Entertainment
21 Rumored Collabs We *Need* To Hear
Instagram/@billieeilish via People
The Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, and Ariana Grande collab of our dreams came true in late June 2019 when the powerhouse trio released a preview for their upcoming single in support of the new Charlie's Angels reboot, but a rumored (musical) reunion between exes Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber ended up being more fiction than fact.
With so much fake news flying around online, it's hard to know which secret features will actually be released and which might have been planted by the Russians. Hopefully, these 21 too-good-to-be-true musical collaborations aren't just a hoax.
Taylor Swift & Katy Perry
Republic Records
Taylor Swift and Katy Perry recently buried the hatchet after a five years feud. In a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, Taylor heavily implied that her song "Bad Blood" was about the "Never Really Over" singer, a former friend who had allegedly poached dancers from Taylor's Red stadium tour. Now that Taylor has accepted Katy's literal olive branch eagle-eyed fans on Buzzfeed and Twitter are speculating that Katy will be featured on Taylor's upcoming seventh album, Lover. Katy added fuel to the fire when she told Entertainment Tonight reporters she was open to a collaboration with her former frenemy.
Lady Gaga & CupcakKe
CupcakKe
KIKA/WENN.com
Music lovers at The Line Of Best Fit are "hella certain" that breakout female rapper CupcakKe will be featured on Lady Gaga's upcoming album. After CupcakKe tweeted that she's "pregnany with lady Gaga 6 [sic]" in response to a fan's dream that CupcakKe had a secret child, following the revelation she had been invited to hear Gaga's sixth album, stans of both icons are convinced that the "Squidward Nose" rapper will be bringing her dirty bars to what is sure to be a fire collaboration.
Cardi B & Beyoncé
Cardi B has spit bars for everyone from Bruno Mars to Lil Nas X, and rumor has it that she added her Bronx flavor to a track for Beyoncé herself. Ebony reported that an engineer working for Cardi hinted at a collab between these bad b*tches on Instagram Stories last October, but Cardi revealed to Beats 1 Radio that the demo was a hoax. Still, Cardi was emphatic that she would obviously love to work with Queen Bey in the future, and we're holding out hope that the "Bodak Yellow" rapper is just really, really good at keeping secrets.
Liam Payne & Camila Cabello
The biggest question on teen pop lovers' minds is who will be Camila Cabello's Prince Charming. No, we don't mean IRL — we're pretty sure Shawn Mendes has that one covered. Camila's been cast as Cinderella in an upcoming feature film, and fans are torn as to whether Liam Payne will be asking if the shoe fits or if the young stars have recorded a collaboration. J-14 noticed that there has been intense speculation about a Camila/Liam duet since Liam followed Camila on Instagram, and rumors of Dylan O'Brien being cast as Camila's on-screen foil makes a musical marriage between the former girl- and boy-banders seem more likely.
Taylor Swift & Drake
WENN
Once upon a time, people were sure that Taylor Swift and Drake were dating. Uproxx laid out the facts: Drizzy tweeted some kind words to the then-country singer in 2011, the pair looked cozy at the 2013 VMAs, Tay attended the rapper's thirtieth birthday party in 2016, and later that year Drake and Taylor released matching Apple Music ads lip syncing to each others' songs. 2016 was the same year Aubrey broke the internet with a picture of him and Taylor in the studio (and don't think we didn't notice her golden tattoo 👀), when Tay was supposedly looking for help finding a hip-hop influenced sound for her next album. That recording session never saw the light of day, but the Easter Eggs featured on Taylor's Entertainment Weekly cover put a "Hotline Bling" still next to a button that reads "Track 5." We think you know what that means.
Ariana Grande & Shawn Mendes
Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com
WENN.com
the whisp has already reported on rumors of an Ariana Grande and Shawn Mendes collab, and we aren't giving up on this absolute dream pairing. While tweets about a Genius track called "Saturn" featuring Shawn as a writer and Ari on vocals were proven to be totally fake, we pointed out that both artists have collabed with basically all of their other peers, so it's not exactly out of the question. With a new Shawn album imminent, we're hoping "Saturn" was a prediction of things to come.
Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole
J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar let us believe that a collaborative *album* was coming for years before Cole told Power 105.1 that an LP between the two prolific artists wasn't going to happen any time soon. Cole confirmed that the pair did a few songs, which we're dying to hear, but said that the album isn't "actively happening." It's not a "never" situation as much as a "not right now," but it seems like the only thing stopping these powerful friends is that they both have their own families and careers to focus on first and foremost.
Shawn Mendes & Niall Horan
Instagram via J-14
These boys are such teases. J-14 has the receipts from a fateful day when Niall Horan responded to a Twitter Q&A about collaborating with Shawn Mendes, saying, "We're going to try." Shawn upped the ante, tweeting, "We ARE going to!" before telling ET Canada in January 2019 that the song is "100 percent going to happen." Niall has been working on his second studio album, so it's time to prepare for a colla-bro-ration between these famous friends. We're definitely not ready for this.
Selena Gomez & Zayn Malik
Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com
Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com
The rumored Aladdin duet between Zayn Malik and Selena Gomez was just that — a rumor. Zayn ultimately sang "A Whole New World" with Zhavia Ward instead, but with Sel dedicating her time to music and a very, very dubious romantic past with the former One Direction-er, it seems like there had to be a reason for fans to think the teen pop sensations were joining forces. Zayn previously collabed with Selena's BFF, Taylor Swift, for the Fifty Shades franchise, so there probably isn't any "Bad Blood" between the pair. Taylor wouldn't work with someone who had beef with her best friend, right?
Chance The Rapper & Childish Gambino (Again)
Island Records
These fairly wholesome R&B hitmakers are friendship #goals. Rumors of a full collaborative mixtape between Childish Gambino and Chance the Rapper were started by Donald himself, who tweeted in 2014, “Now that Chance finally released his verse on 'Worst Guys,' maybe he can hurry up and finish the rest of our EP. #hinthint.” Chance confirmed the existence of the EP in a Coloring Book-centric Reddit AMA, but years later, there's still no sign of these longtime collaborator's longest collaboration. The pair have come together for songs on Acid Rap and Because the Internet, but we won't be satisfied until we finally get what will likely be the best collaborative mixtape of all time.
Beyoncé & Rihanna
Instagram/@beyonce via Planet Radio
Move over Kim Kardashian — this would really break the internet. Music mogul Rihanna and Queen of The World Beyoncé haven't always been the best of friends, especially after Rihanna's former publicist reportedly spread the 2005 rumor that Ri was Jay-Z's mistress as a PR stunt. The publicist formally apologized, and later, Rihanna and Beyoncé buried the hatchet on Instagram in 2017. Now that these powerhouses are no longer feuding, Atlanta Black Star is reporting that a 2018 song fragment from producer Earthquake allegedly featured both women. Nothing has been released yet, possibly for the health and safety of Beehive and Navy members that would literally die if this rumor was true.
Beyoncé & Mariah Carey
Tony Forte/WENN
Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com
Another world-ending Beyoncé rumor pairs our generation's queen with another's. In 2016, Elle reported on a now-deleted tweet from @Bey_Legion and an IG post speculating that Beyoncé and Mariah Carey were linking up for a song honoring the late Whitney Houston. Mariah told Access Online later in the year that she'd love to work with the "Formation" singer, but years later, there have been no updates on the possible holy union. At least we know the idea is out there, and if anyone can keep something under wraps for years, it's our surprise album release pioneer.
Miley Cyrus & Lady Gaga
Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com
FayesVision/WENN.com
Miley Cyrus allegedly said she could neither confirm nor deny a collaboration with future EGOT Lady Gaga, but AOL reports that both artists had been in Electric Lady Studios at the same times *a lot* in 2018 as both singers were working on their hotly anticipated new albums. In addition to sharing a recording studio, the pair also share custody of Mark Ronson, a producer who has worked with Lady Gaga and confirmed he was writing with Miley during the time in question. Are we, like, detectives? Because I'm pretty sure we've cracked this case wide open. She A collab is coming.
Billie Eilish & Justin Bieber
Instagram/@billieeilish via People
The best thing to come out of Billie Eilish's meteoric rise to fame is that video of the pre-fame tween pretending to faint while listening to Justin Bieber. And When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go, obviously, but her longtime stanning of the Biebs is the gift that keeps on giving. Billie has been crushing on JB since she was twelve, and revealed to Entertainment Tonight that the "Baby" singer sent her a screenshot of a DM she had sent to him when she was fourteen. Justin is slated to make a triumphant return to music soon, and Billie told reporters "you never know" if she'll appear as a featured artist.
