Lady Gaga shares moving tribute to her ‘real true friend’ Tony Bennett
"I love you Tony. Love, Lady."
Lady Gaga has shared a moving and emotional tribute to the late and great Tony Bennett, who she described as her “real true friend.”
Bennett passed away on Friday 21 July in New York aged 96. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016, which he revealed in 2021.
Gaga and Bennett collaborated on 2014’s Cheek to Cheek and then again on 2021’s Love for Sale. For the latter, the pair won Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Posting on Instagram on Sunday (30 July) Gaga wrote that “I will miss my friend forever.”
“Our relationship was very real”
She described her time with Bennett as being “in a time warp,” adding the pair had a “magical power.”
Continuing, she said: “We transported ourselves to another era, modernized the music together, & gave it all new life as a singing duo. But it wasnt an act. Our relationship was very real.”
Recounting the lesson she learned from him, Gaga also remembered him as an “optimist,” who “believed in quality work AND quality life. Plus, there was the gratitude…Tony was always grateful.”
Gaga wrote: “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.”
She said losing Tony to Alzheimer’s was “painful,” but that “it was also really beautiful.”
“I’ll never forget Tony Bennett”
Gaga went on to say that “All I wanted was for Tony to remember how much I loved him and how grateful I was to have him in my life.” She added: “I’ll never forget this experience,” of singing with the legendary crooner.
“I’ll never forget Tony Bennett.”
She also encouraged people to take care of their elders promising there are lessons to be learned.
“And pay attention to silence—some of my musical partner and I’s most meaningful exchanges were with no melody at all,” she said. She then closed: “I love you Tony. Love, Lady.”