Lady Gaga proves her love for Bowie with giant tattoo before Grammys

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As Kaiser mentioned in her #GrammySoWhite post, there will only be 3 tributes at the Grammys tonight and they are all by white artists in honor of white artists. One of them will be Lady Gaga’s 6-minute tribute to David Bowie. More than a straight tribute, it is supposed to embody Bowie’s essence and his influence to style and art in addition to music.

Originally I had said that I wasn’t worried about Gaga messing up the tribute. Since then she performed the National Anthem at the Superbowl and I thought she did fine. However, she couldn’t help her All About the Gaga ways and tried to co-opt ALL the Bowie grief right before the show. I know, I know – you told me so. In her latest show of dedication, Gaga decided two days before the Grammys was the right time to assemble a crowd in front of the famous Shamrock Social Club tattoo shop in West Hollywood and have a large Ziggy Stardust inked into her ribcage:

Lady Gaga hit up legendary tattoo artist Mark Mahoney Saturday night … and walked away with a hefty David Bowie “Ziggy Stardust” on her side.

Gaga strolled into Mark’s WeHo shop, “Shamrock Social Club.” Gaga drew quite the crowd … but it all went down behind closed doors.

The singer is set to perform a tribute to Bowie at the Grammys tomorrow … and what a better tribute than one delivered with a portrait of his face on her body?

[From TMZ]

What’s a better tribute for an artist? I know, how about a respectful and fitting performance? Some outlets are trying to convince us that Gaga is hands down the best artist to give Bowie his due because she was so influenced by him. More than say… every other contemporary artist out there? She’s perfect because she likes him best? No. Some of you said Annie Lennox should be doing the tribute and I think that is a brilliant suggestion. Do you remember her performance with Bowie at Freddie Mercury’s tribute concert? Gaga never even met Bowie.

Niles Rodgers, who serves as musical director of the segment, has posted some pictures from their rehearsal to social media. He also filmed a short interview with Grammy.org and dropped a few hints about the performance.

@nilerodgers and @ladygaga at @thegrammys rehearsal @intel #davidbowietribute #grammys2016

A photo posted by Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) on

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Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images

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65 Responses to “Lady Gaga proves her love for Bowie with giant tattoo before Grammys”

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  1. lisa2 says:

    I’m just not a fan..

    and she has acted for years like she was most influenced by Tony Bennett.. What happened there? Now it looks like she has morphed into some version of Bowie. It just feels very forced and inauthentic.

    • C says:

      She goes with the flow….now she’s all about David Bowie…give me a break.

    • Esmom says:

      I’m not a fan either, to me everything she does feels forced and inauthentic. But even fans should agree that she isn’t the right person to do the Bowie tribute. Outrageous.

    • Jayna says:

      Don’t forget when she performed the Stevie Wonder tribute song she told him she wouldn’t be where she is without his influence.

      She said just last year her love is metalhead music and that she was going to be the next Judas Priest. Say what?

      She used to cite Madonna as a huge influence but has tried to back off of that for years after it kept being repeated she was copying many Madonna things.

      • Elyna says:

        Yeah…I don’t really see Metalheads embracing her attempt to imitate Judas Priest. I can’t fathom her vocal range and evocation of a Metal God being close to Rob Halford’s. I would like prior notice to get my lawn chair & popcorn ready before she starts the “take over.” LOL

        JMO, I thought her stealing Celine’s chest “pound” during the Super Bowl was the lowest of the low, considering Celine is lost in grieving. I wonder how Tony Bennett stands her!

  2. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    Just when I was ready to turn the page on Gaga, I find her barf-inducing once more. It’s all about her. Nobody else cares quite as much…God, that tattoo is hideous.

    • Willa says:

      Well, you summed it up for me nicely. I also think her Bowie tattoo is not that great, especially for a “legendary” tattoo artist.

      • Lama Bean says:

        Agree. That only slightly resembles him. I’d ask for a refund.

      • ISO says:

        The tattoo eyes look bulgy and crossed, like David Bowie is eye rolling all that is Gaga BS. Perfection.

      • Wren says:

        The eyes are actually closed and the one has a star on the eyelid. It took me awhile to see it. I guess I’m the only one who doesn’t think it’s that bad. It’s not good, but then portraits rarely are, and very few artists can actually do them properly. All in all I think it’s okay, at least you can tell who it is supposed to be.

      • mary simon says:

        The ink of Bowie’s mouth is lopsided and off to the right of his face – not centered under his nose as it should be. The whole image looks like a sloppy prison tattoo, and now poor Gaga has to pretend to like it!

    • The Eternal Side-Eye says:

      Perfectly said, just when you think, “Maybe she’s learned.” she becomes annoying at the speed of sound all over again.

    • Shambles says:

      Yeah… That is a horrendous tattoo. There’s this picture I saw on Facebook of a man’s portrait tattoo of his baby, and then on the other side a picture of a man holding a baby with the tattoo-face photoshopped over the baby’s actual face. The point is to illustrate how terrible and inaccurate some portrait tattoos are. It would be sad-funny to see a picture of this terrible ink rendition of Bowie’s face photoshopped over the actual Bowie’s face, just to drive home the point that this tattoo is scheiße.

      Also, Gaga looks like she’s on really hard drugs. No joke. Hope she’s okay.

    • InvaderTak says:

      I have yet to see a Mike Mahoney tattoo that looked really good. The ones celebs get are usually sub par.

    • I Choose Me says:

      Great summation. FTR I thought her singing of the National Anthem was good but nothing spectacular. Too much affectation and not enough ‘soul’ or genuine emotion. Felt the same way about her Sound of Music tribute. The thing is, she is genuinely talented but I feel like she’s more concerned with being famous and becoming an icon than she is with music itself.

  3. lower-case deb says:

    i thought she cited Mercury and Bennett as her greatest inspirations? maybe their faces are tattooed in taboo Gaga-places that’s why we never saw them?

  4. Miss M says:

    🙄

  5. Ariadne says:

    She looks exactly like an illustration I once saw of Medusa. I suspect that’s why she’s looking sideways, less risk of turning the photographer into stone.

  6. layla says:

    F*** you lady Gaga and your phony attention seeking ways. This makes me so mad. I hope David is up in the stars having a good chuckle at the joke they’ve chosen to pay tribute to him.

  7. Nancy says:

    I don’t get why she is doing the Bowie tribute to begin with, then the 18 year version of herself with money in her pocket, gets a body tat of his likeness. I think she likes to insist upon herself being an eccentric genius, but I think she Is attention seeking little girl who used to be relevant.

  8. NewWester says:

    I would not want to be in Gaga’s position and be doing a solo tribute to a great performer like David Bowie. The idea of having multiple artists who were influenced by Bowie would have been a better idea.
    But I do look forward to the comments about Gaga’s performance tomorrow on Celebitchy!

    • mom2two says:

      I agree. I do think the multiple artists who Bowie worked with or were influenced by him would be a better tribute. It would have been nice to see to see some of those artists up there paying tribute (Gail Ann Dorsey, Carlos Alamor, Nile Rodgers himself, Annie Lennox, Arcade Fire, would have loved to see Tina Turner come of retirement and do something…).

  9. paolanqar says:

    Bandwagon jumping famewhore: Level expert

  10. lilacflowers says:

    Is she also doing a tribute to Harpo Marx?

  11. BengalCat2000 says:

    I’m more offended by the fact it’s such a bad looking tattoo.

  12. Jayna says:

    Well, it didn’t exactly go down behind closed doors. She had video taken or photos in her bra during the entire process of him tattooing her and she herself posted them to her own instagram account or snapchat just to ensure she got as much mileage out of it as possible, knowing it would go out to all the gossip sites and magazines.

    The thirst is real.

  13. Julie says:

    Is that really her in the picture with Nile Rogers? She looks bad.

  14. Livia says:

    1. This would have been a more believable gesture if she’d had it done before he died, and not after.

    2. If Gaga were really being truthful about who her greatest influence was, the face she would have had tattooed on her body wouldn’t be David Bowie: it’d be Madonna.

  15. The Eternal Side-Eye says:

    Gaga, give her an inch of approval and she takes a mile of attention-seeking stunts.

    Who the hell gave her the inch and started her up again? Ryan Murphy?

    Well by the looks of this tribute she’s going to end up right back where she started. Doing some stupid stunt, ignoring the actual music, and making everyone roll their eyes and ignore her once more.

  16. InvaderTak says:

    In my fantasy Nile slips her a Mickey and does the tribute himself.

  17. serena says:

    Why are people making such a big deal out of this? Who care what tattoos she gets, it’s her body she can ink whatever and whoever she wants. Of course since it’s Gaga, she’s gonna milk it.
    That doesn’t change the fact that lately she’s been good, non-controversial and dressing appropriately.

  18. Nev says:

    The whole tattoo stunt is just EXTRA-NESS.

  19. Wentworth Miller says:

    I don’t mind her going a tattoo of David Bowie. If she squid that Tony Bennett influenced her, then awaits Madonna, then someone elites, I think that’s fine. It is possible to be influenced by more than one person.
    Her getting the tattoo of David after he died doesn’t say that her effort isn’t sincere. People usually don’t think to pay tribute to someone while they’re still alive. That usually happens after a person dies.
    With that out the way, the tattoo itself is awful. I’ve seen better tattoos from an apprentice on that Black Ink show, from those guys in Harlem.
    Another thing. Why is GaGa like all over the place doing all this extra extra shit? And wth is going on with her face? I never took her as being one of those “I wanna be Hollywood” kind of girl. *sigh*

    • Jayna says:

      It’s how she filmed herself getting the tattoo and posted it for attention so it would go viral which is offputting to me. I find that opportunistic for publicity regarding a legend who just died. Look at me. Look at me.

