Lady Gaga’s ‘The Dead Dance’ music video is a theatrical extravaganza

Marking her first creative collaboration with visionary director Tim Burton, the video was produced by Gaga and Michael Polansky, alongside Burton and Natalie Testa.

Mumbai, 6^th September 2025: 14-time GRAMMY, Oscar and Emmy Award winner Lady Gaga has released the music video for her new single “The Dead Dance,” about two days back. The project marks her first creative collaboration with visionary director Tim Burton, who brought the story to life on location at Isla de las Muñecas—Mexico’s infamous Island of the Dolls. The cinematic video shifts between stark black-and-white and bursts of vivid color, weaving eerie imagery of dolls with Gaga’s commanding performance. The video was produced by Gaga and Michael Polansky, alongside Burton and Natalie Testa. Costumes were designed by Colleen Atwood, with choreography from Parris Goebel and featured choreography from Corey Baker.  

Watch the video for “The Dead Dance” here:

Produced by Gaga alongside Andrew Watt and Cirkut, Gaga debuted “The Dead Dance” while it was simultaneously featured in Netflix’s Wednesday Season 2 (Part 2), where she makes a cameo as the mysterious Rosaline Rotwood. Gaga shared “The inspiration for ‘The Dead Dance’ was a breakup, and it was all about the way that we sometimes feel when it’s over; how a relationship ending can kill our ability to feel hopeful about love. It’s got this really cool, funky beat underneath it. And that is when the song becomes not just about the relationship; it becomes about having fun with your friends when you’ve been through something tough and amazing. I can’t wait for people to listen to it.”

The release follows news of Gaga’s return to the MTV VMAs on September 9, where she will perform live from Madison Square Garden. An 18-time VMA winner and this year’s top nominee, she is up for 12 awards including Best Album for MAYHEM and Video of the Year for her Grammy-winning collaboration, “Die With a Smile.”

Stream “The Dead Dance” here:

Gaga is also in the midst of her sold-out The MAYHEM Ball World Tour, supporting her acclaimed eighth studio album, MAYHEM. The MAYHEM Ball features a setlist that blends album standouts with fan favorites spanning Gaga’s career, including “Abracadabra,” “Killah,” “Vanish Into You,” “LoveDrug,” “Summerboy,” “Just Dance,” “Judas,” “Born This Way,” “Shallow,” and more. Produced by Gaga and Michael Polansky, the show expands on the conceptual world introduced at Coachella, with direction by Ben Dalgleish (Human Person), creative direction by Gaga, Polansky, Goebel and Human Person, choreography by Goebel, and costumes styled by Hunter Clem, Gaga’s sister Natali Germanotta (Topo Studio) and HARDSTYLE.

MAYHEM debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200—Gaga’s seventh consecutive No. 1 solo album—and remained a dominant global force, topping the Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 17 weeks, spending 12 weeks in the Top 20, and holding a Top 10 spot on the Pop Albums chart for 15 consecutive weeks. The album has since been Certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Her record-breaking collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile,” further cemented the album’s impact. It spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 for five weeks, and broke Spotify records as the fastest song to surpass both 1 billion (96 days) and 2 billion (200 days) streams. 

The MAYHEM Ball follows Gaga’s headlining performances at Coachella and a landmark series of international shows, including stadium dates in Mexico City and Singapore. In Rio de Janeiro, her free show at Copacabana Beach drew an estimated 2.5 million fans—setting a new record for the highest attended concert by a female artist in history.