Madonna Covers Lady Gaga at Concert

Talk about a passive-aggressive approach to getting a statement across: Recently, Madonna, during her MDNA Tour in Israel, was performing “Express Yourself” and, during her classic tune, segued into “Born This Way,” Lady Gaga’s song that employs a similar chord progression. Although Madonna hasn’t made a direct statement about the similarities between the two songs, her performance essentially tells Gaga, “You pilfered my hit.”

At the time “Born This Way” came out, many, from fans to critics, sensed the similarities between it and “Express Yourself” Gaga, on the other hand, was evasive and, instead, defended the track, stating in January: “If you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progression. It's the same one that's been in disco music for the last 50 years. Just because I'm the first f***ing artist in 25 years to think of putting it on Top 40 radio, it doesn’t mean I'm a plagiarist, it means that I‚m f***ing smart. Sorry."
 

While “Born This Way” debuted last spring, Madonna didn’t actually address the similar sounds until January, when she made another passive jab: "I thought, this is a wonderful way to redo my song. I mean, I recognized the chord changes. I thought it was... interesting. […] I certainly think she references me a lot in her work. And sometimes I think it's amusing and flattering and well done."

Aside from these two tracks, Madonna and Lady Gaga have both held the dubious distinction of the greatest drop of record sales for a No. 1-debuting album. While Gaga’s Born This Way earned this last year, Madonna’s MDNA edged her out in 2012. MDNA opened with 359,000 units its first week, and then fell to 48,000 by its second – an 86-percent drop. Sales for both releases were inflated: Gaga offered Born This Way as cheap downloads on Amazon.com, while MDNA was packaged with concert ticket sales.

To hear the similarities, watch Madonna’s performance below: