WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Lady Gaga took a break from “The Fame” on Saturday night to “Imagine” a different tomorrow.
“I’m not going to play one of my songs tonight. Tonight is not about me. It’s about you,” she said in a video available on YouTube before launching into John Lennon’s classic song at the Human Rights Campaign’s dinner the night before the National Equality March in Washington, D.C.
Gaga wasn’t the only big name at the HRC dinner. President Obama also spoke, and in his opening remarks stated, “I’m honored to be opening for Lady Gaga tonight.”
Gaga’s version changed John’s lyrics to reference Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old college student whose tragic 1998 murder in Wyoming inspired government legislation against hate crimes which passed earlier this year.
Gaga also addressed the crowds in a speech at the march’s rally on Sunday, as did “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon, the cast of Broadway’s “Hair,” and Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. The rally was carried live on C-Span and cable channel Logo went dark in honor of the march.
