As some of you will know my friend Luke and I were due to see Lady GaGa at the O2 tonight. The concert was cancelled at the weekend due to GaGa suffering from the severe effects of fibromyalgia.
When I enthuse to people about how much I love her I'm often met with raised eyebrows, firstly because she's the complete opposite of my normal rock tastes (although in some ways she's more punk than most of them!) and secondly because of her 'marmite effect' you either love or hate her.
I'm not sure exactly at what point I really got into GaGa, I loved Just Dance when it came out back in 2008, I think a lot of it was spending time with Luke and thus her music. Her music was just so different to the other 'pop' music around. She made no bones about the fact she was 'pop', check out her 'pop music' glasses in the Poker Face video, which actually made her incredibly authentic. My favourite song 'Born This Way' is all about loving yourself and accepting how beautiful you are as an individual no matter who you are. My tattoo reminds me 'Don't be a drag just be a queen'.
Her videos are pure works of art and she certainly doesn't shy away from controversial content (watch the Alejandro and Judas videos) or 'heavy' themes such as Domestic Violence (Paparazzi) or modern slavery (Bad Romance).
I saw GaGa for the first, and now sadly only, time back in 2010 with Luke and I have to be honest and say it was one of the best nights of my life (I took the picture on this blog that night) . Whether it was the amazing sets which were more like a big budget theatre or her fantastic live voice. I think my favourite part of the night was that "all of us freaks are here together and we've locked the fucking door" - she's not known for holding back!
Another thing I love about GaGa is that she has a real connection to us 'Little Monsters'. She set up the Born This Way Foundation to support LGBT monsters who need help, in some extreme cases who have been kicked out/had to leave their homes through hate and prejudice. She created the Little Monsters app where she and we can talk/share our stories/artwork etc in a safe space.
I've been asked several times this week whether I'm angry with her for the cancellation and the answer is an absolute NO! She battles both Fibromyalgia and the life threatening condition Lupus (her last album Joanne was a tribute to her aunt who died of the condition) and I would have HATED seeing her in the knowledge that she was putting her health at risk for us. It was bad enough when Helen and I saw Mars in Rome back in 2011and it turned up the gig had been delayed (we were complaining about the obvious unprofessional nature of the delay) due to Jared coughing up blood earlier that day with a visit to the hospital but still did the show. Turned out he had MRSA in his lungs.
All I'm concerned about now is GaGa getting back to her best and being back on stage where she belongs. Get well soon Mother Monster.
PAWS UP
Love Jen
XxxX