      Her face is weird these days. She’s done something odd as far as her cheeks.

  20. Sarah01 says:

    She is not genuine and really over over does everything. Why choose Gaga when Bowie didn’t even like her music. I can’t stand her. After her performance she’ll need to recuperate and will need to be fed and will tell her little monsters that she gave it everything, she felt Bowies spirit, she’s so fragile and they uplift her blah blah blah .
    Her tattoo is crappy, I’ve seen better work.

    • friday says:

      exactly! bowie was famously supportive of musicians whom he admired.
      so if the grammys need to pick someone “current”, then why not go with one of the musicians or bands with whom he chose to collaborate or play? i think they should have done more than one act: chosen a contemporary of his, and then one of his proteges.

  21. friday says:

    David Bowie was genuine and authentic. He was a revolutionary and innovative artist, breaking knew ground musically throughout his life.
    Lady Gaga is the exact opposite.
    My hatred for her has recently exceeded all my expectations!

    • Jayna says:

      I know. Bowie was fearless (except for his ’80s output when he went commercial for three albums to replenish his coffers but lost himself creatively he said). He would follow his muse musically every album risking losing fans along each and every way when making an album. My admiration for him is immense as someone who couldn’t be an artist if he didn’t do it his way. I was listening to Low this weekend, the first of his Berlin trilogy, thinking about that.

      Gaga isn’t even in his league. She’s a mainstream commercial pop artist with funny clothes and wigs on.

  22. Whitney says:

    David Bowie was amazing and original. Lady Gaga is not. Enough said.

  23. Jayna says:

    Did anybody see that CBS morning interview with Gaga and Diane Warren regarding their Oscar nomination for the song from that documentary? The clip I saw Gaga monopolized the interview talking about when she first heard the news at three in the morning. She had to go on and on and talk about how she was working on Bowie music for the tribute and listening to him, blah, blah, and how she finally let herself cry for the first time over Bowie. And as she was going on Diane Warren tried to say something and she went, “Shoosh,” right to the great Diane Warren. Then she went on about her Bowie mix tape and sobbing and looking up and seeing they were nominated. Then she said how wonderful it was to be recognized by the academy for her songwriting.

    NO, Gaga. Diane Warren wrote that song. Gaga changed the title and changed the arrangement up somewhat. Diane wrote that song.

    She was so theatrical and me, me, me I felt sorry for Diane Warren, who this nomination means a lot to, and she’s been promoting that song since before it even came out. And all Gaga could do was throw in Bowie, Bowie, and her dramatized story of hearing for the first time the song was nominated. Who is she to tell Diane Warren to “shoosh” and not let her get a word in edgewise about the topic at hand? I found it rude and was turned off.

    • Charlotte15 says:

      She SHUSHED DIANE WARREN? Oh hell no. She needs to learn her place in the pecking order! 😒

  24. MollyO says:

    I know I’m an outlier here, but I can definitely see where Bowie would’ve paved the way for a Gaga. She’s a chameleon, she plays with gender, and she can sing like nobody’s business. The tribute to “Sound of Music” was incontrovertibly amazing. I suspect she’ll nail this but yes, I agree that the being-photographed-getting-Bowie-tattoo thing is a bit much. I guess we should go back in history and see if she publicly owned Bowie’s influence, in interviews, prior to his decease. Does anybody know? Please help me out, celebitch-iers!

    • Jayna says:

      She has praised Bowie several times as being a huge influence performancewise and visually. Her music isn’t influenced by his music, though, which to me should be the most important thing.

      I think Gaga will be great and have no problem with her up there. She has a dramatic flair when performing, as he did. I just think it shouldn’t have been just Gaga doing the tribute to Bowie since he wasn’t even a fan of her music, but should have been inclusive of other of his peers or acts he mentored.

      • Poohbear says:

        She has a rather extreme tendency to make everthing about herself instead of whoever she’s honoring. She just doens’t seem genuine in anything she does. He might’ve had some influence on her, but there are much better fits, that David himself also liked. I always had the idea that he didn’t like Gaga at all.

  25. CK says:

    Welp, It was nice while it lasted. Gaga has gone back to her ArtPop days of being extra as hell and Kanye is in the midst of a mental breakdown.

  26. Lisa says:

    I like her, but what’s with the deathbed look?

