Love her or hate her, the polarizing Lady Gaga certainly seemed to give it her all when it came to her David Bowie tribute at Monday night’s Grammy Awards.
In a performance that Rolling Stone has already dubbed “astonishing,” Gaga cavorted on stage in the spirit of Bowie, transforming from one era to another, replete with special effects, costume changes and an appearance from Let’s Dance and Black Tie White Noise producer Nile Rodgers.
Opening with “Space Oddity,” featuring a close-up of Gaga’s face overlaid with a projected thunder bolt and colours akin to Bowie, she moved to a piano featuring hydraulics before performing full choreography to songs like “Fashion,” “Let’s Dance” and “Rebel Rebel.” Rodgers, who also directed the performance, joined in on guitar for the second half of the tribute, which ended with “Heroes.”
But while she may have everyone talking, it’s not all positive. Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, shared a cryptic tweet after her performance (for the record, he’s defining “gaga”):
The love, however, seems to be outweighing the hate. A lifelong fan of Bowie, who died from cancer at the age of 69 in January, this tribute was a personal endeavor for the singer. In 2008, she thanked Bowie “for inspiration” in the liner notes of her debut album The Fame.
“All of the things I went through were on my own quest for an artistic journey to f–k myself up like Warhol and Bowie and Mick, and just go for it,” she said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2010. “I like to, within moderation, respect that I’m not Mick Jagger or David Bowie, and I don’t just have fans that are a certain age. There are nine-year-olds listening to my music, so I guess I try to be respectful of them if at all possible.”
It’s a hot year for Gaga, who performed the national anthem last week at Super Bowl 50 and nabbed a Golden Globe for her role on American Horror Story: Hotel. Next up is the Oscars, where she’s touted for a win alongside Diane Warren for Best Original Song. She may not be the next Bowie, but she’s certainly channeling his rarely boring spirit.