Lady Gaga Says No To Weird Al Yankovic's 'Born This Way' Parody

By John Mitchell Posted Apr 20th 2011 04:55PM

Update: After first turning down Weird Al Yankovic's request to parody her song, 'Born This Way,' Lady Gaga has reportedly changed her mind! The New York Times writer who was covering the story now reports he spoke with Yankovic's manager who reveals Gaga has now given permission for his song 'Perform This Way' to be on his album. An update is also expected to be posted on Yankovic's blog.

Lady Gaga takes herself very seriously. So seriously, she has refused Weird Al Yankovic's request to include a parody of her hit single 'Born This Way' on his new album. The New York Times reports that while song parodies are legal under fair-use interpretations of copyright law and he is not required to get her permission, Yankovic, who has famously satirized everyone from Michael Jackson to Madonna, has a personal policy "to get the consent of the original artist before including my parodies on any album."

As with most songs Yankovic parodies, he is actually a fan of 'Born This Way,' which he refers to as "an earnest human rights anthem" in a lengthy post on his blog responding to Gaga's decision. Not wanting his take to seem in poor taste, Yankovic even decided to donate all proceeds from the single's sale to a charity that advocates for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. "Based on my concept, I was reasonably sure that my parody wasn't really going to offend anybody, but I still decided, as an act of good karma, that I would donate all the money from sales of the song and music video to the Human Rights Campaign," he writes.

Listen to Weird Al's take on 'Born This Way,' entitled 'Perform This Way,' below.

Yankovic contacted Gaga's management to seek permission to parody her hit, writing:

I'd like to do a parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" called "I Perform This Way." The basic concept is that I, as a Lady Gaga doppelganger of sorts, describe the incredibly extravagant ways in which I perform on stage. Meat dresses and giant eggs would most likely be referenced, but also much more ridiculous made-up examples of bizarre wardrobe and stage production. As with all my parodies, it would be respectful of the artist, while having a bit of fun with her larger-than-life image.

The pop star's camp demanded to hear the song before giving Yankovic the permission he sought (but didn't really legally need) to include the song on his album. On tour in Australia, the 'Eat It' singer drafted the lyrics and presented them to Gaga only to be told again that she wanted to hear the completed track before approving it.

"She actually needs to hear it. Otherwise the answer is no," Yankovic says Gaga's management said in response.

"This was mystifying to me," he writes. "At this point she has the lyrics, and hopefully she is familiar with her own song... and the parody is basically her music ... with my lyrics. It really shouldn't be that hard to decide -- based on having the lyrics right in front of you -- whether or not you'd be 'okay' with a parody. But, alas, we'd been given an ultimatum. If she didn't hear it, she wouldn't approve it."

While Yankovic says he "never" conducts his parodies in this fashion, he decided to go through with recording the song without her approval "because I was really excited about this parody, I decided I would faithfully jump through as many hoops as Gaga deemed necessary."

He delivered the completed track to Gaga, who responded with a resounding "no."

Yankovic says he still doesn't know what problems the pop star had with his song, though he admits, "obviously I take a few jabs at her, but y'know, it's satire -- that's how it's supposed to work."

"A conventional release for the song and video would have also raised a nice chunk of change for the HRC -- an organization which I have to assume Gaga supports," Yankovic writes on his blog. "Hopefully, if fans enjoy hearing the song online, they'll make a donation anyway."

It is rare for an artist to decline Yankovic's offer to lampoon them. Atlantic Records and James Blunt initially gave Yankovic permission to record a parody of 'You're Beautiful' called 'You're Pitiful,' but after hearing the song the record company revoked permission, saying it was "too early" in the singer's career.

He was similarly declined by Yoko Ono. Yankovic approached Paul McCartney in an effort to parody The Beatles song 'Free as a Bird' with 'Gee I'm A Nerd,' but McCartney turned the decision over to Ono, who told Yankovic she didn't feel comfortable with his parodying the song. He still performs 'Gee I'm A Nerd' in concert.

Yankovic also found himself in something of a feud with rapper Coolio following the release of 'Amish Paradise,' a parody of Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise.' The rapper reportedly felt his song was too serious to be satirized. While Yankovic insisted he had been given permission to parody the song by Coolio's record company, the rapper denies giving him the green light. IMDB reports the misunderstanding was likely caused by Yankovic receiving permission from the record label without Coolio's knowledge.

Tags: Born This Way, Lady Gaga, Wierd Al Yankovic

Comments

(97)

Wednesday 20 April

By Ashley

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omg GaGa get over yourself. It's Weird Al you should be flattered that he wanted to your song. On top of that he said he would donate to a good cause.

By Teri

I agree she should be flattered...that anyone would even WANT to parody her or her song...wait...that song... it isn't even originally hers anyway is it? Bad....karma....bad....

By diane

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Gaga needs to get a life, first she tries to force sexual perverts on christians as RIGHTS then she has the most disgusting songs. My advice to that evil woman is ,, don't die.

Thursday 21 April

By crafashion.com gucci lv chanel edhray fashion

Problem is, this just wasn't humorous. As easy of a target as she is, and this is the best he could do?

By shicsh

The New York Times writer who was covering the story now reports he spoke with Yankovic's manager who reveals Gaga has now given permission for his song 'Perform This Way' to be on his album. An update is also expected to be posted on Yankovic's blog.I love reading this , So does My boyfriend .he is almost 11year older than me .i met him via agelessc'upid.c'om a nice place for seeking age le ss love.which gives you a chance to make your life better and open opportunities for you to meet the attractive young girls and treat you like a king. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends..

By Heather

Actually it's Madonna who should be flattered. After all this song is a copy cat of hers.

By JoJo

Vote down Vote up Report this

Yeah, to a militant gay rights group (visited their website). I'll save my money and support a different artist.

By Retzin

Eh, not funny anyhow. Perhaps that's why she said no.

By sue

oh get off your high horse, there were some good lines. i'd love to see what qualifies as humor to you.

By MARGE HAPPENS

She needs to get a grip. Sour Puss.

By yemars14

I liked it, Al said straight up out loud what she says in her performances and music. Lighten up and get over it. This is you Gaga

By Bubbles

WHY?!! GAGA IS SUPER FREAK'N WEIRD! I HATE GAGA DUMB BUTT! I LOVE SOME WEIRD AL!!! SHE IS AFRAID HE WILL SOUND BETTER!!! GAGA IS TOO STUPID TO KNOW THAT ALL THE GREATS ALLOWED WEIRD AL TO SPOOF! SHE IS AN IDIOT.

By getreal13

GAGA'S HEAD HAS GOTTEN WAY TOO BIG!!!!!!!

By terrapintexan

Do you realize that when you type in all caps like this it says as much about you--if not more--than the actual content of your post... none of which is good?

By KR

I always thought Gaga herself was a parody...of all the pop/rockers who used gimmicks to supercede their actual talent, at least what there was of it.

By Sherry

I love Al. He has some great parodies. I hate when the artists take themselves so seriously. Life is short, laugh and enjoy it.

By catzs

What a loser. Get over yourself you overblown, bleachblonde, burnt rooted troll. There are plenty of other songs to parody instead of ths skanks.

By Polar Patrol

The difference between this parody and the Madonna and Michael Jackson parodies is that this one is directly mocking everything about her. "Like A Surgeon" had nothing to do with Madonna and "Eat It" had nothing to do with Jackson, they just used the familiar beat and changed the lyrics. Big difference.

By MiniVanMan

so true. if surgeon talked about madonna being a tramp and eat it had talked about michael turning white and having nosejobs i'm sure they would have said no too.

By mm

Gaga is a walking parody!!

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