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The title ofDie With a Smilefeels a bittooon the nose for howLady Gagas week on the Hot 100 went.
While her power-ballad duet with Bruno Mars peaked at No.
2, her new song,Disease,debuted at No.
27 her worst entry for a lead single in 16 years.
After releasing her debut,The Fame,in 2008, Gaga quickly became a dominant pop hitmaker.
She sent singles Just Dance and Poker Face to No.
1 and followed them up with four additional top-five hits.
But it was also the last time Gaga would top the Hot 100 without a featured guest.
But its success was short-lived.
Instead of climbing like her previous No.
1s had, it made an embarrassing tumble from its No.
5 debut to No.
30 the following week.
Again, Gaga needed help to secure her next No.
1, which she got from Ariana Grande on the follow-up single Rain on Me.
Smile also arrived with the anticipation ofbothsingers returns to music, followingChromaticaand Marss 2021 Silk Sonic album.
It worked with the latter gaining in streams and becoming the best-selling song of the week once again.
Disease got the dutiful attention of a pop single, but Smile was still clearly the event.
Even without Smile in the way, though, Disease would have continued Gagas solo No.
When Gaga earned that first No.
1 for Just Dance, she helped usher in a fresh synth-pop sound to the top of the charts.
(Judging bythis years pop-country boom,Joannemay have been a little too early.)
She could make the hard-rock album sheflirtedwithonBorn This Wayor follow her country muse fromJoanneeven further.
Theyre just waiting for her to move the needle on her own again.
1s with her house-pop song Break My Soul in 2022.
If anyone can innovate in the same way, its Gaga.
