Lady Gaga Turned a Gift from Beyoncé Into an Empowering Style Moment
Lady Gaga’s honesty is almost as well known as her music and in her new Netflix documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two, the star got real about living with fibromyalgia. With anxiety, fatigue, and muscle spasms recurring as symptoms, the condition has had a direct impact on Gaga’s career—forcing her to cancel the European leg of her Joanne tour and leaving her facing chronic pain. Updating her social media accounts yesterday on a particularly difficult pain day, Gaga wore a gift from a special friend: Beyoncé, who sent over a logo-covered Ivy Park hoodie and bouquet of red roses to lift Gaga’s spirits during her recovery.
As dedicated singers, dancers, and all around entertainers, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have plenty in common and their shared love of performance has led to chart-topping collaborations like “Telephone” and “Video Phone.” With a decade-long friendship that stands as one of pop’s ultimate girl power unions, they rely on each other for moral support as well as musical inspiration. Thanking Beyoncé for her kindness and the way the gift boosted her mood, Gaga shared an emotional Instagram post that revealed how Beyoncé’s music has helped her get through this difficult experience. “If I hadn’t seen your videos on TV at grandma’s house after I got dropped from Def Jam records, I would have given up,” wrote Gaga. “You inspire us all. The dream you embody kept me going.”
While most celebrity #squads amount to little more than lip service, the genuine display of respect between two of the world’s biggest performers was refreshing. With Gaga refusing to let fibromyalgia stand in the way of her dedication to music, her triumphant return to the stage may even come with the one thing Little Monsters and Beyhive members can’t resist—a duet.