'Rain On Me' video sees Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga swap hairstyles, drawing comparisons to 'Freaky Friday'
Pop stars Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande joined forces on Friday, May 23, as they released a music video for their new song ‘Rain On Me’, which they had dropped late on Thursday night.
The music video was both dark and brightly colored as Gaga and Grande danced wearing pink and purple respectively. The futuristic setting of the video, as the title of the song suggests, had rain. Although in Gaga’s case, it wasn’t just water that was pouring, there were also knives, one of which stabbed her leg.
The video sees the two acclaimed singers first separated in different planes of existence, but they are soon joined together, and at the end of the video, they hug each other, creating a moment that will surely go down in pop history.
Fans of both artists gushed all over YouTube comments and Twitter with their appreciation, not just for the video, but also for this collaboration. A fan, noting the hairdos of both artists, wrote: “Lady Gaga with a ponytail. Ariana with her hair down. Me: Freaky Friday,” alluding to the 1976 Barbara Harris-Jodie Foster film (or its 2003 remake) where a mother and daughter switch bodies. This makes sense because Gaga is generally known to let her hair down, while Grande’s signature look of a tight high ponytail.
One fan even went so far as to say, “Gaga and Ariana switching hairstyles is the best thing that’s happened this decade.”
Others went on to appreciate the song itself. Many, both on YouTube comments and Twitter, noted that song was a quote-unquote love-child of Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ and Grande’s ‘Break Free’.
Several fans have already decided that ‘Rain On Me’ is a shoo-in for the Grammy Awards for the best music video this year while appreciating not just the aesthetics of the catchy number, but also Gaga and Grande’s styling, and the song’s choreography.
Fans were also happy to see Gaga back in action. A fan wrote on Twitter, “I think the best part about #RainOnMe is it reminded everyone why Gaga has been a force for over a decade. She came through with a monster dance tune, looks, visuals, and broke the internet again. The whole fanbase is pleased and she’s genuinely happy.”
“If you didn't play 'Rain On Me’ while you showered today, you need to take another shower,” wrote a Twitter user, echoing the overwhelmingly positive reaction both the song and the music video have gotten in such a short time. At the time of writing this, the music video had more than six million views, and more than one million likes on YouTube.
‘Rain on Me’ is Gaga’s second single from her forthcoming sixth album ‘Chromatica’, which will release on May 29.