Joker: Folie à Deux (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack album to the 2024 film Joker: Folie à Deux by Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, who portray the Joker and Harley Quinn, respectively. It was released on October 4, 2024, through WaterTower Music and Interscope Records. Lady Gaga released a companion album, called Harlequin, on September 27, 2024.
Development Although Joker (2019) was initially intended to be a standalone film with no sequel, it was later revealed in November 2019 that a sequel had already been in development. The title was revealed to be Joker: Folie à Deux in June 2022 with a script already in the works at that point. Gaga was revealed to join Phoenix, who also starred in the first part, in the film as Harley Quinn that same month.
On March 22, 2024, sources confirmed that the soundtrack would include 15 cover songs. It was said to heavily lean towards "mostly a jukebox musical" with several renditions and reinterpretations of "very well-known" songs. Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir explained that there would be "a lot of music" for the soundtrack, acknowledging that the film would be a musical with a direction that is "both logical and also very surprising". Footage from the set teased the 1948 musical duet "Easter Parade" by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, "A Couple of Swells" and a portion of the first movie's original tracklist. Further reports included "That's Entertainment!" (1953) and "Cheek to Cheek". The film's only original song is "Folie à Deux", written and performed by Gaga.
Composition Chris DeVille of Stereogum noted considerable overlap between Harlequin and the Joker: Folie à Deux soundtrack, while observing that the latter presented several of the shared standards in darker, more ominous arrangements. Writing for Le Monde, Jacques Mandelbaum characterized the soundtrack's standards as subtly altered and darkened through deliberately unsteady arrangements, which he found poignant.
Promotion and release Speaking to Variety in August 2024, the film's director, Todd Phillips, confirmed that Phoenix and Gaga perform renditions of "Get Happy", "For Once in My Life", and "What the World Needs Now Is Love". A first teaser was released on September 3, 2024, that saw Gaga and Phoenix singing the lyrics to "Get Happy", famously interpreted by Judy Garland. The same day, Interscope Records made vinyl and CD formats of the soundtrack available for pre-order. A second teaser, released on September 18, 2024, featured Gaga singing "That's Life", while other promotional material included excerpts of the songs "For Once in My Life" and "What the World Needs Now Is Love".
Critical reception In a February 2026 ranking of Lady Gaga's albums for Spin, Al Shipley placed the Joker: Folie à Deux soundtrack last. He wrote that the album peaked early with the Nick Cave big-band medley and that Joaquin Phoenix's vocals were "even harder to listen to" outside the context of the film. Shipley praised Gaga's performances of "That's Entertainment!" and "I've Got the World on a String", finding them most effective when she "really gets into character" and sings more like "an unhinged criminal than a seasoned pop star". The same year, Sophie Ehmke of Musikexpress similarly ranked the soundtrack last in Gaga's discography, describing it as comparatively restrained and lacking the emotional variety and engaging quality of the A Star Is Born soundtrack. Kaelen Bell of Exclaim! singled out Phoenix's rendition of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End" as the album's most interesting moment.
Track listing
Charts + Chart (2024) Peakposition Croatian International Albums (HDU) 40 Irish Compilations (IRMA) 6 Italian Albums (FIMI) 92 Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) 86 Polish Physical Albums (ZPAV) Note: Change the date to 04.10.2024–10.10.2024 under "zmień zakres od–do:". 62 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) 44
Footnotes
See also Joker: Folie à Deux (score) Harlequin (Lady Gaga album)
References