David Bowie’s former drummer skipped Lady Gaga’s ‘tacky’ Grammys tribute, called it ‘stupid’

David Bowie’s former drummer slammed Lady Gaga and the Grammys for a “stupid” representation of the iconic rocker. Mick (Woody) Woodmansey  who played with Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars between 1970 and 1973  turned down the offer to perform a tribute for his late friend at the 2016 Grammy’s because he thought it wouldn’t fairly represent the star.

“They asked Tony Visconti and myself if would we do it, and we looked at it and it was going to be like 14 or 15 songs in the space of four minutes, and we just went ‘no, that’s stupid, that’s not going to represent anything good about him. “I haven’t seen many things that do represent it properly. It’s nice that many want to do that, it’s a great thing, but quality wise, there hasn’t been many.”

Woodmansey added that it is one thing if it is a heartfelt choice out of respect, but otherwise “it gets tacky.”

“It was just, ‘why are you doing it?” he said. “They have a right to do it as they want to do it. But it doesn’t help a lot, it doesn’t do a lot.” Gaga’s February performance was also widely criticized, including by Bowie’s own son, Duncan Jones, who slighted the pop star in a tweet by posting the definition of the word “Gaga,” which included the words “overexcited, irrational and mentally confused.” The “Poker Face” singer addressed Jones’ criticism, noting that it hurt, but she understood since it was his father.

“I’m sure that was difficult to watch,” she said. “And of course, I called many people on David’s team before I even begun doing that project and it’s unfortunate.” Woodmansey and producer Visconti have toured over the past few years in a tribute show to Bowie called “The Man Who Sold The World.”