So this Drag Queen Came to School...

She was performing at B-GLAD's 2010 Drag Dance. I went with a bunch of friends, not really knowing what to expect. I had never seen a drag queen up close. I mean, I've watched RENT a million times and love the character of Angel. Also, when I was living in Austin, Texas there was this guy named Leslie who was almost like a tourist attraction. Everyone knew him and joked about him and such. He would often walk down the street in leopard-print bikinis and other ridiculous outfits of the sort. I had never met him myself, though; I had only seen him in passing.

Anyway, Miss Sherry Vine is a New York City drag queen, and she was fabulous to watch and hang out with. She was at the drag dance to sing some parodies she had written. There were many of them that were redone Lady Gaga songs and then some Broadway tunes, with a few others mixed in. She was really funny and I enjoyed her performance, but lately I've been wondering...

People who write/perform parodies definitely have a certain level of artistic creativity. However, they are just redoing other people's songs. I suppose they should receive some credit, yes, but I think most of the credit should go to the original artist.

THAT train of thought got me thinking about cover bands--bands that just play other people's songs and add a few twists of their own. For instance, many modern punk-rock bands will redo songs of other genres and just make them a little edgier. I began to wonder if those people could really be considered artists and awarded credit.

Question: How much credit do you think parody performers and cover bands should receive, respectively? Can they be considered artists?