The annual Spotify Wrapped campaign has officially arrived, pulling back the curtain on the listening habits that defined 2025 across the globe. This year’s recap reveals a massive victory for a collaboration that blended pop royalty and chart-topping swagger: “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars has clinched the title of the Most-Streamed Song of the Year. With over 1.7 billion global streams, the nostalgic, soulful ballad resonated deeply with listeners, solidifying its status as the undeniable soundtrack of the last twelve months and showcasing the enduring power of superstar duets.
The Story Behind Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ Hit Track
The song began as a late night creative spark that quickly grew into one of the most celebrated collaborations of the decade. Mars first played the unfinished idea for Gaga during a studio visit, and the pair completed the song in just a few hours. Their chemistry was instant, and producers Andrew Watt and D Mile helped shape the track with live instruments, warm harmonies and a classic seventies inspired mood.
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Critics praised the song immediately, noting how Gaga’s emotional power blends with Mars’ smooth vocal style. The production leans into pop soul and soft rock, echoing Gaga’s work on Joanne and Shallow as well as the vintage influences heard in Mars’ Silk Sonic project. At its heart, the song is an intimate story about holding on to love in moments of uncertainty, using an end of the world scenario to highlight devotion and vulnerability.
The track also became a massive commercial force. “Die With a Smile” broke streaming records, becoming the most viral song of 2024, the longest running daily number one in Spotify history and the fastest track on the platform to reach three billion streams. It topped charts in more than thirty countries, dominated the Billboard Global 200 for eighteen weeks and earned significant certifications across the world, including multiple diamond awards in Brazil and France along with several platinum honors in Canada, Australia and Portugal.
Its impact continued with a nostalgic music video styled after seventies television specials, featuring Gaga at the piano and Mars on guitar. The duo performed the song together for the first time at a Mars concert in Los Angeles and later in Las Vegas, where the duet became a fan favorite moment. Both artists also delivered solo versions on their own stages, and the song earned a nomination for Song of the Year and a win for Best Pop Duo Group Performance at the Grammy Awards, securing its place as a defining musical moment of the mid 2020s.
