After almost six hours of FireAid, Lady Gaga ended the historic Los Angeles event by debuting a new song co-written with her fiance Michael Polansky, an upbeat number that she said was “just for tonight.”
Gaga kept the theatrics to a minimum following a night stacked with spectacle, remaining behind the piano with a backing band for the performance. She began with “Shallow,” her hit from her 2018 film “A Star Is Born,” taking a moment to address the crowd and explain how despite the devastation in Los Angeles, it’s created a moment of unity.
“Thank you, I love you,” she said. “This has been a horrible, scary time, but during these times, I feel like people come together and we see how much we need each other. And I want to always remember us just like this.”
After a piano rendition of “Always Remember Us This Way,” she introduced the new song — potentially titled “All I Need Is Time” or “Time Is a Healer” — by explaining that she wrote it specifically for FireAid with Polansky. “When I was thinking bout what to sing tonight, I thought I’d do something hopeful for you, and I was thinking about my songs and nothing seemed quite right,” she said. “So me and my friend Michael, my fiance, my love, we wrote this song for you. It’s just for tonight, it’s just for you. I think we all need a lot of things right now, but I think something we also may need is time. Time is a healer.”
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What followed was a bouncy tune with an uplifting message. “Wish that God would find a different way to remind me what it’s like to pray / Wish that I could turn this storm around and I cannot find a different way,” she sings leading into the chorus. “All I need is time, all I need is time / All I need is time to heal my broken wings and then I’ll soar / All I need is time to leave it all behind / All I need is time to leave it all behind and keep moving forward.”
Gaga is gearing up to release her new album “Mayhem,” out on March 7. At FireAid, she capped off an evening that featured a run of performances from Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Wonder, Billie Eilish, Peso Pluma and Olivia Rodrigo. Other artists who graced the stages at Intuit Dome and Kia Forum included Green Day, No Doubt, Graham Nash, Dawes and more.
FireAid benefitted relief efforts for those impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires, which burned through much of the Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Malibu. Proceeds went toward initiatives via the Annenberg Foundation.