Lady Gaga Honors David Bowie at Grammys 2016 With Touching and Rocking Tribute Performance

The singer had gotten a tattoo of the late rock icon's face days earlier

By Corinne Heller Feb 16, 2016 3:39 AMTags
Lady Gaga, 2016 Grammy Awards, ShowKevork Djansezian/Getty Images for NARAS

David Bowie's spirit lived on at the 2016 Grammys Monday.

Lady Gaga performed a moving tribute to the rock icon, one of the most celebrated musicians of all time, who died at age 69 on Jan. 10.

Channeling Bowie's glam rock alter ego Ziggy Stardust with red-orange hair, sparkling makeup, a white embellished suit, white shoes and a light pink feathered boa, Gaga sang a medley of his songs, opening with "Space Oddity." She also rocked out while performing tracks such as "Suffragette City," "Fashion" and "Let's Dance" and closed with the moving ballad "Heroes."

Gaga, 29, walked the red carpet channeling Stardust as well, wearing, a custom Marc Jacobs blue embellished blazer dress, blue eye shadow and red platform shoes. 

CBS

Bowie received two Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, during his five-decade-long career. He had been nominated for a total of 11 from 1984 to 2014.

The singer never attended the Grammys in the years he was nominated. He rarely attended award ceremonies. time.

At Monday's ceremony, composer Maria Schneider won the Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals for Bowie's song "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)." 

Hours before the ceremony, Gaga posted on her Instagram page a video showing her getting her crying while getting her makeup done and listening to Bowie's music.

"The world loves you David," she wrote.

A video posted by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on

Over the weekend, Gaga got a tattoo of Bowie's face, from the cover of his 1973 album Aladdin Sane, on her rib cage. She documented the process on Snapchat.

"This was the image that changed my life," she wrote.

Snapchat
Snapchat
Snapchat

Gaga has long been a Bowie fan. She sported makeup inspired by his Stardust look on the cover of her 2007 single "Disco Heaven."

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) president Neil Portnow had told E! News recently that when it came to choosing a singer to perform a tribute to Bowie, Gaga "popped into my head pretty quickly."

Other music icons who passed away over the past year include The Eagles founding member Glenn Frey, who was 67, and blues legend B.B. King, who was 89. Both also received a musical tributes at the Grammys.

Check out our coverage of everything Grammys.

Watch E!'s live 2016 Grammys red carpet coverage starting at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on Monday, February 15th
Watch: E! Remembers the Late David Bowie in 1993