When the original 1986 Top Gun hit theaters, it skyrocketed Tom Cruise into movie star status, but another big element of the movie was its soundtrack that remains iconic today. Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone,” Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” and The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” have become synonymous with the hit movie. So for the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, it was important for Lady Gaga’s big song to land. As the movie’s main composer has shared, her song has a double meaning.
Lady Gaga penned and performs Top Gun: Maverick’s big song “Hold My Hand,” which plays during the film and was infused in the score as well. It was composed by Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer, and produced by Lorne Balfe. When speaking to the film’s music, Balfe shared this about Gaga’s knockout track:
We start using that theme when it’s to do with the love of two people, but also when it’s an emotional moment, embracing the sacrifices that these pilots go through. The love of flight was always a subject we talked about. At the end of that first sequence, when Maverick’s trying to beat the speed record, we hear a nod to that theme.
The composer, who has also worked on recent Mission: Impossible films and Black Widow, among other big action films, told Variety that Lady Gaga’s song was implemented as a theme for multiple meanings within the film. On the one hand, it’s about romantic love, and on the other hand, it’s about the passion of flight and the love that goes into the profession Top Gun highlights.
As you get ready to Top Gun: Maverick in theaters this Memorial Day weekend, if you haven’t been part of the box office records the movie is already breaking, check out the music video for Lady Gaga’s Top Gun: Maverick song “Hold My Hand”:
The emotional power ballad was written across years, according to Lady Gaga, who shared on Instagram back in April that she spent a lot of time “perfecting” it. She called it a “love letter to the world during and after a very hard time.” When Tom Cruise heard the track, as the Top Gun star admitted to CinemaBlend, the singer alleviated a concern he had about the sequel being able to breathe alongside the original soundtrack.
Tom Cruise and Lady Gaga have apparently become close since working together on the soundtrack for Top Gun: Maverick. For instance, Cruise attended one of Gaga’s concerts last month. As Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots recently revealed, the alternative rock band was originally working on a song for the movie before they were fired.
After many delays for Top Gun: Maverick, the action film is finally playing in theaters! You can check out CinemaBlend’s interviews with the Maverick cast and stay tuned for more coverage on upcoming movies.