Ten days after the death of singer Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga used social networks this Sunday (30) to pay tribute to the artist who died on July 21, aged 96, due to Alzheimer’s, a disease diagnosed in 2016.
In addition to musical partners, Gaga and Bennett, an icon of romantic music and jazz, were great friends offstage.
“I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, talking to him, being on stage with him,” the star wrote on Instagram.
With the text, the singer also shared an image in which the two appear hugging.
“Tony and I had a magical power. We transported ourselves to another era, modernized music together, and breathed new life into it with a singing duo. But it wasn’t acting. Our relationship was very real,” she continued.
“Of course he taught me about music, about life in showbiz, but he also showed me how to keep my spirits high and my head on straight. Go ahead, he said. He was an optimist, and he believed in quality of work and quality of life,” he added.
In another excerpt, Gaga says that she has been mourning the loss of Tony for a long time. “We had a long and powerful farewell,” she said.
In the publication, which already has almost 20,000 comments, the singer also claims that losing him to Alzheimer’s was painful, but very beautiful. “All I wanted was for Tony to remember how much I loved him and how grateful I was to have him in my life.”
Finally, she completed the homage by saying that if she could say something to the world, she would say it so that the elderly are not belittled.
“Don’t leave them behind when things change. Take care of the elderly and I promise you will learn something special. Maybe magical”.
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s friendship
“Tony is one of my favorite people in the whole world, and I love him from the heart,” Gaga told Zoe Ball, from “BBC Radio 2”, in 2021. This is how the singer summed up the affection she felt for the artist.
“I can’t explain how much I learned from him and what it’s like to sing with a legend for so many years,” he continued.
In 2011, Lady Gaga performed a song by Nat King Cole at a fundraising event for the Robin Hood Foundation. Bennett, who was present at the time, was impressed with the singer’s performance and suggested that the two record an album together. The revelation took place in 2014, in an interview by the artist to “Vogue” magazine.
After releasing the first single “The Lady is a Tramp” in partnership, the two began to plan what would become their first album: “Cheek to Cheek”. The 2014 disc included jazz classics like Cole Porter and Iving Berlin.
On the American channel “PBS”, Gaga called it “the most important album of her career”. “Watching Tony at 88 singing like he was just starting out, I said to myself, I can do this forever,” she said at the time.
Bennett praised her back, calling her a “magnificent jazz artist”. “Either you have it, and that’s the gift, or you don’t. And you have,” said the musician. “And you should live the rest of your life being yourself, because that will thrill the audience every time you perform.”
“He Saved My Life,” Says Gaga Of Tony
Gaga and Bennett recorded the album “Cheek to Cheek” after Gaga’s album, “Artpop”, from 2013, was criticized by the specialized media. At that time, the singer was also recovering from hip surgery and suffering from chronic pain due to fibromyalgia, but working with the singer helped her regain her voice.
“It was like I was dead,” she told “Parade” in 2014. “But then I spent a lot of time with Tony. He wasn’t interested in anything else other than my friendship and my voice,” she added.
Bennett even convinced Gaga to continue with the shows, giving advice that credited composer Duke Ellington. “Number one: don’t give up. Number two: listen to what number one says,” she recalled.
“Six months ago I didn’t even want to sing anymore […] Every day I tell Tony that he saved my life.”
Gaga helped Tony with his Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Between 2016’s “Joanne” and 2020’s “Chromatica”, two of Gaga’s solo albums, she and Bennett were recording “Love for Sale”, a second album of Porter classics, officially released in October 2021.
The disc was recorded after Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, which the family also did not reveal until 2021. Even with the consequences of the disease, he continued with the shows, performing with Gaga to promote “Love for Sale” on Radio City Music Hall.
At the time, Gaga even said that he wasn’t sure if, during rehearsals, he remembered her name, but singing still came naturally to him – he almost never got the lyrics wrong.
“When the music starts playing, something happens to him,” she explained to “60 Minutes” in 2022. “He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
At the show, when they took the stage together, Bennett unexpectedly introduced her by name. It was the first time he’d said her name in “a long time,” Gaga added.
“When I walked up on that stage and he said, ‘It’s Lady Gaga,’ my friend saw me,” he continued. “And it was very special.” Gaga accompanied him offstage and they walked down the aisle, arm in arm, after Bennett’s last public performance and their last night singing together.
“It’s not a sad story,” concluded Gaga about Bennett and how he lived with Alzheimer’s disease. “I think he really overcame something to be able to give the world the gift of knowing that things can change, but that you can still be magnificent.”
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
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