Lady Gaga stuns in Olympics opening ceremony performance with French feathers and Dior
We will always remember this day.
Lady Gaga returned to music at the 2024 Paris Olympics during a performance at the games' opening ceremony Friday and lit up the City of Lights. Alongside a fleet of dancers, the Grammy favorite performed a French-inspired set alongside the Seine river with a tribute to Zizi Jeanmaire's presentation of "Mon Truc En Plumes," translated to “My Thing with Feathers.”
During her set, she ditched her dancers for a brief moment to make a classic Gaga pit stop at a grand piano. Dressed in House of Dior, donning red lipstick, Gaga later returned to dancing and blew kisses before running up a gold set of stairs.
"Although I am not a French artist, I have always felt a very special connection with French people and singing French music — I wanted nothing more than to create a performance that would warm the heart of France, celebrate French art and music, and on such a momentous occasion remind everyone of one of the most magical cities on earth — Paris," Lady Gaga posted on X, adding she'd rented pom poms from Le Lido archive, a French cabaret theater, wore a Dior custom costumes with "naturally molted feathers," and studied French choreography for her performance.
"I hope you love this performance as much as I do. And to everyone in France, thank you so much for welcoming me to your country to sing in honor of you — it’s a gift I’ll never forget! Congratulations to all the athletes who are competing in this year’s Olympic Games! It is my supreme honor to sing for you and cheer you on!! Watching the Olympic Games always makes me cry! Your talent is unimaginable. Let the games begin!" she wrote.
I feel so completely grateful to have been asked to open the Paris @Olympics 2024 this year. I am also humbled to be asked by the Olympics organizing committee to sing such a special French song—a song to honor the French people and their tremendous history of art, music, and… pic.twitter.com/FMNyiosHUR
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) July 26, 2024
The opening ceremony kicked off with the Parade of Nations, a procession that will feature delegations from over 200 participating countries. This year's parade did not take place in a stadium or arena but down the Seine, the river that runs through Paris.
Last week, the Academy Award and Grammy-winning multi-hyphenate updated fans on her music comeback.
"Just me in the studio—happy as ever making music," she captioned the Instagram post, adding that she feels "so grateful, heart is peaceful. It’s like meditation. I can’t wait for you to hear what I’m working on."
See social media reaction Fans love Lady Gaga's appearance at opening ceremony
In May, the Oscar winner starred in the “Gaga Chromatica Ball,” an HBO concert film that pays tribute to the pop star's 2022 Chromatica Ball tour, which featured Gaga performing onstage, taking on her classic spell-binding choreography in signature outfits.
Gaga is slated to release her seventh studio album soon. Her last album, "Chromatica," was released in 2020. The dance-pop LP debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and earned Gaga a Grammy Award for best pop duo/group performance for "Rain on Me," a collaboration with Ariana Grande.
Contributing: Edward Segarra, Jack McKessy
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lady Gaga gives standout performance at Olympics opening ceremony
