Elton John brands Madonna 'nasty and ungracious' over her past remarks on Lady Gaga: 'It’s just wrong'
Elton John has defended Lady Gaga in his new memoir, 'Me'.
John, whose book was released last week, had branded Madonna as 'nasty and ungracious' over her past comments about 'Poker Face' singer Lady Gaga. The 'Tiny Dancer' singer, 72, had spoken out about a 2012 ABC News segment where Madonna shared that Gaga's hit song, 'Born This Way', was 'reductive' as it sounded very similar to her own track, 'Express Yourself'.
In his memoir, John wrote, "I used to make fun of [Madonna] for lip-syncing 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".
He continued, "I think it’s just wrong — an established artist shouldn’t kick down a younger artist right at the start of their career".
In 2004, John slammed Madonna, calling her a 'nightmare' and a 'fairground stripper' on an Australian newscast. Speaking of the incident in the book, John wrote, "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 '70s 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 apologized," he added.
John's memoir 'Me' is full of stories that from his long career, including interactions with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley.