Lady Gaga has taken to social media to share a series of posts revealing her involvement in the soundtrack for the coming film Top Gun: Maverick.
The singer-songwriter announced her new song would be called Hold My Hand, for the hugely anticipated film in which Tom Cruise returns as US navy fighter pilot lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, 36 years after the original.
“When I wrote this song for Top Gun: Maverick, I didn’t even realise the multiple layers it spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in. I’ve been working on it for years, perfecting it, trying to make it ours,” Lady Gaga wrote on Instagram, announcing that the song would be released on May 3.
“I wanted to make music into a song where we share our deep need to both be understood and try to understand each other — a longing to be close when we feel so far away and an ability to celebrate life’s heroes.”
Early Best Original Song Oscars contender?
Gaga also unveiled three lots of lyrics from the song on Instagram and Twitter.
The lyrics read: “Hold my hand everything will be OK I heard from the heavens that clouds have been grey”, and, “Pull me close wrap me in your aching arms I see that you’re hurtin’”. The Oscar-winner took to Instagram to add: “But if you decide to, I’ll ride in this life with you. I won’t let go till the end.”
Even before the track's release, Hollywood insiders are predicting it will be in contention for Best Original Song at the 2023 Oscars. The actress and singer won the accolade in 2019 for her hit Shallow for the film A Star is Born, in which she also stars.
Fighter jets and nostalgia
Fans of the original Top Gun have been counting down the days to Top Gun: Maverick’s May 27 release date.
In the film, Cruise returns as an instructor to train the next generation of fighter pilots graduating from the Top Gun academy. Recommended for the post by his foe-turned-friend Iceman, who the trailer shows has died, Maverick is tasked with training the squad for a special mission.
Upping the nostalgia factor is the presence of trainee Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller). The son of Maverick’s late friend and teammate Nick Bradshaw, aka Goose (Anthony Edwards), Bradley blames Maverick for his father’s death.
