(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Freud)
It’s common pop knowledge that Lady Gaga goes out of her way to distance herself from Madonna. The little monsters’ ringleader has reportedly gone as far as firing her choreographer/creative director over making a verbal comparison of the two. Madonna on the other hands seems to go out of her way to compare herself to Gaga.
This week, according to Glamour, Madonna reveals on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show that she feels a connection to Gaga saying “When I first saw her I was really impressed by her. She was cool. She did remind me of me back in the day.”
In an interview with Newsweek Madonna compared “Express Yourself” to “Born This Way” saying “I thought, this is a wonderful way to redo my song. I mean, I recognized the chord changes. I thought it was . . . interesting.”
Ouch, talk about layering on the passive-agressive compliments!
Regardless, music builds on music with one generation laying the tracks for the next. Their personae and stage acts are by design and being somewhat formulaic similarities are bound to exist. You can’t really blame Gaga, a young and still rising star for not wanting to compare herself to the somewhat pigeon-holed “former Queen of Pop” but you also can’t blame Madonna for wanting to associate herself with an insanely popular pop phenomenon with a shared fan base.
What do you think?
74 Comments
…two amazing artists – mad love
January 13, 2012 at 9:30 pm |
Most of what Gaga’s done has been done by not only Madonna, but Bowie, Cher and some others. But i do love Gaga – she has a stunning body and can actually sing unlike some other pop princesses which i’m not going to name here.
January 14, 2012 at 12:02 am |
what does ” a stunning body” have to do with being a good singer? Of course since Madonna, all the pop tarts think they have to look and act like sleazy strippers to make up for their lack of a real voice or talent.
January 14, 2012 at 5:27 pm |
She quite clearly said Gaga has a stunning body AND can actually sing. Mutually exclusive concepts you see. -_-
January 27, 2012 at 4:39 pm
what does the body have to do with it and lady gaga is the bomb she is an original their is some simularities in between these artist BUT lady gaga doesnt steal peoples songs nor how they act or put on a show or even what they where!!! i am not trying to be mean but these songs are just papparatzi gettting in the way so they can get celebrity fights and get paid…. so dontbelieve most of what you hear instead try to stay on the right track we were all born that way!
January 16, 2012 at 12:12 pm |
“Lady Gaga” is a copy-and-paste with crappy music and she wasn’t “born that way”, she was a Prep before . . . . .
January 30, 2012 at 7:52 am
who is that old lady in the photo above this article?
January 14, 2012 at 5:08 pm |
Are you freakin serious with your comment?
January 17, 2012 at 4:02 pm |
it’s called sarcasm. how long have you been on this planet?
January 21, 2012 at 11:30 pm
no idea
January 30, 2012 at 3:42 am |
shared fan base….lol.. the morally depraved with no ear for real music.
January 14, 2012 at 5:25 pm |
Oh, look, Grandpa/Grandma is having another senior moment…
January 18, 2012 at 3:18 am |
“Lady Gaga” is have 1000 senior moments with her middle aged Celine Dion music !
January 30, 2012 at 7:55 am
*having
January 30, 2012 at 8:00 am
madonnas face is messed up- she looks old and bloated. btw: ever seen the 1995 movie Tank Girl? you’d swear it was Lagy Gaga & nothing like Madonna
January 14, 2012 at 6:17 pm |
I don’t find they’re that similar.
January 14, 2012 at 7:08 pm |
This a stupid article. You bold the words that make it SEEM like an insult, when in fact it’s not.
Stupid, Your writers are the ones who should be fired for being absolutely stupid.
January 14, 2012 at 11:07 pm |
I was just pointing out how her comment could be viewed based on her choice of words.
January 15, 2012 at 10:12 pm |
What “former Queen of Pop” are you talking about? Madonna is Queen forever!
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/readers-poll-the-queen-of-pop-20110706/1-madonna-0325148
January 15, 2012 at 7:55 am |
That’ why I put in in quotations. rolling Stone called her that.
January 15, 2012 at 10:11 pm |
sorry but madonna is the former lady gaga is in and taken over
January 16, 2012 at 12:14 pm |
What is she taking over ? Have you seen her fans ? She is taking over the utter mainstream, perhaps. Her fans are the mass mainstream with little to no clue about music, easily impressed by her copy cat persona . . . . . .
January 30, 2012 at 8:04 am
I think Madonna is an aging, jealous oldster who has had her day and made her mark. Move on toward the sunset Madonna, and age with grace and graciousness. it’s over and it’s someone else’s turn.
