Reactions to Lady Gaga's meat dress

‘Lady Gaga’s controversial choice to wear a costume apparently constructed of meat at the MTV Video Music Awards is not the first time that such images have been used to promote musicians’, reported Andy Bloxham on the telegraph.co.uk.

Lady Gaga's meat dress link to the the Beatles' 'Yesterday and Today' album cover - CLICK HERE to view the Meat Cover - released as long ago as 1966 and the cover was first printed with a controversial cover featuring the band dressed as butchers and draped in joints of meat and decapitated baby dolls, but although apparently not originally intended as an album cover, it was said to reflect the Beatles’ feelings against the Vietnam War.

It was the first time ever that Beatles were severely criticized universally, by journalists, fans, and everyone and such a huge backlash compelled the record label’s management to destroy the “meat” versions destroyed and replace it with another cover, though many survived and are now collectors’ items.

Similarly in 1983 the Undertones released a singles compilation titled All Wrapped Up with a female model covered in meat, and in 1988, the rock group B.A.L.L. fronted by US musician Don Fleming, released a pastiche of the short-lived Beatles cover with their album Bird, all these has remained controversial.

President of animal rights campaign group PETA Ingrid Newkirk said, “Lady Gaga’s job is to do outlandish things, and this certainly qualifies as outlandish because meat is something you want to avoid putting on or in your body… No matter how beautifully it is presented, flesh from a tortured animal is flesh from a tortured animal.” Similarly, a spokeswoman for the Vegetarian Society too remarked, “It just seems totally unnecessary… Enough animals die for food and they should not be killed for stunts like this.”

Beatles’ Yesterday and Today, rendered as "Yesterday ...and Today on the record label and in most published discographies", is remembered primarily for the controversy surrounding its original cover image which came to be known as the "butcher cover" featuring the band dressed in white smocks and covered with decapitated baby dolls and pieces of meat.

Though Lady Gaga has become one of the most popular artists in recent years, she also has attracted criticism for blatant copying of not only dress and make up, but even music, and some of the artists she has been accused of copying include Madonna, Britney Spears, and even the dresses and the shell bikini looks similar to the one worn by silent screen actress Theda Bara, who played Cleopatra in the 1917 movie of the same name, as per the accusations made by the leading American feminist author Camille Paglia who said that Lady Gaga is an 'asexual copycat who carefully scripts her every move’.

Theda Bara, the Original Vamp of the Silent Screen

This video clip presents some of the memorable shots of actress Theda Bara, the Original Vamp of the Silent Movies Era, especially notable are her costumes and makeup for her title role as Cleopatra in the movie Cleopatra (1917) directed by J. Gordon. It was one of the most elaborate Hollywood films ever produced up to that time, with particularly lavish sets and costumes. Theda Bara appeared in a variety of fantastic costumes, some quite risqué, but years later, with the imposition of Hollywood's Hays Code, the film was judged too obscene to be shown.

Her costumes and makeup deserve more careful evaluation now in view of the accusations made by the leading American feminist author Camille Paglia that Lady Gaga is an 'asexual copycat who carefully scripts her every move’.

Paglia, among many accusations of just copying others by Gaga, ‘writing in the Sunday Times Magazine, accused Gaga of not being one of the few original artists of today's young music scene, claiming she has copied a host of iconic stars, most notably Madonna’. But most interestingly, she alleges her of ‘looking to old Hollywood: Gaga's gold shell bikini looks similar to one worn by silent screen actress Theda Bara, who played Cleopatra in the 1917 movie.

Lady Gaga - Telephone - Video

Music video by Lady Gaga performing Telephone (Clean Version), (C) 2010 Interscope Records

Video by Lady Gaga performing Bad Romance

Video: Lady Gaga performing Bad Romance

Lady GaGa's Telephone at top of singles chart

Lady Gaga - Telephone [TFM.6], originally uploaded by netmen!.

Lady GaGa’s Telephone, a promotional video which is more than nine minutes long, went to the top of the singles chart, pushing last week's most popular single Pass Out by Tinie Tempah to number two, and Rihanna's Rude Boy to three.

Lady GaGa’s ex-boyfriend Rob Fusari sues her

Lady Gaga - Toronto "MONSTER BALL" 11/28/09, originally uploaded by Billie Joe's Entourage.

Photo: Lady Gaga performs at the Air Canada Center in Toronto on November 28th, 2009, on the second night of her headlining tour, in support of her second album, 'The Fame Monster'. Gaga is at her piano, the same piano that she performed with, set on fire, and smashed whiskey bottles against, during the American Music Awards.

