Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga’s World-Premiere Performance of ‘Rain on Me’ at the VMAs Was Mind-Blowing

A world premiere! The MTV Video Music Awards may look a little different this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, but Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga still brought all of the high energy we’ve come to expect from the iconic event. The duo performed their hit “Rain on Me” live for the first time on August 30, and fans couldn’t be more thrilled.

The duo looked hotter than ever in their first performance since COVID shut down the country. Ariana rocked a purple two-piece outfit and simple black mask, while Gaga paired her bondage-inspired outfit with a light-up mask and had her styling on point with edgy accessories.

Of course, some tweaks needed to be made to the typical performance format to make sure everyone stayed safe. All of the dancers on stage donned their own masks as they strutted their stuff and worked the cameras.

Ari and Gaga were the queens of the 2020 VMAs, not just because of their world-premiere performance, but also because they led the nominations for the evening with nine each. Their collab song “Rain on Me” was up for Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration, and more, while Ari also got two noms with Justin Bieber for their stay-at-home charity hit “Stuck With U.”

Both Gaga and Ari seem to be having a pretty good year despite the lockdown. Both superstars have new love in their life — Gaga unveiled her new relationship with boyfriend Michael Polansky with a cuddly photo in February, and Ari revealed her new man, Dalton Gomez, at the very end of the “Stuck With U” music video on May 8, though it seems they’d actually been secretly dating for months before that.

Since then, Ari has continued to be pretty private about her new relationship, though Gaga is happy to share some glimpses into hers on Instagram. She and her boo donned matching shirts for their #TogetherAtHome fundraiser in April, and shared a sweet photo revealing they were passing quarantine by “going strong, playing video games and cards, and taking care of ourselves” in March.

We can’t wait to see what’s next from these two icons, both on stage and off!