Lady Gaga is in mourning. Alongside millions of fans around the world, the pop singer is grieving the loss of her friend and collaborator Tony Bennett, whose death at age 96 was announced last Friday.
"I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, and 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, modernized the music together, & gave it all new life as a singing duo," she wrote.
"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. I've been grieving the loss of Tony for a long time. We had a very long and powerful goodbye. 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 person's 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.
"If I could say anything to the world about this I would say don’t discount your elders, don’t leave them behind when things change. Don’t flinch when you feel sad, just keep going straight ahead, sadness is part of it. Take care of your elders and I promise you will learn something special. Maybe even magical. And pay attention to silence—some of my musical partner and I’s most meaningful exchanges were with no melody at all.
"I love you Tony. Love, Lady," the singer concluded the post.
Tony, who also dueted with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Diana Krall, and many others, first met Lady Gaga at an NYC benefit concert in 2011, where she performed "Orange Colored Sky," and he remarked to her "Lady, you are a jazz singer." Impressed by the pop superstar's jazz chops, he quickly invited her to record "The Lady Is a Tramp" for his Duets II album, released that same year.
"She came in so prepared and so knowledgeable about what to do," Tony told Rolling Stone of the recording process. "She’s as good as Ella Fitzgerald or anybody you want to come up with. And that’s without her dancing and her philosophies about breaking myths that are incorrect and social situations. She’s very strong. I know it sounds way out, but she could become America’s Picasso if they leave her alone and let her just do what she has to do. She is very, very talented."
They took the stage together again to perform at President Barack Obama's second inaugural ball in January 2013.
At Gaga's suggestion, they recorded a full-length album of pop jazz standards together, Cheek to Cheek, released in 2014. Featuring classics like the title track plus "Lush Life," "Anything Goes," and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," the LP won the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Grammy and sold nearly 800,000 copies in the U.S. alone.
© Desiree NavarroTony was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016, but the pair persevered and released a follow-up, Love for Sale, in 2021. Gaga remained in awe of her friend and mentor throughout the course of their friendship and creation together. "The fact that Tony sees me as a natural-born jazz singer is still something that I haven't gotten over," she told AARP.
In honor of his 95th birthday, Gaga and Tony famously took the stage for a final bow in a series of sold-out concerts at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and the shows were made into a TV special "One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga."
MORE: Elton John mourns Tony Bennett with emotional statement
Introducing her idol at an August 3, 2021 show, a tearful Gaga told the crowd: "He’s my friend. He’s my musical companion. And he’s the greatest singer in the whole world. And I’m counting on you, New York, to make him smile. So you better cheer. You better yell. You better laugh. You better cry. You better give your soul."
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Gaga was frank about how difficult it was to watch Tony struggle with the progression of his Alzheimer's. "It's hard to watch somebody change," she told Anderson Cooper. "I think what’s been beautiful about this and what's been challenging is to see how it affects him in some ways but to see how it doesn't affect his talent. I think he really pushed through something to give the world the gift of knowing things can change and you can still be magnificent."
Back in 2015 after their Grammys victory, Gaga marveled of their friendship and work together: "I think something I was craving for myself was a truly authentic collaboration, a true artistic exchange...With Tony I found not only that, but I found a friend. Not only do we spend a lot of time together and make music, but we talk. It’s been an incredible experience all the way around.”
© GettyTony is survived by his wife Susan Benedetto, four children from previous relationships, and seven grandchildren.
