio album was to be released in October 2024.[6][7] On October 18, Spotify updated the titles of seven tracks from her discography to spell out the word "disease", hinting at an upcoming single.[8][9] Three days later, the song's release was confirmed by Universal Music Group through a pre-save website, which depicted a glitch of the phrase "I could play the doctor" against a black screen.[10][11] Via her social media, Gaga revealed the official logo of "Disease", a promotional poster, and the release time for cities globally.[12] On October 25, Interscope Records released "Disease" worldwide digitally for download and streaming and in the United States to contemporary hit radio.[13][14] Universal sent the track to Italian radio airplay on the same day.[15] She unveiled the track listing of her studio album Mayhem on February 18, 2025, with "Disease" appearing as album's opening track.[16]
Alternative versions
Gaga released two live versions of "Disease", one performed on piano and the other on electric guitar. On November 13, 2024, a live version subtitled "The Antidote Live", produced by Gaga, was released for digital download and streaming by Interscope and to Italian radio airplay by Universal.[17][18][19] Another live version, subtitled "The Poison Live", was released digitally on November 20 by Interscope.[20] The live versions were accompanied by their respective visual videos and digital instrumental versions.[21][18][20] Filmed at Woodshed Studios in Malibu, California, the video for "The Antidote Live" version features Gaga performing a stripped-down rendition of "Disease" on a black grand piano with acoustic guitar accompaniment and a backing track.[22] In the video for "The Poison Live" version, she performs an electric guitar rendition with assistance from guitarist Tim Stewart.[23][24]
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Music and lyrics
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"Disease" is 3 minutes and 49 seconds long.[13] The song's chorus is in the key of B minor, with other sections using a Phrygian dominant scale on B.[25] Music journalists identified it as an electropop,[26] dark pop,[27] dance-pop,[28] synth-pop,[29] and EDM song,[30] with gothic, industrial rock, rock, rage, and punk influences.[31][32][33] It features an upbeat arrangement,[26] a midtempo rhythm,[34] grungy guitars, and industrial, EDM, and techno-heavy four on the floor beats.[35][34][36] Gaga sings with growl vocals in the chorus and uses her falsetto register in the bridge.[27][33] Robin Murray from Clash compared the song's heavy electronic production to the music of Nine Inch Nails.[33] Several journalists found the track similar to Gaga's singles "Bad Romance" (2009) and "The Cure" (2017)",[a] with Alexis Petridis of The Guardian particularly comparing her "strident, imperious" vocals to those of "The Cure" and "Poker Face" (2008).[36] Roisin O'Connor from The Independent thought that her vocals and the "squelching" synth line evoked George Michael's single "Freeek!" (2002).[35]
The lyrics discuss love's ability to heal a lover's "tortured" disease.[27][26][28] Gaga sings 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".[38] Nick Levine of the BBC dubbed the lyrics "melodramatic" and thought that the song was a "welcome reminder" that she "stormed the mainstream by making music that was catchy and freaky".[28]
Critical reception
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"Disease" received positive reviews from music critics.[40] 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."[41] Evening Standard's India Block dubbed it a "high gothic blast that's perfect for spooky season" and praised the production, Gaga's vocals, and the religious themes.[39] Petridis praised the song's ability to "evoke memories of late 00s Gaga and still fit with the messy, post-Brat pop climate" through its excessive mood and sound,[36] and Murray described it as "lustful, salacious, and industrial" and considered the chorus one of her best choruses.[33] "Disease" was ranked as number nine among the tracks on Mayhem by Billboard's Stephen Daw, who found it a "delirious pop banger", while admitting it's a "grower".[42] Rolling Stone considered it the 17th best song of 2024, calling it "a thrilling and very welcome return to form" and "a sick and ferocious reminder that Gaga is one of one".[43]
Some critics found the lyrics uncreative and compared the track to Gaga's previous works. Alexa Camp from Slant Magazine and O'Connor described the lyrics as "cliché" but praised the sound and production; the latter said that "Disease" was "her best in a long while".[30][35] Petridis compared it to her debut studio album, The Fame (2008), while Camp likened its composition to her subsequent releases, The Fame Monster (2009) and Born This Way (2011).[30][36] PinkNews's Marcus Wratten placed the track at number four in a ranking of her seven lead singles,[44] and Vulture's Kristen S. Hé considered it her 15th best song in a 2024 ranking of her discography and added that she is "no longer consumed by darkness but in control of it."[45]
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Commercial performance
