Cee Lo Rewrites John Lennon's "Imagine" for NYE, Pisses Off Hardcore Lennonists

The lowest point of Cee Lo Green's year? If you ask most people, it was July 17, 2011, when the ex-Goodie Mob member, "Crazy" crooner, and co-"coach" on NBC's The Voice got miffed about a concert review by City Pages' Andrea Swenson and promptly unleashed a can of homophobic whoop-ass...

By S. Pajot

January 3, 2012

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The lowest point of Cee Lo Green's year?

If you ask most people, it was July 17, 2011, when the ex-Goodie Mob member, "Crazy" crooner, and co-"coach" on NBC's The Voice got miffed about a concert review by City Pages' Andrea Swenson and promptly unleashed a can of homophobic whoop-ass via Twitter.

"@gimme_noise I respect your criticism but be fair!," Cee Lo said. "People enjoyed last night!I'm guessing ur gay?and my masculinity offended u?well f---k U!"

There are others, however, who'd say, "No way! That guy rewrote 'Imagine' for New Year's Eve with Carson Daly! And it sucked!"

What exactly are all these John Lennon junkies jabbering about? Well, during Saturday's NYE broadcast on NBC, Cee Lo decided to cap off his 2011 by defiling "Imagine," swapping a line of lyrics ("And no religion too") with his own silly substitute ("And all religion's true"), and pissing off hardcore Lennonists in the process, including Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page.

According to MTV News, Cee Lo initially apologized for offending fans, saying, "Yo, I meant no disrespect by changing the lyrics guys ... I was trying to say a world where u could believe what u wanted, that's all."

Later, though, he (or probably his personal public relations expert) shifted into damage control, scrubbing @ceelogreen clean of all tweets pertaining to "Imagine"-gate, and opting for an innocuous "Happy new year everyone!!!!!!"

But don't kid yourself, Cee Lo. The Lennonists will never forget.

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