Does Taylor Swift secretly appear on Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’? Fans speculate

Some Lady Gaga fans are convinced that her latest album has a secret appearance from Taylor Swift.

• READ MORE: Lady Gaga – ‘Mayhem’ review: queen of pop bombast dials everything up to eleven
  

The singer’s highly anticipated seventh album ‘Mayhem‘ arrived today (March 7) after months of speculation. It follows on from 2020’s ‘Chromatica’ and her Joker: Folie a Deux companion record ‘Harlequin’ which was released last year.

While the singer recently broke down how the LP differs from the rest of her back catalogue, it seems like one song in particular has caught people’s eye for its distinctive sound.

This comes in the form of the ninth song on the tracklist – an 80s-inspired synth-pop hit called ‘How Bad Do U Want Me?’. The song seems to have left fans divided, as the vocal melody and structure seem to have a nod to the work of fellow pop icon Taylor Swift.

Not only have numerous fans noticed the parallels between the track and Taylor Swift’s songs, but some are even convinced that there is a secret feature from the ‘Bad Blood’ singer on the album.

There are no mentions of Swift on the credits for ‘Mayhem’, but that hasn’t stopped some from debating whether or not it could be a hidden easter egg from Gaga.

“I’m not a TS fan and I love Lady Gaga. I honestly did a double take and checked to see if she was on the song,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “Some of the background/echo vocals sound a lot like TS. And the song sounds like it could be a TS song. I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes out that she was involved in this one.”

“My theory is that Taylor secretly wrote ‘How Bad Do You Want Me’ for Gaga,” another theorised on Twitter/X. “The production? the vocal style? The lyrics?? It’s screaming 2014-2019 Taylor so bad.”

Check out the song above, and find more fan responses below.

So many rumours Taylor Swift is secretly on Lady Gaga’s Mayhem!!
byu/OverSyncopatedBeats inpopculturechat

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My theory is that Taylor secretly wrote How Bad Do You Want Me for Gaga.. the production? the vocal style? the lyrics?? it's screaming 2014-2019 Taylor so bad pic.twitter.com/aEBYrGqYvF

— Poop Crave (@P00P_CRAVE) March 6, 2025

It was found that Taylor Swift is featured in the vocals of Lady Gaga's song "How Bad Do You Want Me."

MAYHEM IS COMING pic.twitter.com/MhoxGJISYr

— Rilla-Roo (@BandicootPenta) March 7, 2025

You know what, How Bad Do U Want Me may have some Taylor Swift vibes but maybe Gaga did that on purpose to show those little demonic Swifties that anybody can make that basic watered down babygirl pop music but make it even better.. pic.twitter.com/2DuAzAXgpU

— Preston (@fartpop5) March 7, 2025

Lady Gaga using Down BADlyrics, Taylor commenting then Gaga drops How BAD Do U want me with Taylor as back vocals?! WHAT ARE YOU GIRLS COOKING @ladygaga @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/EcyziocfNR

— gagaklein ♱ 𝓜𝓐𝓨𝓗𝓔𝓜 (@whatsupgagaa) March 7, 2025

It’s worth noting that while there is no mention of the pop star on the credits for ‘Mayhem’, it isn’t unheard of for Swift to work on someone else’s album without taking any credit.

One of the most famous examples of this came with the Calvin Harris hit song ‘This Is What You Came For’, which she co-wrote under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. The track would later be shared with vocals from Rihanna.

The two were also in the same circles last year, Swift defended the singer amid pregnancy speculation, branding the rumours as “invasive and irresponsible”.

‘Mayhem’ was given a four-star review from NME, and described as a record that sees the pop icon “dial everything up to 11”.

“There’s a nonchalant confidence in the way Gaga sticks to her maximalist vision without pandering to contemporary pop trends. Most ‘Mayhem’ tracks run close to or over four minutes, making them mini-epics in the TikTok era,” it read.

“Ultimately, ‘Mayhem’ feels like a great Gaga album because it’s just so much fun. At times, it’s a bit like reconnecting with an old friend who makes sense even when they seem to be chatting nonsense,” it added. “Seventeen years after she broke through with ‘Just Dance’, Lady Gaga remains pop’s foremost agent of impeccably crafted chaos.”

As well as gearing up for today’s album release, Lady Gaga has also delighted fans in Mexico by announcing that she will be performing in the country for the first time in 13 years. The pop icon will be taking over the Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City on April 26, and it is expected to see multiple songs performed from the ‘Mayhem’ tracklist.

The news of that show arrived shortly after the ‘Paparazzi’ hitmaker announced that she would be performing a monumental free show to over a million fans at Copacabana Beach in Rio.

The post Does Taylor Swift secretly appear on Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’? Fans speculate appeared first on NME.