Lady Gaga Shares Message Before Grammys About Transforming 'Grief' That Inspired Joanne Into 'Hope'

Just hours before the 2018 Grammy Awards, Lady Gaga shared a touching message about the late aunt who inspired her latest album Joanne.

“I have carried a deep grief in my heart over my family’s tragedy,” she wrote on social media, referring to her late aunt, Joanne Stefani Germanotta, who died of lupus complications at age 19.

“The loss of Joanne affected my father so deeply that it affected me. When he cried, I cried. When he was angry, I was angry. When he was hurt, I hurt,” she continued.

She added, “Today I transform this grief to hope and healing. After 10 years with you I still get nervous before the Grammys, but I know I have an angel with me.”

The 31-year-old songstress also shared the heartfelt message alongside a picture of “me and @MarcRonson writing #Joanne.”

“I love you little monsters,” she added.

Be sure to check out PEOPLE’s full Grammys coverage to get the latest news on music’s big night.

In addition to performing at the Grammys this year, Gaga has been nominated for best pop solo performance (“Million Reasons”) and best pop vocal album (Joanne).

The singer had previously shared how “honored” she felt to be performing from her deeply personal album at the award show.

“I’m so honored to be singing from #Joanne,” she wrote on Saturday, adding, “This album and moment with [my] little monsters means so much to me.”

Though the pop star was born nearly 12 years after Joanne’s death, she remains one of Gaga’s biggest influences.

“When Mark and I wrote it, the decision to name the album that was in tribute to my father’s sister who died when she was 19,” she told Beats 1’s Zane Lowe of her poet/painter aunt in September 2016, one month before her album’s release.

She went on to reveal that the album encompassed “everything about Joanne, which also happens to be my middle name.”

“It’s all the toughness of the pain of losing her that made us all strong and made us who we are,” Gaga added. “She is the woman of my past who is becoming and helping me bring more of my honest woman self into the future.”

On Saturday, the 31-year-old was also spotted stepping out hand-in-hand with boyfriend Christian Carino as they made their way to Marta Italian Restaurant in New York City following Grammys rehearsals on Saturday.

PEOPLE confirmed Gaga and Carino’s romance in February 2017, weeks after the budding couple was spotted getting affectionate at a Kings of Leon concert and cuddling on the Super Bowl LI field.

The 60th annual Grammy Awards, hosted by James Corden, are broadcast live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on CBS starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.