Lady Gaga Reveals Mayhem Nearly Became a Full Grunge Album
In a multiverse not too far from ours, Lady Gaga’s Mayhem might have been a pure grunge masterpiece. That’s what the pop icon suggests in a new interview with Sette, where she opened up about the creative process behind her latest album—and the pivotal role her partner Michael Polansky played in shaping its sound.
Gaga explained that there was a moment during the production of Mayhem when she was tempted to lean fully into grunge. “There’s a lot of grunge on the album,” she admitted. “It was right after I wrote ‘Perfect Celebrity’—that track made me think, ‘Ah, the whole thing should sound like this.’”
But before she could go down that sonic rabbit hole, Polansky—who was in the studio with her every day—offered a grounding perspective. “Michael said, ‘You’ve written so much amazing music. Across all these genres, it’s still you. You don’t have to force anything.’” Gaga says his words resonated deeply. “That was such a smart observation. I chase wild ideas sometimes and end up regretting them. I was glad he said it.”
The anecdote highlights the balance between artistic experimentation and authenticity—a dynamic Gaga has always danced with in her genre-fluid career. And while Mayhem didn’t go full grunge, fans can expect its influence to ripple throughout the album.
As always, Lady Gaga pushes boundaries, and this time, she nearly rewrote the rules of pop once again—grunge style.