Lady Gaga has paid tribute to her late aunt Joanne Germanotta after the album she named after her was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Although the pop superstar, real name Stefani Germanotta, missed out on major nominations in the album or song of the year categories, her 2016 offering Joanne was nominated for the Best Pop Vocal Album prize.
The record is named after her aunt, who passed away aged 19 after a battle with the auto-immune disease lupus in 1974 - 12 years before the singer was born.
In a tribute to Joanne on Twitter, Gaga wrote: "I never knew her and she never knew me. But my knowledge of her strength in my ancestry through her struggle with #Lupus got me through a lot of pain. Today she got nominated for a Grammy. Thanks #Joanne. We love you."
Million Reasons, taken from the album, was also nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance.
Thanking her fans and Grammy judges for appreciating her music she added, "I'm humbled & grateful that my album Joanne was nominated & also my song Million Reasons. Thank u so much Monsters & Grammy Voters for believing in this music and me. I love u (sic) so much. This is a day to truly celebrate lots of hard work, perseverance & gratitude through music."
In an interview with Billboard magazine earlier this year (17), she described her family's connection with her aunt by saying, "The spirit of Joanne is very much alive within my family. My dad (her brother) has a restaurant called Joanne, and for me, personally, it means I must live every day as if it was my last."
The star has already won six Grammy Awards, and is also part of a collective that could win another at next year's (18) ceremony.
She appears alongside stars including Michael Buble, Stevie Wonder, and Andrea Bocelli on the album Tony Bennett Celebrates 90, a tribute to the veteran crooner, which is nominated for the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album prize.