The 1975 & blink-182
Sakura/WENN.com
Sakura/WENN.com
It must be harder to get two full bands together for a collaboration. After all, it's hard enough to grapple with two big schedules (and even bigger personalities) when a pair of pop stars get together. For all seven of the collective members of Blink-182 and The 1975 to get together, agree on a song, and record their respective parcels, Heaven and Earth might have to move, but their respective frontmen have sparked a friendship via Twitter according to PopBuzz. Mark Hoppus suggested the bands combine for a cover, which, honestly, could make things way easier.
Kelsea Ballerini & Taylor Swift
Kelsea Ballerini has been fielding comparisons to Taylor Swift for what seems like her entire career. It's only natural that the likely duo would strike up a friendship over their shared musical tastes. After Taylor tweeted that she was listening to Kelsea's self-titled EP on repeat in 2015, the pair have become besties, and fans have been eagerly awaiting a Taylor/Kelsea collab. While it doesn't look like Tay will be returning to her country roots any time soon, never say never — the "ME!" singer won a CMA only two years ago for penning Little Big Town's "Better Man" and worked with Sugarland on "Babe" not long after, while Kelsea dipped her toes into pop music with a feature on 2018's Chainsmokers single "This Feeling." While rumors of a Taylor feature on Kelsea's song "Roses" were proven false, we're pretty sure it's only a matter of time before the writers stumble onto something great.
BTS & Dolly Parton
WENN.com
Supplied by WENN.com
Dolly Parton knows real talent when she sees it. You don't become a musical legend without business acumen and a great ear, and Dolly tweeted to the ether that she'd consider a "Jolene" collab with K-Pop superstars BTS. Taste of Country saw the tweet after BTS was captured singing along to the classic hit in the audience at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Jungkook apparently cried because he was in Dolly's presence at the show (same, dude), so we're hoping this odd couple becomes another unlikely collaboration that weirdly works.
Post Malone & Bring Me The Horizon
WENN
Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com
Speaking of weird, the friendship between Post Malone and Oli Sykes is something that no one saw coming. NME reports that Oli posted an IG photo of his recording studio with the caption, "We good to go?" Posty said he was in the comments, but it looks like the pair just got together for a round of Grand Theft Auto. Knowing Post, that could just be part of the musical process, and fans are still hoping that a marriage between Bring Me The Horizon and Post could pop up on a future album.
Ariana Grande & BLACKPINK
Ariana Grande and BLACKPINK are mutual fans, with their bra-mance being well documented through social media. Ari finally met the K-Pop girl group after two years of cyber appreciation at Coachella and later gifted a perfume to Rosé, but the real reason fans think our constantly-recording Sweetener star is working with the group is because both acts work with Pharrell, who did a ridiculous amount of work on Ari's mid-2018 album. Latin Times says Ari teased a surprise in her birthday wishes to Pharrell and speculate that it might have something to do with the "Kill This Love" singers.
Britney Spears & Christina Aguilera
WENN
The competition between Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears is a relic of the early-'00s, as far as Xtina is concerned. Christina told E! Online a collab was inevitable when the pair were both slated to have Las Vegas residencies at the same time, but with Brit taking an indefinite work hiatus from her Domination show, it seems like we'll have to wait a little longer to see our childhood heroes reunite. What's most important is Britney's health and wellness, but it's good to know that a collaboration is on the table whenever she's ready for it.
Miley Cyrus & Cardi B
WENN.com
Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com
As with most rumors that pop up out of nowhere, it seems like this potential collab has its roots in the Twittersphere. The Pop Predictors account tweeted that Miley Cyrus is releasing a collab with Cardi B "soon" after Miley said she loves Nicki Minaj but listens to Cardi in her new song "Cattitude," featuring Ru Paul. Miley said she wasn't taking sides in the public fight between Nicki and Cardi, with the golden era of "Miley, what's good?" looking like it would stay in the past. But now that Nicki went on Queen Radio to call Miley a "Perdue chicken," all bets are off. It's like the Queen said, "Best revenge is your paper."
