Lady Gaga is celebrating and mourning on August 3, which this year would have been Tony Bennett‘s 97th birthday. Bennett died on July 21, after a seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease; despite this, he continued singing until the end.
Even with six decades separating them, Bennett and Gaga formed a strong musical partnership over the years. They share a 2014 album called Cheek to Cheek, released a Christmas single of “Winter Wonderland,” Gaga appeared in his 2016 album, Tony Bennett Celebrates 90, and they performed at Radio City Music Hall together. On Bennett’s heavenly birthday, Gaga is mourning but wants the world to celebrate the occasion as Tony Bennett Day.
Lady Gaga honors Tony Bennett on what would have been his 97th birthday
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On Thursday, Gaga took to Instagram to celebrate the late Tony Bennett on his birthday. “Happy Birthday Tony,” said Gaga in the captions. “August 3rd is Tony Bennett Day. A day for smiling. But I’ll be celebrating you a lot more than once a year.
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Her post continues, “I’ll celebrate you every time I’m on stage singing jazz music, every time I’m with your family, every time I walk down the streets of New York I’ll look around and remember all you did for this city and the whole world.”
She has already had to say goodbye to Bennett
The collaborative efforts – and lasting friendship – between Gaga and Bennett traces back to 2011 when she performed at the Robin Hood Foundation charity gala. Jump to 2021, and the duo enjoyed one final powerful performance at Radio City Music Hall, with One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.
Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease back in 2016. Though he continued to perform, the condition made itself known in various ways.
“For the first couple of weeks that I saw Tony since COVID, he called me ‘sweetheart,’ but I wasn’t sure he knew who I was,” shared Gaga. She kept up the conversation with simple and relatable topics – and found particular success when bringing up music. “When that music comes on [snaps fingers], something happens to him. But on the big day of their performance, he clearly introduced Gaga by name, a moment that granted a heartfelt memory of her dear friend after so much grief.
