Lady Gaga took to Instagram late Sunday to pay tribute to the legendary crooner Tony Bennett, who died from Alzheimer’s disease 10 days ago at the age of 96.

Bennett was a longtime friend and collaborator of the pop star and she shared a long, moving message along with a warm photo of Bennett giving her a hug.

“I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together,” Lady Gaga wrote. “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.”

 

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“But it wasnt 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. ‘Straight ahead,’ he’d say,” she continued. “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.”

The 37-year-old singer/songwriter told her fans that she has “been grieving the loss of Tony for a long time,” adding that they “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,” she explained. “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,” she went on. “I’ll never forget this experience. I’ll never forget Tony Bennett. 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. 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.

Lady Gaga concluded: “I love you Tony. Love, Lady”

In the video below, released in Oct. 2021, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett perform a beautiful rendition of I’ve Got You Under My Skin, that’s sure to leave you reminiscing about long-lost times:

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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

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