Lady Gaga wins peace award named after John Lennon
Lady Gaga will share a peace prize in memory of John Lennon to honor her work in campaigning for equality for gay, lesbian and transgender people.
The pop star has been chosen along with four others - including Russian punk band Pussy Riot, peace activist Rachel Corrie and the late writerChristopher Hitchens - to receive the biennial LennonOno Grant For Peace.
Gaga is expected to accept the award and a donation from Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, in Reykjavik, Iceland, on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 9 -- the birthday of both John Lennon and his son, Sean. John would have been 72 years this year, and Sean turns 37 years old.
Ono said in a statement that while Gaga is "one of the biggest living artists of our time" she is also an activist whose album "Born This Way" altered "the mental map of the world."
"Lady Gaga is in a position of number one as a singer songwriter, in her age, and when you are number one you don't want to risk yourself. And she did. It's incredible and by risking her position she made sure that certain things are corrected in the world, very important things," Ono said.
Gaga plans to donate her prize money to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.