  27. SJO says:

    I am a huge Bowie fan like many. And this Gaga distraction at his expense is infuriating. I don’t think I can watch.

    • Charlotte15 says:

      I am *not* even a Bowie fan — though I greatly respect the influence he had — and I don’t think I could watch it either because it is now so much about her that it is insulting to his memory IMO. Should have been Annie Lennox, as someone else upthread suggested.

  28. Jayna says:

    Nile Rodgers on the Bowie tribute.

    “Without a doubt, the most anticipated tribute of this year’s Grammys will be Rodgers and Gaga’s celebration of Bowie’s legacy: a gloriously theatrical but respectful 10-song, nearly eight-minute medley featuring Lady Gaga transforming into Lady Stardust, in full Ziggy-inspired glam attire, against a psychedelic backdrop of dancing starmen, flanked by Rodgers and “Fashion”-appropriate modern dancers. However, when it was first announced that Gaga would perform the tribute to Bowie, one of rock ‘n’ roll’s all-time most important and influential figures, some naysayers wondered why the segment wasn’t being led by one of Bowie’s peers, like Iggy Pop or Brian Eno.

    “That’s a very legitimate question,” Ehrlich admits. Says Rodgers: “We called everybody! I could show you all my emails! I think in Iggy’s case, he just wasn’t available. People didn’t know that we were going to do a Bowie tribute at the Grammys, so what happened was, actually it was Gaga’s idea: She had me reach out to, say, 15 different people. Everybody was available, but by the time we linked up, Iggy wasn’t available, and to me that was important [to include him]. But when you see this [Gaga performance], you’ll get it. It will make sense.”

    “It’s subjective, but there are probably many people who look at Lady Gaga as a modern-day incarnation of Bowie,” says Ehrlich. “She’s outrageous – it’s about clothing, it’s about musicianship, and there’s this left turn that she’s always been. Not that David was that controversial, but he was controversial, like she is.”

    “I don’t want to speak for Gaga, but I’ve had a huge number of conversations with her about David, and she says – I’m paraphrasing her here – that he was probably the single greatest influence on her life, in terms of where she was coming from artistically,” says Rodgers. Rodgers also stresses that Gaga helped figure out the daunting task of distilling Bowie’s five-decade, multi-genre, multi-character career into just a few minutes. “As musical director, my concept was to musically make that statement – to tell this historical, linear journey,” he says. “That was a little bit tricky, but Gaga’s idea was to do it chronologically, and we for the most part do it that way. But then at the end, you’ll see we do a finale that’s almost like a ‘tribute to the tribute,’ and it’s going to be very interesting.”

  29. The New Classic says:

    It could be worse, it could be Kanye West doing a six minute tribute to David Bowie. Where Kanye would rant about how David Bowie looked up to Kanye for his amazing contributions to music and how things wouldn’t be the same without David’s adoration for Kanye. And then Kanye would demand David’s estate go to him to help him make his “art.” I know I’d tune in!

    • Jayna says:

      And then at the end, after that rant, someone from the audience would yell out, “No, it’s Kendrick Lamar that Bowie was inspired by when making Blackstar and was blown away by To Pimp a Butterfly.” Then Kanye would flip out and yell, “Well, Fck Bowie then and this tribute,” and walk off stage. LOL

  30. Goobie says:

    She said she was leaving that Illuminati crap behind. But she is more desperate for attention than KK. She reminds me of the mentally ill unwashed crazies on public transpo who will do anything to shock and offend for attention while muttering to themselves. I have non one shred of respect for her. And the Tat looks like shit. She couldn’t even spend the time to find a good tattoo artist. Another L for GAG

  31. Anare says:

    Gaga better not eff this up. We are still in the official mourning stage and the world will rip Gaga a new one if she doesn’t deliver.

  32. Katebush says:

    Didn’t Dave turn down her requests to work together? That sums up his opinion of her..I won’t be watching it.

  33. paranormalgirl says:

    “Lady Gaga hit up legendary tattoo artist Mark Mahoney Saturday night … and walked away with a hefty David Bowie “Ziggy Stardust” on her side.”

    It’s not Ziggy Stardust like the article says. The tattoo is Aladdin Sane. And it’s a pretty janky piece.

    • Blackcat says:

      Brilliant observation. I just assumed it was Ziggy–until your post. Big different between Aladdin and Stardust.
      One would think that Gaga would have all Bowie’s personas down pat since he was one of the greatest influences on her. Per Holden Caulfield:
      she’s a phony.

  34. Classy and Sassy says:

    Gaga has taken much inspiration from Bowie, more so than from Madonna, I reckon. So I believe it’s a genuine gesture. But damn, is that really the best work money can buy?

  35. lucy says:

    …and expresses her love for St. Vincent with her hairdo?

    Is a St. Vincent tattoo next?