Lady Gaga revealed that her fiancé, Michael Polansky, convinced her not to take her album Mayhem in a grunge-inspired direction.
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Her track “Perfect Celebrity” carries the strongest grunge influence among the songs on her Mayhem album.
Lady Gaga’s Mayhem could have taken a very different turn.
In an interview with The New York Times published on March 8, the “Rain on Me” singer shared that her fiancé, Michael Polansky, persuaded her not to turn Mayhem into a grunge album.
“Michael was in the studio with me every day. He oversaw the entire process of making the record, completing it, and helping me shape its sound creatively,” said Gaga, 38.
“It was an amazing experience to share with your partner because when I start to doubt myself, there’s no one better than him to call me out on it,” she added.
When asked for an example, the 14-time Grammy winner explained, “There was a point where I almost turned the whole album into a grunge record.”
Gaga mentioned that Mayhem still carries plenty of grunge elements and said her inspiration came while working on “Perfect Celebrity.”
“I was like, ‘Oh, everything should be this,’ and [Polansky] told me, ‘But there’s so much other amazing music that you’ve made, and it’s all you. You don’t have to try to be something.'”
Reflecting on his advice, Gaga added, “I thought that was really astute, and I was glad it happened because often I’ll run with my wild ideas — and sometimes regret it later.”
Polansky also played a key role in ensuring a fan-favorite track made it onto Mayhem.
During her appearance on the Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, Gaga revealed that “How Bad Do U Want Me” was nearly excluded from the album.
“Oh my God, I almost didn’t put that on the album,” Gaga said of the “total hyper-pop” track.
“I wasn’t sure if I should include it, but Michael insisted, ‘You have to — your fans are going to love that song,’” she shared.