Lady Gaga’s latest album, ‘Joanne’, takes the polymath pop star’s music into new territory, and it’s partly thanks to a brand new cast of co-producers, writers and guest musicians. But just who are the pop heavyweights who helped realise Gaga’s great new record? Here are some of the biggest players, from BloodPop to Matt Helders.
Matt Helders
Who: Drummer with Arctic Monkeys
Appears on: The huge ‘Joanne’ opener ‘Diamond Heart’ alongside guitarist and long-time Arctic Monkeys collaborator Josh Homme
Father John Misty
Who: Cult-leader like persona of singer-songwriter Josh Tillman
Appears on: the old-school country-styled ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ and brassy ‘Come To Mama’. Drums on ‘Diamond Heart’.
Florence Welch
Who: singer, Florence + The Machine
Appears on: ‘Hey Girl’, a ‘70s Elton homage about going on the razz with your best girl pal
Gaga says: “She’s, if not the best, one of the greatest vocalists in the world.”
Mark Ronson
Who: ‘Uptown Funk’ hitmaker and producer of – among many other things – Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’
Appears on: Everything, as producer
Gaga says: “He has a fantastic sensibility and wisdom about him when it comes to different kinds of women – women that are tough.”
Beck
Who: Pop polymath enjoying renewed popularity following 2015 hit single ‘Dreams’
Appears on: The possibly quite rude ‘Dancin’ In Circles’
Gaga says: “I’ve been wanting to work with Beck since forever”
BloodPop
Who: The producer formerly known as Blood Diamonds, who’s worked with Grimes and Justin Bieber
Appears on: Numerous, as co-producer
Gaga says: “BloodPop just has this massive talent for taking sounds and sampling them in new and different ways and his production and just watching him work is incredible.”
Kevin Parker
Who: Long-haired leader of world-beating Perth psych rockers Tame Impala
Appears on: ‘Perfect Illusion’, which he co-wrote with Gaga
Gaga says: “I have to hand it to Kevin, he is a real musical genius.”
Josh Homme
Who: Queens Of The Stone Age frontman, recent collaborator with Iggy Pop and universally agreed coolest man in rock
Appears on: Homme co-wrote ‘Diamond Heart’ and ‘John Wayne’. He plays guitar on those tracks plus ‘Sinner’s Prayer’, ‘Perfect Illusion’ and ‘A-Yo’.
Gaga says: describes him on Twitter as “Josh Fucking Homme”, and one of the “brilliant gentlemen” who created the record, otherwise known as “my brothers”.
Hillary Lindsey
Who: American songwriter noted for her work in the country genre
Appears on: Co-writer on the ballad ‘Million Reasons’, the nu-Nashville stomper ‘A-Yo’, ‘Grigio Girls’ and background vocals on ‘Sinner’s Prayer’.
Gaga says: They wrote ‘Million Reasons’ after sitting “on the couch together, going back and forth” thinking about “all the men in my life”. Lindsey joined Gaga onstage during the Bud Light Dive Bar tour, where the track was debuted.
Thomas Brenneck
Who: Founder of the Menahan Street Band and former guitarist for Amy Winehouse
Appears on: ‘Sinner’s Prayer’, alongside Father John Misty
Sean Lennon
Who: Musician, actor and son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Appears on: Plays guitar on ‘Sinner’s Prayer’
Este Haim
Who: Bass player for LA’s coolest sisterhood, Haim
Appears on: ‘A-YO’, playing percussion
(some of) The Arcs
Who: Homer Steinweiss (far left), Nick Movshon (centre) and Leon Michels (second from right) from Dan Auerbach’s band The Arcs
Appear on: ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ (all), ‘Hey Girl’ (Movshon, Steinweiss) and ‘Just Another Day’ (Steinweiss)
RedOne
Who: Songwriter and producer who worked on many of Gaga’s early hits
Appears on: The moving closing track, ‘Angel Down’
