3 minute readrundown
Lady Gaga won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
In her acceptance speech, she thanked her partner Michael Polanski and encouraged other women in music.
The star will receive seven Grammy Awards tonight.
Lady Gaga added another Grammy to her collection tonight, expressing both gratitude and encouragement in her acceptance speech. The Mayhem singer won Best Pop Vocal Album for Mayhem, thanking her fiancé Michael Polanski for the achievement and encouraging women in music to “always listen to your voice and always fight for your ideas.”
Read her speech below.
“Thank you, thank you so much. It’s such an honor to be here. I’ve been making music since I was a little girl, and I still feel like pinching myself every time I come here. I have so much respect for everyone in this room. First, I have to thank my partner Michael. I love you so much. You stand by my side every day, and I can’t thank you enough. “So I love you and thank you…I just want to say to all the women in music out there, I think it can be tough sometimes when you’re in the studio with a bunch of guys, so make sure you always listen to yourself and fight for your songs and fight for yourself as a producer.”
Thank you very much to everyone who supported my work. I believe in discipline, hard work, and craftsmanship. And that’s what Mayhem is to me. thank you. “
Gaga entered the night with seven nominations. “Abracadabra” is nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Dance-Pop Recording. “Disease” is nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance. Mayhem is up for Album of the Year (they’ve already won for Best Pop Vocal Album). And Harlequin is nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
Last January, Gaga and her fiancé Michael Polanski spoke to Elle about how they collaborated on the album. “You helped write about seven songs!” she told him.
“This album was so fun to watch her make,” Polanski later told ELLE over the phone. “She recorded this song right down the street from our house, so it was easy to walk to and from the studio. I spent a lot of time with her and even brought my laptop to work while she was there. What surprised me the most was how fast she was. I couldn’t believe how quickly the song took shape. Within five minutes, 80 percent of the song would have come from nothing.”
Gaga described the process of making Mayhem as one of rediscovery, saying, “The turmoil that I thought was long gone is completely intact and ready to greet me.” “Part of the message of the first song on the album is that the devil was with you in the beginning and will be with you in the end. I don’t mean that in a dark way. Maybe we can make friends with this reality sooner rather than keep running away.”
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