Lady Gaga's Dead Dance, Justin's New Album, Taylor's 3-Hour Private Concert

Lady Gaga Releases “Dead Dance,” Plus Mayhem Bonus Tracks on Streaming Platforms

Lady Gaga has released the music video for her new single, "The Dead Dance," featured in the second season of Netflix's Wednesday. Directed by Tim Burton, the video showcases Gaga in the unsettling appearance of a haunted porcelain doll, with cracks stretching across her face. As she comes to life and staggers through a graveyard, she finds her rhythm and begins to dance, reinforcing the song's themes of rebirth through music. The lyrics include lines like, "’Cause when you killed me inside, that's when I came alive/ Yeah, the music's gonna bring me back from death."

In addition to the new video, the single has been added to Mayhem, alongside two previously released tracks: "Kill for Love" and "Can't Stop the High." The song was created for her character in the new season, where she portrays Rosaline Rotwood, a deceased former instructor at Nevermore Academy who helps Wednesday Addams in her quest to save her family and friends.

Jeff Jarrett Shares Taylor Swift’s Kindness During Family Hardship

Professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett recently revealed that his former neighbor, Taylor Swift, once performed a three-hour private concert for his family. According to Jarrett, the impromptu show took place in late 2006 when Swift was a teenager whose career was just taking off. The performance was a spontaneous act of kindness meant to cheer up Jarrett's family during a difficult time, as his first wife, Jill Gregory, was gravely ill with breast cancer.

Jarrett recalled that his daughters asked Swift to play her guitar, and she graciously performed for three hours. The intimate concert, held in his living room, eventually drew a crowd of about 45 people. Jarrett concluded his story by praising Swift's character, calling her a "sweetheart" and adding that he still refers to her as "our girl."

ICYMI:

• Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has passed away at the age of 91.

• Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights teaser features Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, showcasing their intense relationship. Set to Charli XCX's "Everything Is Romantic," the film will release on Valentine’s Day.

Cardi B Victorious in Lawsuit

A jury found pop star Cardi B not liable in a lawsuit brought by security guard Emani Ellis, who claimed the rapper assaulted her at a doctor's office in February 2018. Following a swift, one-hour deliberation, the jury rejected Ellis’s claims that Cardi B scratched her face with a fingernail and spat on her, an incident Ellis said left her with physical and emotional trauma, as well as a scar that required cosmetic surgery. Since the win, Cardi B has released ‘Court Editions’ of her upcoming album ‘AM I THE DRAMA?’

In her testimony, Cardi B explained that at the time of the incident, she was four months pregnant and trying to keep it a secret from the public. She testified that she feared Ellis was recording her and trying to reveal the pregnancy. Cardi B acknowledged that a heated argument took place, but she maintained that it never turned physical, a defense the jury ultimately found credible. Ellis was seeking $24 million in damages.

POP FACT: On this day in 2021, Girls Aloud’s Sarah Harding sadly passed away.

Justin Bieber Surprise-Releases 'SWAG II'

Justin Bieber has surprise-released his new project, SWAG II, the follow-up to his July album. The new release was first teased on Thursday with bright pink billboards that appeared in major cities around the world. The artist shared photos of the billboards on his Instagram, with the caption "tonight midnight," to build anticipation. Other billboards were also spotted featuring Bieber alongside his wife, Hailey Bieber, and their son.

The new project arrives on the heels of the original SWAG, which was a commercial success that included the UK #1 single "Daisies" and the hit track "YUKON."

ICYMI:

• Julia Garner has confirmed that she is playing Madonna in her biopic in an interview with W Magazine.

• Instagram has officially launched for iPad.

• A new look at ‘Wicked: For Good.’ has been released; the film is set to hit theaters on November 21st.

• More names have been added to the ‘Together For Palestine’ fundraiser taking place at London’s Wembley Arena this month. Leigh-Anne and Celeste are amongst the names joining the likes of Rina Sawayama and PinkPantheress at the fundraising event.

• Billboard names ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris as the best Video of the Year winner in VMAs history.

• Lush closed their stores and website in the UK on Wednesday in solidarity with the people of Palestine, “whilst Lush is losing a day of takings, this also means that the UK Government is losing a day of tax contributions from Lush and our customers.” the company stated.

Best New Track: “The Dead Dance” by Lady Gaga

Following the debut of the widely streamed Netflix show Wednesday, a TikTok user sparked a viral trend by overlaying Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” onto Jenna Ortega’s now-iconic dance scene. The trend became so big that it ultimately led to Gaga being invited to join the show for its second season. Now we’re all doing the dead dance.

Gaga released the new song right at the same time as Wednesday season 2, part 2, released (a new binge strategy in which Netflix has adopted—splitting releases into two). Tim Burton, who directs Wednesday, also took the helm for the music video. It’s delightfully witchy and fun.

Gaga included the song on a reissue of her recent album Mayhem (2 other new songs also) and it plays right after “Zombieboy” which is great placement, we think. “The Dead Dance” slots right into the 80s mayhem of Mayhem.

—Dawson Therre

— Katie Macbeth

Subscribe to the newsletter to discover new releases through Pop Base weekly and to find out what songs we declare the best of the week.