Some unlikely colleagues in a mutual industry become true, lifelong friends. This relationship is perfectly represented between Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, who collaborated multiple times over the years and profoundly supported one another. Gaga, in the midst of her Las Vegas residency, dedicated an entire performance solely to the late, great legend.
Bennett and Gaga first crossed paths back in 2011 at the Robin Hood Foundation charity gala. “We were fast friends – friends ever since,” recalled Gaga in 2014. They were huge fans of each other but enjoyed one another’s company beyond what benefits their careers could reap, something that was very important to each. Their companionship lasted to the end of Bennett’s life and Gaga is still finding ways of honoring his memory.
Lady Gaga dedicates an entire Las Vegas show to Tony Bennett
20-time Grammy Award winner Tony Bennett died on July 21 at the age of 96. The music industry was inundated with tributes, most bittersweet coming from Gaga – and still coming from her as she mourns and honors a colleague and friend.
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Gaga continued performing her Lady Gaga: Jazz & Piano Las Vegas residency, an event she has not held since May 2022. That evening, she spoke directly about Bennett and offered words of support to Bennett’s wife, Susan Benedetto, who was in attendance, saying, “Susan, everybody in this audience loves you so much.”
Channeling his musical stylings and keeping his memory alive
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Gaga also dedicated a cover of “Fly Me to the Moon” to Susan, who called Bennett “the symbol of hope for someone with a cognitive disorder,” referring to his battle with Alzheimer’s near the end of his life. Bennett’s final words to Susan had been to tell her he loved her, as he did each morning.
Gaga herself chose to express most of her emotions that Thursday through song, playing reworked versions of Bennett’s beloved hits as well as fitting jazz numbers.
“The truth is I didn’t know exactly what to say about Tony because the truth is, this whole show was for Tony, everything,” she said at the show. “The opening number, the middle numbers, all the diamonds, all the musical instruments, all the conducting, all the improvisation was in his memory.”
“But if I know Tony well, I know he would be real mad at me for being sad, so I couldn’t come out here and be sad,” she added. “I sung this song while Tony was still alive, and I’m going to sing it now even though he’s gone, because he’ll never be gone.”
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