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"Disease" debuted at number 14 on the Billboard Global 200 chart, becoming Gaga's second top-20 entry on the chart in 2024, following "Die with a Smile".[46] In the United States, the track reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart issued for November 9, 2024.[47][48] "Disease" peaked at number 16 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart dated December 21, 2024,[49] and number 17 on the Pop Airplay chart dated December 14, 2024.[50] Debuting at number 19 on the latter chart, it marked her highest debut since "Born This Way" (2011).[51][52]
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, and second in 2024, following "Die with a Smile".[53] In its second week on the chart, it remained in the top-twenty at number 12, before descending to number 21 in its third week.[54][55] Following the release of Mayhem's second single, "Abracadabra", the track re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 48 for the week dated February 14, 2025.[56] "Disease" additionally reached the top 30 on the charts of Greece (6),[57] Ireland (11),[58] Latvia (14),[59] Slovakia (20),[60] Brazil (21),[61] the Netherlands (25),[62] Portugal (25),[63] Lithuania (26),[64] Switzerland (27),[65] and Canada (28).[66]
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Music video
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Gaga shared a snippet from the music video for "Disease" on her social media on October 22, 2024. It depicts her wearing a white dress and running from a car driving towards her on a suburban street; she 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.[12][68] Vulture's Jason P. Frank compared the white dress in the video to that of Samara Morgan from the 2002 psychological horror film The Ring.[69] The music video premiered via Gaga's Vevo channel on YouTube at 18:00 Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00) on October 29.[70][71][72]
Directed by Tanu Muino and choreographed by Parris Goebel,[73][4] the four-and-a-half-minute video takes place in a quiet suburban neighborhood and depicts Gaga facing different versions of herself and trying to regain control of her deepest personified fears.[74][75] 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.[74][76] The red-eyed version of Gaga runs over a "more innocent" version wearing a nightgown with a floral print.[77] A version of Gaga wearing white crop top and briefs walks over her clone while being handcuffed to the ceiling,[3][77] and another version wearing an ombré mesh dress with dip dye appears in a dark vomit pool before being trapped between two colliding walls.[77][67] Throughout the video, the different versions of Gaga are seen either engaging in fights, running down the street, dancing, or embracing each other.[76]
Reception
The music video received praise from fans and critics.[78] Gonzales described the "spooky" video as "haunting and at times disturbing",[3] and Attitude's Jamie Tabberer dubbed it "dark, twisted, and deeply personal" and compared it to horror films.[79] Christian Allaire from Vogue and Gonzales praised the video's theme and avant-garde fashion costumes.[3][77] Flisadam Pointer from Uproxx commended Gaga's performance, the production, and the elaborate wardrobe changes.[80] 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).[81] Nylon's Dylan Kickham similarly compared the video's horror-leaning artistic direction to her previous works, including her 2022 single "Bloody Mary".[82] Danielle Chelosky from Stereogum found the video stylistically similar to the gothic film Edward Scissorhands (1990).[67]
It won Best Solo Artist Video (International) at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards Japan.[83]
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Live performances
On December 15, Gaga performed "Disease" during a Christmas television special of Carpool Karaoke, which was released on Apple TV+.[84] The song was then part of her 2025 promotional concerts for Mayhem, including a headlining set at Coachella 2025, which saw "new Gaga strangled by 2009 VMAs Gaga in a zombie-filled grave". Adrian Horton of The Guardian picked "Disease" as the high point of the concert, which left her "agape".[85]
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Accolades
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Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Mayhem.[5]
- Lady Gaga – songwriter, producer, lead vocals, background vocals, synthesizer
- Andrew Watt – songwriter, producer, synthesizer, drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, percussion
- Cirkut – songwriter, producer, synthesizer, keyboards, bass programming, drum programming
- Michael Polansky – songwriter
- Paul Lamalfa – recording engineer
- Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
- Randy Merrill – mastering engineer
- Marco Sonzini – additional engineer
- Tyler Harris – assistant engineer
- Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing engineer
- Marc VanGool – studio technician
Charts
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Certifications
Release history
Footnote
References
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