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Lady Gaga penned a touching tribute to dear friend and music legend Tony Bennett.
The singer took to Instagram on Sunday evening to post a lengthy tribute to the crooner.
“I will miss my friend forever,” her caption began. “I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together. With Tony, I got to live my life in a time warp. Tony and I had this magical power. We transported ourselves to another era, modernized the music together, and gave it all new life as a singing duo.”
Gaga then explained that their connection wasn’t just a musical act and that her friendship with the “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” singer was 100 percent authentic.
“Though there were five 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.”
Gaga and Bennett famously collaborated two albums, which consisted of classic jazz songs. Their first album “Cheek to Cheek” dropped in 2014. Later, they performed those songs at New York’s Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, which was recorded and later released as “Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek Live!”
Their latest project was their 2021 album “Love for Sale.”
The “Hold My Hand” singer then revealed she’d been “grieving the loss of Tony for a long time,” in reference to the singer’s 2016 Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
She explained the two had a “very long goodbye.”
“An era of memory loss is such a sacred time in a person’s 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,” she continued. “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.”
She then ended her note with some advice.
“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,” she wrote. “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.”
Bennett passed away on July 21 at 96 years old, just two weeks shy of his birthday.
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