Lady Gaga pays surprisingly not-terrible tribute to John Lennon

​Let's not beat around the bush, here. Until today, my spite for Lady Gaga knew no bounds. She was my least favorite pop musician of all time. Her songs made my skin crawl, her outrageous outfits and stunts made my eyes roll back into my head. She represented everything I hated about American celebrities and mainstream pop culture, and at the mere mention of her name my mouth would subconsciously spout off unending screeds of blistering vitriol.

And then, this morning, she made me eat all of those mean words I said in the length of one YouTube video. And then another. Go figure.

Spotted this clip on Yoko Ono's twitter feed, of all places, and was unexpectedly mesmerized. Last night, Lady Gaga performed a slightly reworked and emotional version of John Lennon's "Imagine" in front of President Obama at the 13th Annual National Dinner of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC. Fast forward to the 3:50 mark to hear the music, or watch the whole thing to hear her surprisingly sincere address to the audience and introduction of the song.



And here's the speech she gave at the National Equality March Rally: