Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper hit #1 with “Shallow”

Shallow Lady Gaga with Bradley Cooper

Writer(s): Lady Gaga/Andrew Wyatt/Anthony Rossomando/Mark Ronson (see lyrics here) Released: September 27, 2018 First Charted: October 13, 2018 Peak: 11 US, 18 RR, 110 DG, 2 AC, 2 A40, 12 UK, 11 CN, 15 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.6 UK, 10.2 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1265.4 video, 2151.84 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: A Star Is Born first made it to the movie screen in 1937 and was remade in 1954, 1976, and 2018. The movie focuses on the romance between what Spin magazine’s Maggie Serota called “a grizzled, whiskey-throated troubadour” WK and his up-and-coming protégé. The most recent adaption starred Bradley Cooper, who also directed, and Lady Gaga. The song “Shallow” is pivotal in the movie. Ally (Gaga) sings part of the song to Jackson Maine (Cooper) after sharing her musical dreams with him. When he invites her to one of his shows, he begins the song onstage and coaxes her out of the wings to join him in a duet. The performance, which was filmed in the movie at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, Calfornia in front of a live audience, launches Ally’s career. On Beats 1, Gaga explained the song is part of the reason her character and Jackson fall in love. WK “It’s two people talking to each other about the need and the drive to dive into the deep end and stay away from the shallow area.” SF The recording features Lukas Nelson, the son of Willie Nelson, on acoustic guitar as well as other members of his Promise of the Real band. Maeve McDermott from the Chicago Sun-Times said the track elevated the movie “from normal blockbuster fare to a masterwork of the form.” WK The New York Times’ Jon Pareles praised Gaga for her “throaty and breathy to full-scale belting.” WK Spotify called it the movie’s “hero song,” saying it was the first to really delve into the “dangers of Hollywood, fame, and stardom.” WK The song rebounded on the charts leaping from #21 to #1 after Gaga and Cooper gave what Billboard’s Aly Semigran called “a perfect Oscar performance” at the Academy Awards. WK She said “their chemistry on stage was just as electric as it was on the big screen” and that it “launched a thousand ‘OMG’s on Twitter.” WK It hit #1 in over twenty countries and won the Oscar for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Song. WK It also won Grammys for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for Record and Song of the Year. The song’s 45 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 were the most ever for an Oscar winner for best original song. SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Lady Gaga DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Bradley Cooper SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 3/20/2020; last updated 7/19/2023.