Elton John slams Madonna for being ‘ungracious and nasty’ to Lady Gaga
Elton John and Lady Gaga perform live on the Sunset Strip, on February 27, 2016 (Kevin Winter/Getty)
Sir Elton John has hit out at Madonna over her famous feud with Lady Gaga.
In his recent memoir Me, Sir Elton spoke about how his own relationship with Madge soured in 2012 after she accused Lady Gaga of copying her style.
Sir Elton John says Madonna was ‘ungracious and nasty’.
He wrote: “I used to make fun of her for lip-synching on stage, but the problem really started when she ran Gaga down on an American chat show.
“I got that Gaga’s single ‘Born This Way’ definitely sounded similar to ‘Express Yourself’, but I couldn’t see why she was so ungracious and nasty about it, rather than taking it as a compliment… particularly when she claims to be a champion for women.
“I think it’s just wrong — an established artist shouldn’t kick down a younger artist right at the start of their career.”
Lady Gaga and Elton John attend the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 28, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty)
Shortly after Madonna’s spat with Gaga, Sir Elton likened her to a “fairground stripper” in a TV interview, adding: “Why is she such a nightmare? Sorry, her career is over. Her tour has been a disaster and it couldn’t happen to a bigger c**t.”
Of the remarks, he explained: “I was furious and I said some pretty horrible things about her to a TV interviewer in Australia, a guy I’d known since the seventies called Molly Meldrum.
“You can tell from the footage that it wasn’t part of the interview, that I was just sounding off to an old friend between takes… they broadcast it anyway, which brought that particular old friendship to a very swift conclusion.
“Still, I shouldn’t have said it. I apologised.”
Lady Gaga is a ‘great’ godmother to Sir Elton Johon’s son.
His close friend Lady Gaga would later become a godmother to his son Zachary.
He recalled: “[Gaga] turned out to be a great godmother: she would turn up backstage and insist on giving Zachary his bath while dressed in full Gaga regalia, which was quite an incredible sight.”
Madonna sparked the feud in 2012 when she described Gaga track ‘Born This Way’ as “reductive”, before drinking tea.
She claimed: “I certainly think she references me a lot in her work. And sometimes I think it’s amusing and flattering and well done.”
Gaga later told fans: “You could never invalidate the power of ‘Born This Way’. I don’t want to be your f**king queen, I want to be your friend.”
After eight years of on-and-off shade, Lady Gaga and Madonna appeared to have finally made peace in February, when they were photographed sharing a cuddle at an Oscars afterparty.
