Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagicHow do you follow up a critically (and social media) acclaimed performance at the Super Bowl? You go to the Grammys, of course.
And that's exactly what Lady Gaga did. Just one week after she wowed the crowds in Houston, she dominated the Staples Center, too. The singer wasn't up for any actual awards this time around (her most recent album, Joanne, wasn't eligible because of its release date), which made for all the more reason to have some fun during the time she did have onstage.
Introduced by Laverne Cox, she started her performance in true rock n' roll fashion: Wearing a Metallica tank top and jumping around on the stage with none other than the band itself.
It may seem like a random pairing, especially given Gaga's recent stripped-down musical aesthetic on Joanne, but true Gaga stans will recall that the singer used to be a go-go dancer to Metallica and other hard rock groups. She got right into the swing of things—or should we say head bang of things. Gaga did it all: She rocked, she rolled, she swung around without a care in the world.
And, in true rock n' roll fashion, there was a major equipment malfunction. Maybe Mercury is in retrograde, or maybe the Grammys tech guys are just trying to make things interesting, but either way we know one thing: Lead singer James Hetfield's microphone didn't work at all. For the first few bars of the performance the audience was treated to simply Gaga's voice and Metallica's instrumentals.
But, ever the pioneering professionals, they made do: Gaga and James simply shared a microphone. They didn't let it get them down, and Gaga in particular didn't let it get in the way of her desire to crowd surf. The singer threw herself into the arms of her adoring public, and if we didn't know better we would have thought it was 1985.
Long live rock n' roll, and Lady Gaga.