A Guide to Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’ References: David Bowie, Prince, Herself, and More
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The words “influence” and “reference” are closely related, and in any art form, both are often — hopefully usually — an act of love, an acknowledgement, a knowing wink to fans (as long as they don’t verge into copyright infringement, anyway).
Whether it’s Quentin Tarantino’s deep references to his favorite martial-arts films, Barbara Kingsolver’s re-invention of Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” as “Demon Copperhead,” or Silk Sonic, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s love-letter to the ‘70s, the reference is usually in the spirit of homage.
And there are many, many such homages on Lady Gaga’s cracking new album, “Mayhem.” It’s something she’s never been reluctant to do or acknowledge, although her oft-referenced quote about being “unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it” was actually said in reference to “American Horror Story”/“Glee” creator Ryan Murphy.
For “Mayhem,” she herself has singled out “David Bowie, Prince, Earth Wind and Fire… Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, grunge” and also mentioned the Cure.
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