Jones, 61, was asked by Gaga to collaborate with her on one of her songs, but the “Strange'” supermodel/pop star shot her down, saying, “I’d just prefer to work with someone who is more original and someone who is not copying me, actually. I’ve seen some things she’s worn that I’ve worn, and that does kind of piss me off.”
Whatever happened to good ol’ innocent influence and inspiration? Shouldn’t it be a form of flattery to have someone emulate your moves, especially if you’re too old to pull it off (though Grace is bold enough to still try it)? If not for the practice of new generations drawing from the past, we wouldn’t have the amalgamated genius that we’ve seen in many of today’s successful pop stars, and the landscape of music would be completely decimated, based on the number of songs that are from samples these days.
I consider situations like the Jones/Gaga scenario, a passing of the baton as opposed to copy cat-ism. Maybe if Gaga were black the sentiment would be different? Is the weirdo-come-lately pop star really violating any “respect” etiquette rules? –gerald radford