January 15, 2012 at 10:33 am |
Madonna’s jealous? LOL. Of what??? Madonna IS aging with grace, who the heck are you to say she’s not? If you’d actually watch the WHOLE interviews, Bella, then you’d realize it’s a lot of quotes being taken out of context. M does support Gaga, but she doesn’t have to do a tap dance about it.
The only thing more upsetting about your comment is that my 6 yr old daughter shares the same name as you! Supposedly though, after all, you can’t believe everything you read!!!
January 25, 2012 at 7:57 am |
Music is for everyone, ageists like you should just shut the **** up.
January 30, 2012 at 8:06 am |
madonna rules
January 15, 2012 at 11:18 pm |
Madonna, your over.. get over it.. As far as the world is concerned you retired when you sang “Fernando”, Oh I mean “Alejandro”….
January 17, 2012 at 3:32 pm |
Someone who has copied others so much was already over at the beginning . . . . . it’s too bad it takes years for people like you to notice how the one laps up the others OLD sh*t . . . . Quite amusing, really *chuckles*
January 30, 2012 at 8:09 am |
This article is a little biased don’t you think…Lady Gaga references Madonna all the time, she even dressed as her )gap tooth) in the video for Born This Way. The ‘journalist’ is obviously a fan of Gaga…not one positive word about Madonna, and such a horrible photo used.
I believe this is the first time Madonna has talked about Gaga – yet I had seen Gaga talk about Madonna a lot. I love Gaga – but didn’t she even thank Madonna in her album notes on the first album?
Gaga lost me on her second album which was lazy – a slap in the face to her fans. Madonna has released some crap singles over the years, but for the most part each has been great. This is the true reason behind her success – say what you like about her talent, her age, her looks – the girls knows how to make a great tune, and that’s why the world still loves her.
January 18, 2012 at 5:19 pm |
Don’t confuse blogger with journalist. That would be a disservice to journalists.
January 19, 2012 at 9:19 am |
Madge dosnt want to be her age, 50, so she’s trying to latch onto a young popular female artist that she wants to think as herself “back in the day”. She needs to adjust to her age and dont embaress others by clinging.
January 18, 2012 at 6:52 pm |
“Lady Gaga” is the one who is embarrassing herself and clinging. She plagiarised a ton of artists, and you focus on the one she plagiarised a ton ? Are you a div ?
January 30, 2012 at 8:11 am |
All of Lady Gaga’s songs sound like another artist. Some like Madonna, some like Shania Twain, and there are many others. She is an original in how she acts and dresses, and her voice is good, but she does not have a unique sound.
January 19, 2012 at 2:39 pm |
you forgot “some sound like metallica as well”….just saying
January 21, 2012 at 11:35 pm |
“She is an original in how she acts and dresses” Are you serious ? lol
January 30, 2012 at 8:12 am |
Umm… I think Gaga is a transparent Madonna knockoff, pure and simple, and her attempts to “distance herself” from the comparison are laughable. Yes, she engages in even more theatrics than Madonna did/does. So what? From distasteful religious references to overt sexual innuendo, she has designed herself to be Madonna 2.0. To say that “simularities are bound to exist” is bullcrap. Yes, there is a degree of simularity in the stage personas of Brittney Spears and Madonna, or Nicki Minaj and Madonna, or (fill in the name of “colorful” pop diva here). But there is more than a hint of Madonna in both the music and the theater associated with Gaga.
And for the record, I could not care less for either of them.
January 19, 2012 at 7:27 pm |
There’s a lot of new pop female singers but Lady Gaga is the most copycat,
that’s why she’s not good in the charts anymore.
Katy Perry and Rihanna are successful because they don’t copy artist from the past.
January 19, 2012 at 11:04 pm |
Interesting of Madge to call someone out for re-doing one of her songs. I don’t see the similarities but that’s not what chuffs me. Madge’s entire career has been a “redo” of others. Look at the old Vanity Fairs or the 1986 Life spreads and then say she wasn’t re-doing Monroe and others. She’s ripped off most dead female film stars and passed it off as her own. I recall a certain Bourdin lawsuit as well. Redo, that’s the pot calling the kettle black.
January 20, 2012 at 2:39 am |
I totally agree! What ever had been original on Madonnas career. Not much! Mostly copied from much more talented artists. There is a difference between trend makers and trend enhancers. She was certainly not a trend maker. Some of her albums you can find every single song being taken from someone else.
Time to get over Madonna! And remember! Lady GAGA CAN sing!!!
