Hot 100 Haus: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s ‘Shallow’

Welcome to Hot 100 Haus, where writer Chris Will breaks down each No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2019.

Hot 100 – No. 1 for the week of March 9, 2019:

“Shallow” – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

Written by: Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando, Mark Ronson

Produced by: Benjamin Rice, Lady Gaga

But Why:

There are a lot of reasons why “Shallow” is finally crowning the Hot 100, and why it stuck around so long after it debuted this past September, a week before A Star Is Born hit the theaters to thunderous critical acclaim. For one, it gave us a strong first look at the enrapturing chemistry between Lady Gaga and Cooper, a chemistry that made their roller coaster, impassioned cinema relationship as Ally and Jackson Maine seem closer to fact than fiction. Jackson Maine seemed form fit to Bradley Cooper’s charisma as an actor and musician, a grizzled, warm, sweet and emotional rock star whose voice rumbled softly throughout every line and lyric, like thunder announcing an impending storm. His rock star persona gave Gaga an opening to fully step into her post-Joanne persona as a genuine rock star in her own right, further proving that her voice more than fits the versatile trajectory of her 10+ year music career.

But what really took the song from a lingering top 40 mainstay to a No. 1 smash was the way Gaga and Cooper took Ally and Jackson’s on-screen chemistry to a very real (or at least incredibly well-acted) performance at the 2019 Oscars. They sang not as Ally and Jackson, but as Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, and their live take became a pop culture phenomenon not for any controversial or salacious appeal, but simply from the near-tangible romantic tension that surged throughout the powerful performance.

Stats On Stats: Per Billboard.com’s weekly top 10 article, “Shallow” becomes Lady Gaga’s fourth No. 1 hit and Bradley Cooper’s first (which somehow makes him even more attractive to me, not sure why and don’t bother to ask). Gaga last hit No. 1 just over 8 years ago, when Born This Way debuted at No. 1 as the lead single and title cut to her (technically) second full-length studio album (it reigned for six weeks).

I still count The Fame Monster as an album if only because those eight tracks, collectively, still eclipse any other pop album released in my lifetime, but that’s neither here nor there, I suppose.

“Shallow” returns to the top of the Digital Song Sales chart with 115,000 units sold in the tracking week (Feb 22 – 28), while also climbing to No. 9 on the Streaming Songs Chart (27.3 million streams in the tracking week also ending Feb 28). “Shallow” also hits a new high on the Radio Songs chart, jumping to number 27 (34.8 million audience impressions).

COOL FACT (thx Billboard): “Shallow” becomes the 17th Oscar winner for Best Original Song to top the Hot 100, which includes another song from an older version of A Star Is Born, Barbara Streisand’s “Evergreen.”

Next Week’s #1: I’m gunning for the Joe Bros to score their first No. 1 with “Sucker.” That song SLAPS, and that video is near flawless. Their comeback track has been at No. 1 on iTunes since its release on Friday, and the video has already reached 55 million views in that short time, so it definitely has a shot.

“Shallow” could have built enough momentum to stay at No. 1 for a second week, but with the (much deserved) hype surrounding the Jonas Brothers single, it’s not likely. There’s also a chance Cardi B and Bruno hit No. 1 with their latest collab, the slow-burn “Please Me.” They dropped the video late last week, and its momentum has helped the track climb to No. 3 on iTunes. But again, compared to the Jonas mania, their collab still pales in comparison.

Feel Old Yet: This time 10 years ago, Lady Gaga was doubled up in the Billboard Hot 100 top 10. “Just Dance” was beginning to lose momentum from its No. 1 peak (it reigned for 3 weeks in late Jan/early Feb of 2009), sitting at a still impressive No 7. “Poker Face,” her second No. 1 and the first time we got a true glimpse at the zainy, weird theatrical pop majesty of Gaga, was at No. 3, climbing its way to the top of the summit (it would peak the week of April 11, 2009).

I Have Feelings: I remember the first time listening to “Shallow” and feeling relatively ambivalent about the whole thing until the bridge, that bridge, when Gaga let out a bellow that smacked me in the face with a big “Surprise, bitch! I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me!” It was like Gaga had taken an elevated version of her yeehaw Joanne sound and plopped an excerpt from a Fame Monster b-side right towards the end, and it honestly sounded great. Suddenly, this Star is Born soundtrack felt interesting and like something I could invest myself in as a Gaga fan.

It was partially true. I like the songs; some I like more than her Joanne work, some I like less. I’ll always be here for Gaga artistically expressing herself through any genre or medium she sees fit, because after head-banging and catwalking across my bedroom to her music for over a decade, I’ve realized that regardless of what she puts on an album, I’ll be here for at least 80 percent of it (whether I admit it at the time or not). It’s a rather unburdening state of mind, because it’s stressful to constantly wish for Gaga to “go back to her Fame/Fame Monster sound” – that’s not going to happen, nor does it need to, and it’s useless to constantly wish that. There’s no way she could re-create the magic of her first three (yes I’m still counting The Fame Monster) albums even if she tried, and I think on some level she even knows that. And the best part? Those albums still sound as fresh today as they did 11, 10 and 8 years ago, respectively.

So, will “Shallow” represent a concrete pivot for the pop star in terms of sound? Are we getting Yeehaw-Ga from here on out? Probably not, she’s been working with Sophie and some other electronic pop producers in the studio, so LG5 is going to have at least some pop music. But with “Shallow,” and with its chart-topping success, we’re all better off letting Gaga do her thing and just enjoying the music she puts out as pop fans and (for some of us) Little Monsters.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.

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