Lady Gaga breaks silence on Tony Bennett's death and admits it's been 'painful'
Lady Gaga has finally spoken out about the death of her friend and collaborator Tony Bennett as she admitted they had a "very long and powerful goodbye".
Legendary crooner Tony died on July 21 at the age of 96, seven years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. His publicist Sylvia Weiner said he died in his hometown of New York.
Tony became a close friend of Lady Gaga after collaborating with her and performing at a number of sold out shows together. The Bad Romance hitmaker has now taken to Instagram to pay tribute to Tony.
Sharing a heart-warming snap of the two of them hugging, Lady Gaga wrote: "I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together.
Lady Gaga shared a loving tribute to her pal Tony Bennett (@ladygaga/instagram)
They collaborated on a number of projects (PAUL BUCK/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)"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. But it wasnt an act. Our relationship was very real.
Most iconic Grammys looks — from Jennifer Lopez's sheer gown to Lady Gaga's egg
"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."
Tony's final public performance was with Lady Gaga in 2021, before his son Danny Bennett confirmed his father's retirement. The singers also covered Frank Sinatra's song The Lady Is A Tramp for Tony's album Duets II in 2011.
They then released their own album Cheek to Cheek in 2014. The record debuted at No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart and won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album in 2015.
Tony's final public performance was with Lady Gaga (Getty Images for LN)Continuing her tribute, Lady Gaga said she has been "grieving the loss of Tony for a long time". She added that they had managed to have "a very long and powerful goodbye."
She added: "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."
Lady Gaga then urged her fans not to "discount your elders", adding: "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."
'New York is dirty, filthy and smells of weed' Lady Gaga's restaurateur dad says
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
