One of the most highly-anticipated, star-powered musical numbers from this year's MTV VMAs in New York City just wrapped. Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga performed their duet "Rain on Me," with
Gaga lso performing "911" and "Stupid Love" during the show. It's their first time performing the song together at an awards ceremony.
.@ladygaga took us on a JOURNEY through #CHROMATICA with this incredible #VMA performance! ? pic.twitter.com/jBjaUpZtfG
— MTV (@MTV) August 31, 2020
Both Gaga and Grande wore masks. Their choreography was intricate, and the lighting was spectacular.
Here for Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga both wearing masks during their #vmas “Rain on Me” performance pic.twitter.com/isRYX4673M
— Alyssa Bailey (@alyssabailey) August 31, 2020
Both Gaga and Grande are nominated for multiple MTV VMAs tonight. Gaga and Grande are nominated jointly for Video of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Pop Song, Best Cinematography, Best Video Effects, and Best Choreography for "Rain on Me." Gaga is also up for Artist of the Year and Best Quarantine Performance (for "Smile" from the One World: Together at Home special). Grande, meanwhile, also has a nomination with Justin Bieber for Best Collaboration and Best Music Video from Home (for their song "Stuck With U").
When "Rain on Me" came out in May, Gaga spoke to Zane Lowe on Apple Music about collaborating with Grande.
"She was so wonderful," Gaga gushed. "I remember I said to her, 'Okay, now, everything that you care about while you sing, I want you to forget it and just sing. And by the way, while you're doing that, I'm going to dance in front of you,' because we had this huge big window… And she was like, 'Oh my God. Oh my God, I can't, I can't. I don't know. Oh my God. Okay, okay.' And then I did it and she sang, and she started to do things with her voice that [were] different. It was the joy of two artists going, 'I see you…' Humans do this. We create things that make us feel comfortable. We put them all around. I do it all the time. We all do things to make ourselves feel safe. And I always challenge artists when I work with them. I go, 'Make it unsafe, make it super fucking unsafe and then do it again.' And it was just awesome to watch her."