Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik Stun Fans With Surprise ’50 Shades’ Collaboration

Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik caused a social media storm as they dropped their surprise collaboration “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” on Thursday night.

The “Shake It Off” star hasn’t released any new music as a vocalist in 2016, so delighted fans when she took to her Instagram page to reveal the duet, from the soundtrack of upcoming film Fifty Shades Darker, just before midnight.

Z | T | 50 @zayn @fiftyshadesmovie #fiftyshadesdarker @itunes #idontwannaliveforever

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Dec 8, 2016 at 8:08pm PST

Posting the cover art for the track, which shows a masquerade mask with the pair’s names, Swift kept her caption simple by writing: “Z | T | 50.”

She then shared a snippet of the track, which was made available to download on iTunes and quickly shot up the charts to the top spot.

After finding out the song had already taken the number one position on the streaming site, the singer returned to social media to share a screenshot of the chart, writing: “Well that escalated quickly.”

Well that escalated quickly. @jackantonoff @zayn @sam_dew

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Dec 8, 2016 at 9:47pm PST

The sexy tune sees the duo taking turns to deliver their lines, with the blonde star crooning, “Baby, baby, I feel crazy/Up all night, all night and every day/Give me something, oh, but you say nothing/What is happening tonight?” before her former One Direction star collaborator jumps in, “I don’t wanna live forever/’Cause I know I’ll be living in pain.”

Swift penned the song alongside Jack Antonoff and Sam Dew, with Jack also taking on a producing role. It was written specifically for the soundtrack of the new film, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, and will feature on the soundtrack which is due for release on February 10 through Republic Records.

The film is scheduled to open February 8.

Swift’s collaboration with Malik is all the more interesting considering the pair has something of a history. Fans of the singer will remember her much documented romance with his One Direction bandmate Harry Styles, which began in November 2012 and ended in January the following year. After their split, Swift did what she does best and wrote a song about her ex – believed to be “I Knew You Were Trouble.”