Lady Gaga has always been one of the staunchest allies of the LGBTQ+ community and continues to speak out as the community’s rights are threatened by legislation across the United States.
During the pop star’s Jazz & Piano Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM on Thursday, which resumed for the first time since May 2022, she took time out of her performance to dedicate a song to the transgender community.
The Grammy winner, 37, performed her 2011 hit queer anthem “Born This Way” in honor of trans people and spoke about the importance of using her platform.
“I have something to say about trans rights in this country,” Gaga said before performing the song footage taken by fans. “You have something to say, you have to speak loudly, okay?”
Lady Gaga.
Frazer Harrison/Getty
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Since the residency is dedicated to performing jazz classics and stripped down versions of her hits, she then turned the song into a stunning piano ballad. While wearing a floor-length pink dress, the “Applause” singer played the song sitting at a piano, belting out emotional lyrics about self-love and acceptance.
Mid-song, Gaga stopped playing and added, “Sometimes you hear people say things like, ‘I don’t know what to say.’ Just listen. Don’t say anything. Listen. Listen to stories from real people’s lives.”
The A star is born the actress paid tribute as at least 13 states in the US have signed anti-LGBTQ+ laws into law, and another 23 states have introduced similar laws, according to the Human Rights Campaign, with many of those laws targeting transgender youth and affirming care gender.
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Lady Gaga. Kevin Mazur/Getty
Her statement also comes after several musicians, such as Carlos Santana, Róisín Murphy and Travis Tritt, among others, made headlines for transphobic comments and subsequent apologies.
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Gaga’s residency, which originally began in 2019 and was initially interrupted by her pop-focused Enigma show, has resumed for the first time since she began recording Joker: Folie à Deux in May 2022. The acclaimed show will run now through October 5.
The performer also took time out of Thursday night’s performance to pay tribute to her late collaborator Tony Bennett, who died aged 96 in July after living with Alzheimer’s disease since 2016.
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Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.
Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Before singing “Fly Me to the Moon,” which she dedicated to Bennett’s widow, Susan Benedetto, who was in the audience, she said, “If I know Tony well, I know he would be very angry with me for being sad, so I didn’t could come here and be sad. I sang this song when Tony was alive, and I’ll sing it now even though he’s gone, because he won’t be.”
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The singer-songwriter also celebrated the return of her Jazz & Piano residency with pre- and post-show posts on Instagram.
“THIS IS OUR OPENING SHOW AT VEGAS BABY,” the superstar captioned a photo of herself holding a Playbill. “1 hour, 16 minutes until we go on stage for SWING 🖤🎺.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education