Two of the 2010s’ Biggest Stars Are Back Atop the Charts. One of Them Needed It More.

The first chart-topper of 2025 is a power ballad that arrived in the late summer of ’ 24 on a wave of hype, seemed destined to peter out, and yet proved stickier than expected.

“ Die With a Smile’s 5-month-old ditty quietly held its own, hovering just below all the merry-season fodder.

Both Mars and Gaga have produced better hits before.

" Die With a Smile " is what you get when two kitschy performers try to turn down the kitsch.

Mars and Gaga are reading the zeitgeist, at a moment when country-pop crossover couldn’t be hotter.

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton may be invoking, however indirectly, a country duo.

The stakes seem higher for Lady Gaga .

She needs this more than Mars does.

Gaga is weeks away from releasing a new album.

Mars hasn’t released a true solo full-length since his Grammy -winner 24 K Magic more than eight years ago .