Singer-songwriter Mary Lambert says she bonded with Madonna at the Grammys and now considers her a friend.

The 24-year-old Lambert, the featured vocalist on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' gay marriage anthem Same Love, was joined by Madonna at the Grammys' performance of the hit song.

In an interview with Michigan gay weekly Pride Source, Lambert, who recently released a solo album Welcome to the Age of My Body, said her Grammys experience left her feeling like Cinderella.

“Because I was bartending last year and didn't know how I was gonna pay rent,” Lambert said. “Now I've been nominated for a Grammy – and I took my mom, which was a dream of mine – but then to be able to do this song, and to do it on this magnitude with this beautiful choir and fucking Madonna and Queen Latifah. Are you kidding me? It's just stupid, dude. If I really think about it, I lose it.”

On working with Madonna, Lambert said: “We had long rehearsals – and I wouldn't say we're close, but we got to know each other's mannerisms and how we operate. I consider her a friend. She was very kind to me. … I was a little shaky when I first met her because her entourage came in and she said, 'I'm Madonna.' But, I think it was during dress rehearsal, she had her leather gloves on and I'm sobbing watching these people who are about to exchange their vows and she leans over – and she's wiping the tears from my face with her leather gloves and looking at me!”

(Related: Mary Lambert defended her lesbian mother while growing up.)