Lady Gaga Honors Tony Bennett in Moving Tribute – Rolling Stone

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Long before the death of Tony Bennett, who died earlier this month at the age of 96, Lady Gaga had been mourning the loss of a dear friend and collaborator. Despite the 50 years between them, the pop singer and the beloved standards crooner found a transformative connection through music that prevailed even as Bennett’s Alzheimer’s disease increasingly impacted his memory (he was diagnosed in 2016). But even in mourning, Gaga is honoring the time spent and the songs sung with Bennett, on and off the stage.

“With Tony, I got to live my life in a time warp. Tony & I had this magical power,” Gaga wrote in a moving tribute post published on Instagram. “We transported ourselves to another era, modernized 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.”

The singer shared the words of encouragement Bennett often told her, the simple phrase: “Straight ahead.” Gaga went on to describe the musician as an optimist seeking a balance between “quality work AND quality life.” Bennett applied this mentality to his own life as he continued to perform and record music for five years before disclosing his Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis to the public. In August 2021, a few months after the reveal, the musician officially retired from performing live.

“I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together,” Gaga wrote in her tribute, adding: “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.”

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Gaga and Bennett’s friendship and collaborative partnership extend back to 2011. During their very first meeting, the elder musician looked at her and said, “Lady, you are a jazz singer.” And when they first began joining each other in the studio, they both embraced that, performing grand show tune numbers with big swing band sounds. Their first collaborative album, Cheek to Cheek, arrived in 2014. Its follow-up, Love For Sale, was released in 2021 and marked Bennett’s final album.

“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,” Gaga continued. “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.”

The singer praised Bennett for the gratitude he showed for the life he lived. She wrote of him serving in World War II, marching with Martin Luther King Jr., and performing jazz alongside the best singers and instrumentalists the world had to offer. Towards the end of her post, Gaga encouraged others to not allow the history of their elders to slip away as their life and memory does.

“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,” she added. “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.”

Beneath the photo of Bennett embracing her in a hug, Gaga wrote: “I’ll never forget this experience. I’ll never forget Tony Bennett.”

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Lady Gaga Honors Tony Bennett in Moving Tribute – Rolling Stone

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Lady Gaga Honors Tony Bennett in Moving Tribute – Rolling Stone

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