Music producer and songwriter Rob Fusari has filed a $30.5 million lawsuit against Lady Gaga's production company Mermaid Music LLC on account of unpaid revenues and royalties, claiming that he was entitled to a 20 per cent share of its earnings. He also claimed his protégé and former girlfriend ditched him as her career soared, according to reports from various sources. Lady Gaga's lawyer Charles Ortner described the agreement with Fusari as ‘unlawful’.

Lady Gaga's debut album, The Fame was co-produced by Fusari and has four sides on the record, including ‘Paparazzi’, ‘Beautiful, Dirty, Rich’, ‘Brown Eyes’ and ‘Disco Heaven’. The European release of The Fame also includes the songs ‘Retro, Dance, Freak’ and ‘Again Again’.

Fusari had credits on such hits as Will Smith's ‘Wild, Wild West’ and Destiny's Child's ‘Bootylicious, when a friend introduced him in March 2006 to Lady Gaga, then known by her real name, Stefani Germanotta, according to his lawsuit. After initial hesitation, he realized she had star potential after hearing her play in his Parsippany, New Jersey, studio, the suit said. He spent the next several months working with her every day and ‘radically reshaping her approach,’ persuading her to drop rock riffs for dance beats, it said.

"All business is personal," said the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in a Manhattan state court. As they co-wrote songs that would appear on her debut album, The Fame, he transformed Germanotta into Lady Gaga, a name adapted from Queen's ‘Radio Ga Ga,’ the lawsuit said.

But Lady Gaga has claimed that she came up with the name around 2004 "but Gaga's always been who I am… I was Gaga from the time that I was 19 through my first record deal," the 23-year-old singer said. "I always dressed like that before people knew me as Lady Gaga. I was always that way... I stuck out like a sore thumb."

The lawsuit claimed, Lady Gaga and Fusari's relationship turned romantic and then it became a business partnership in May 2006, when they created a joint venture, ‘Team Love Child LLC’ to promote her career, with 20 per cent share for Fusari. He introduced Lady Gaga to a record executive who led her to Universal Music Group's Interscope Records, which released ‘The Fame’ in 2008. The album has sold more than 3 million copies in the United States and Fusari has a producing credit.

But, the lawsuit said, their personal and business relationship had gone sour and he has been denied the 20 per cent share of song royalties, 15 per cent of merchandising revenue and other dues. However, he acknowledges payment around $611,000, but says that is not his full share.

‘The Fame’ reached #1 in Canada, Austria, Germany and Ireland and topped the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. Its first two singles ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Poker Face became international #1 hits, topping the Hot 100 in the United States as well as other countries.

Lady Gaga was nominated for nine awards at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video for ‘Poker Face’ and Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Special Effects, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction for ‘Paparazzi’. Out of these, she won the award for Best New Artist, while her single ‘Paparazzi’ won two awards for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects.

In October 2009, Gaga won Billboard magazine's Rising Star of 2009 award. Also, she was named chief creative officer for a line of imaging products for Polaroid at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 7, 2010 where she commented that she would create fashion, technology and photography products, and said, "I'm working on bringing the instant film camera back as part of the future."

Lady Gaga received her first Grammy Award at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. She was nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Dance Recording for her single ‘Poker Face’, winning the last three awards. Also, ‘The Fame’ had been nominated for Album of the Year and won the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album.

On March 15, 2010, Billboard announced ‘Telephone’ the second single from ‘The Fame Monster’ reached #1 on the Pop songs chart, thus not only becoming Gaga's sixth #1 on the chart, but her sixth consecutive #1, making Lady Gaga the only artist in history to achieve this record. It also became the sixth #1 for the track's featured artist Beyoncé, the two singers being tied for the most #1 ratings, since the Nielsen BDS-based radio airplay chart was launched in 1992. Also they join Mariah Carey, who tallied six chart toppers between 1993 and 2005.

2010 Grammy Awards: Lady Gaga Performs With Elton John

Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John presented one of this year’s Grammy Awards highlights with a piano duet. Sir John, who last performed in 2001 for the Grammy with a duet he sang with Eminem, now made up his face and suit smeared artfully with dirt for the performance set in a 'Fame Factory'. They traded verses on Gaga’s hit Speechless and Your Song, one of Sir John's most famous tracks.

The American singer Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986, appeared dressed in a green sequined leotard with giant shoulder pads, making her look like a green fairy or a butterfly, and opened the 2010 Grammy Awards show with a solo rendition of Poker Face. Gaga won two Grammys; the best dance recording for Poker Face and best electronic dance album for The Fame. The 2010 Grammy Award night's big winner was Beyonce Knowles, who won six Grammys, the biggest record single haul for a female artist.