Lady Gaga talks 7th studio album 'MAYHEM,' fiance Michael Polansky and more
Lady Gaga's seventh studio solo album, "MAYHEM," is here.
Ahead of the release of the highly anticipated new project, the Grammy award-winning singer sat down with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan and shared the meaning behind the name of the album and more.
"I've felt like I was playing multiple different people throughout my whole career and kind of having to hold the duality of that," she said. "And that personal mayhem, I think, is echoed also in how I feel about the world sometimes, that the world is in a chaotic place."
She added, "I try to use my artistry and my lyrics and songwriting to create something that was indicative of personal chaos but also how we can still celebrate and dance through it while that's happening."
"MAYHEM" comes five years after Gaga released her sixth studio album, "Chromatica," which featured songs like "Stupid Love" and "Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande)."
Since then, she's also released the concept album "Harlequin" and the collaborative album "Love for Sale," which she released with the late Tony Bennett.
Gaga said she returned to pop music with confidence.
"As a woman in music, there was a lot of people that were like, 'Oh, this is who made her' or 'This is what made her,'" she said. "I think that returning to pop music for me was a little bit something I was afraid of because I wondered if I was believing what those people were saying."
"So I went into the studio and I went in with confidence," she said. "And I was like, 'No, no. I made me, me."
The "Abracadabra" singer said that the music in "MAYHEM" reflects a confident chapter of her life as a musician, songwriter, producer and artist.
"I know that might sound silly, but it actually took me two decades to become the boss, in a way," she said. "Being a woman in music, I was almost always the only woman in the room, all the time, and I had to really, really work hard to maintain my, like, sense of stability and my purpose. And I always stuck to my guns when it came to my music and my artistry. But it was a real challenge. And I had, like, made it through that mayhem."
Elsewhere in her interview, Gaga spoke about her fiance Michael Polansky, whom she called her best friend. The duo got engaged in April 2024.
"He just loves the whole me," she said. "I learn a lot from him. He's so supportive. He's got an incredibly kind heart."
She continued, "Being in a partnership with your best friend, I feel like, is a huge blessing. And I couldn't imagine, like, going through life with anyone but him, honestly."
In January, Gaga took the stage at FireAid in Los Angeles and sang a song she had written with Polansky.
Gaga said that she and Polansky "have a really creative relationship."
"We just -- we do a lot, together. I mean, he includes me in his business, as well," she said. "And he's really creative. He plays guitar. He's, like, a beautiful musician."
"My album's called 'Mayhem,' but, you know, it's also, like, nice to be in the mayhem with someone else ... facing life together," she added.
She said the two love to cook together.
In terms of wedding planning, Gaga said simply, "It's going."
"MAYHEM" is out now.