January 22, 2012 at 7:36 am |
This is what pisses me off. Why do certain people who don’t follow Madonna’s career feel they know her career enough to comment on it. Know your facts first, please! If you’ve seen enough of her interviews, both past & present, you’d know that she always gives/gave credit to those who inspire her i.e. her Dutch interview in 1984 post material girl video where she stated her inspiration stemed from the Marilyn Monroe movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”. And to say that she was not a trendsetter early in her career is totally a bias opinion on your part. I don’t know about you but I don’t recall anyone wearing her signiture “Lucky Star” ensemble prior to the start of her amazing career. If you, on the otherhand, can recall such a person…..do share?
January 25, 2012 at 10:04 am
“Lady Gaga” is a WHOLE redo, and with Madonna, most of the time it was obvious that she was paying homages . . . . . NOT pretending she invented the wheel, and plagiarise her way through numerous artists styles and whatnot …..
January 30, 2012 at 8:16 am |
Gaga trying to distance herself from Madonna? More like, trying to copy her every move from the 80s and 90s
January 21, 2012 at 7:16 pm |
Lady Gaga lacks the sex appeal of Madonna – plain and simple.
January 22, 2012 at 1:09 am |
Gaga today…Gone tomorrow…let’s see how she fares in the longevity department…a la Madonna !
January 22, 2012 at 6:51 am |
to me both of them need to put some more clothes on…
January 23, 2012 at 12:00 am |
Bull! Madonna doesn’t go out of her way to compare herself to Lady Gaga! and this is what Gibson said: Madonna “should be bitter, because I did it on purpose, and you can quote me. I did it on purpose because for all those kids who believe that you can’t, I wanted to let them feel that you can. And that’s what I represent, that’s what Gaga represents.”
January 23, 2012 at 10:59 am |
Lady Gaga is a FAKE.
Lady Gaga is a FAKE.
Lady Gaga is a FAKE.
Lady Gaga is a FAKE.
Lady Gaga is a FAKE.
Doesn’t even use her real name.
FAKE TRASH.
MADONNA IS THE BEST!
January 24, 2012 at 8:58 pm |
I heard that if you write a sentence five times, it makes it true!
And “Madonna” IS her ” real” name!
LMFAO!
February 2, 2012 at 4:46 am |
Let us all be accepting of what is going on in the entertainment industry – Madonna is bewildering and Lady Gaga is Lady gaga .. who cares if there is any full-on similarities between them: I haven’t heard any Vogue or Frozen or Express Yourself from Gaga .. Anyways, aren’t artists permitted to do covers of other singers’ songs ??? Besides, if another artists’ song inspires another artist to write something similar (not identical !!), doesn’t that pay a certain homage to that performer ???
Let us all please be accepting of what others do. Are any of us higher up in the music industry then Madonna ?!?!?!?!?!?!? I don’t think so !!! And Gaga knows how to sing live – sorry, Britney, but apparently she doesn’t (I think she was more interested in entertaining her audience with her choreography – look at the dance she does in the Britney & Madonna ‘Against The Music’ track … AWESOME AS – almost up there with the Vogue dance [don't we all love that from the past ???]) .. I love to BLAH .. I am sorry if I have annoyed anyone, but I like ‘em both profusely – be nice to have a life like that, wouldn’t it ??
In closing, Madonna has had her time and become the Queen Of Popular Music .. Lady Gaga is nowadays and Madonna’s new album should be released anytime in the near future – pray it is more entertaining then that Hard Candy album (sorry, Mads, but you could have done alot more then what was done there) ..
Enough from me. I hope i have been slightly interesting with my opinion .. at least we all have something else to read, yeah ..??
Cheers to us all !!
January 24, 2012 at 9:28 pm |
Reads like a brainfart, much like what “Lady Gaga’s” music sounds like . . . . . .
January 30, 2012 at 8:18 am |
Madonna: there is nothing as unattractive as an ageing diva’s ego. It’s a pity she has not displayed the graciousness, humility and wisdom that comes with ageing; instead her remarks appear mean spirited, spiteful and jealous. Madonna was an absolute icon–and perhaps still is–but not necessarily because she was a great singer, dancer or artist, but because she pushed the boundaries and shocked us all, albeit she had some great pop songs. On the other hand Gaga has not had to put out a book of naked photos of herself or release a doco following her every move to be popular; she has relied on her skils as a songwriter, performer and her voice.
