Lady GaGa took to the stage at the Human Rights Campaign dinner Saturday night in Washington D.C. where she performed John Lennon’s ‘Imagine.’
The ‘Love Game’ singer has always been a major supporter of gay rights. She has spoken out openly about her passion for equality, and has been praised by advocacy groups. She even took a moment when accepting a MTV VMA this year to thank, as she put it, “my gays.â€
So it seems very fitting for her to be asked to perform at the HRC dinner, an event that highlighted a weekend of drummed up support for the equality movement. Her performance came on the same night that President Obama stood in front of the crowd to pledge that he would bring an end to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
Just before she came out, the president jokingly said “It is a privilege to be here tonight to open for Lady GaGa. (Applause.) I’ve made it. (Laughter.)â€
Lady GaGa, dressed much more conventionally than usual, was greeted with warm applause at the dinner. She began by saying: “Now, I’m not going to play one of my songs tonight, because tonight is not about me, tonight it is about you.â€
Before beginning, she admitted that she had “changed some of the words and melodies.â€
One of the lyrical changes began after the first chorus, which was: “People of the nation / Are you listening? / It isn’t equal if it’s sometimes / I want a real democracy…â€
The video, seen below, is actually pretty moving regardless of your individual persuasions. Of course, there is really no comparison to the original version—it’s hard to stand up to John Lennon. But she pulled it off quite nicely, throwing in a little bit of blues in her voice. The audience was right with her the whole time, applauding like crazy after she sang some of the modified lyrics.
Check out the video of Lady GaGa’s ‘Imagine’ at the HRC dinner and give us your thoughts below. I also included some photos of her below.
Photos: www.wenn.com/Andres Otero
