Lady Gaga calls Tony Bennett a ‘real true friend’ in emotional tribute

Virgin Radio

31 Jul 2023, 09:45

Credit: Getty

Lady Gaga has broken her silence following the sad passing of collaborator and friend Tony Bennett. 

The iconic crooner passed away aged 96 on 21st July, seven years after he was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. 

Gaga and Bennett had a longstanding working friendship, having teamed up for a duet of The Lady is a Tramp in 2011, before joining forces for an entire jazz album, Cheek to Cheek, in 2014. 

They released the singles Anything Goes and I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, and the record won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The talented duo then toured around Europe and North America together. 

Bennett’s last public appearance was with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in New York in August 2021, two months before his final release. At the time, his son, Danny, explained: "There won’t be any additional concerts. This was a hard decision as he is a capable performer. This is, however, doc­­tors’ orders. His con­­tinued health is the most important part of this."

Their strong bond is evident in Gaga’s emotional statement she posted to Instagram on Monday (31st July), which featured a sweet photo of the pair hugging. 

In the lengthy caption, the Just Dance singer wrote: “I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together. With Tony, I got to live my life in a time warp. Tony & I had this magical power. We transported ourselves to another era, modernised the music together, & gave it all new life as a singing duo. But it wasn't an act. Our relationship was very real. 

“Sure he taught me about music, about showbiz life, but he also showed me how to keep my spirits high and my head screwed on straight. "Straight ahead," he'd say. He was an optimist, he believed in quality work AND quality life. Plus, there was the gratitude...Tony was always grateful. He served in WWII, marched with Martin Luther King Jr., and sang jazz with the greatest singers and players in the world.”

Gaga then admitted she’d been “grieving the loss of Tony for a long time,” and that their goodbye had been “very long and powerful.”

She continued: “Though there were 5 decades between us, he was my friend. My real true friend. Our age difference didn’t matter-- in fact, it gave us each something neither of us had with most people. We were from two different stages in life entirely--inspired. Losing Tony to Alzheimer’s has been painful but it was also really beautiful. An era of memory loss is such a sacred time in a persons life. There's such a feeling of vulnerability and a desire to preserve dignity. All I wanted was for Tony to remember how much I loved him and how grateful I was to have him in my life. 

“But, as that faded slowly I knew deep down he was sharing with me the most vulnerable moment in his life that he could--being willing to sing with me when his nature was changing so deeply. I'll never forget this experience. I'll never forget Tony Bennett.

Gaga used her statement to urge her followers to not “discount your elders” and “pay attention to silence”.

“Some of my musical partner and I’s most meaningful exchanges were with no melody at all,” she concluded. 

Bennett, an acclaimed and multi award-winning artist, enjoyed a decades-long career and was known as a singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz, who helped spread the American songbook around the world.

In his glittering career, Bennett released more than 70 albums. He won 20 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award. One of the last of America's great crooners, the singer’s first record landed in 1952, and his albums have charted in every subsequent decade.

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