January 24, 2012 at 10:17 pm |
Let’s be fair. Madonna was already popular before her “naked photos” or “doco”. Fyi, she writes and produces the majority of her songs….yes…even on her very first album. I agree she does not have the best singing voice , although she is getting better & better. To say, however, that she is an icon but “not necessarily b/c she is a great dancer or artist” is disputable. Yes, she has the ability to shock and push boundaries. She, I have to say, is a terrific dancer and artist. My god, have you ever been to her concerts? The woman is amazing! It never even once occurred to me that she was in her 50′s. In my opnion, she displays a very humorous, intellectual, and graceful persona in many of her interviews i.e her most recent interview w/ Graham Norton. Check it out. You might enjoy it :>
January 25, 2012 at 10:38 am |
What a load of bull. “Lady Gaga” has been an endless rehash and spam-marketed to the hilt, her songwriting is absolute crap and her music outdated junk.
January 30, 2012 at 8:21 am |
If Lady Gaga put out a sex book, no one would buy it! Madonna was very sexy and intriguing back in the day. Lady Gaga is( now) but lacks sex appeal! It’s highly unlikely that Lady Gaga will still be making music 10 years from now. The music industry has changed from the 80′s and 90′s when music videos helped to extend an artists longevity. The Little Monsters will soon grow up and move on….
February 2, 2012 at 3:30 am |
Different times. Madonna was her in the 80s and gaga is herself in the 00s. We need to move past the connections. Pointless. BUT, I seriously cannot deny humming Express yourself every time I hear born this way. Very similar.
January 25, 2012 at 4:18 pm |
“and gaga is herself in the 00s” Serial plagiarising is not being “yourself” ?
January 30, 2012 at 8:23 am |
Madonna is, and has always been the best.
Let’s talk in another 10 years, and we’ll compare catalogues, and see where Gaga is then, I’m guessing we’ll find her hanging out with Cindy Lauper and Laura Brannigan, LOL.
Seriously though, Gaga has a great voice, an excellent image, but crappy songs, excpet for maybe 1
January 27, 2012 at 10:24 am |
I agree with you Tim… However, Laura Brannigan died a few years ago…
January 29, 2012 at 6:06 pm |
Madonna is AMAZING. All you faceless internet haters need to get a life! You can’t take away Madonna’s accolades, her influence on music and pop culture and her talent. Jealousy is an evil thing Y’ALL… Madonna rules & her new album is gonna kick some MAJOR ASS!!!! OH, and before you post all of your ignorant comments, you may want to double check your spelling and grammar. Most of you haters seem even LESS intelligent with your lack of literacy.
Please note: (The remainder of his comment was removed because while we believe in letting people “express themselves” we like to keep our site appropriate for people of all ages.)
January 29, 2012 at 6:05 pm |
Born This Way is so generic, it’s the homogenised version of Express Yourself for dullards.
January 30, 2012 at 7:44 am |
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Lady, Gaga was awesome – she is totally born this way, Like other singer having a difficult to move back and forward, in stage…but seems they are both headbangers,.lol….
February 1, 2012 at 7:34 am |
While at first I thought Gaga was pretty unique and talented and I applaud her stand against bullying, I find her rather reductive….. She reminds me of Cyndi Lauper, while immensely talented her kookiness not only in dress but behaviour outshone her music and she became a lesser force in in the industry… While imitation is the greatest form of flattery, stealing and not just borrowing from another artist is simply not cool….. You don’t have to be a genius to see that Gaga wants to be the next Madonna…. But it will never happen!!! Madonna is just an amazingly talented woman and such a unique artist……We only see this type of musical entity once in a lifetime… Can’t wait for MDNA, W.E. and the tour and of course the Super Bowl performance!!!!
February 1, 2012 at 1:22 pm |
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There is always going to be some debate between Madonna and her contemporary fellow artists… yet I do think that it is time that we gave Madge her credit for keeping up with the times. She is merely competing with young pop tarts and believe me she can still pull it off because she is simply Madonna. I wish Madge well and of course let her young ingénues learn a trick or two from her. Do you all think that Britney and Lady Gaga are going to enjoy the long career that Madonna has enjoyed… You make 50 something worthwhile Madge! Rock it Baby!
February 4, 2012 at 1:28 pm |
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I don’t understand what’s all the fuss about Gargoyle. I can’t stand her voice, music, dress sense and lack of personality.
Madonna was legendary in her heyday. She’s still got it I may say. There is no comparison. There will always be new It girl but they come and go. Every It girl will be compared to Madonna because she set the standard.
February 8, 2012 at 6:35 am |
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