Lady Gaga pays tribute to late Tony Bennett on his 97th birthday: ‘A day for smiling’
This love is not for sale.
Lady Gaga paid poignant tribute to Tony Bennett for the second time after the legendary crooner’s death at the age of 96 last month.
Taking to social media Thursday, the “Rain On Me” hitmaker reflected on her friendship with the late singer on what would have been his 97th birthday.
“Happy Birthday Tony. August 3rd is Tony Bennett Day. A day for smiling. But I’ll be celebrating you a lot more than once a year,” Gaga, 37, wrote on Instagram alongside several images of her at an NYC food cart.
“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. 😘”
In the pics, Gaga donned a stunning black dress which she paired with a black beret, sunglasses and a black purse.
Alongside the caption, the singer posted three photos where she’s seen sporting a black dress, black beret, sunglasses and a black purse while perched in front of a food cart.
The tribute came just days after her initial tribute to Bennett on July 31.
“I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together,” the “Bad Romance” hitmaker wrote on Instagram.
“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 wasn’t an act. Our relationship was very real,” she penned.
“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,” she wrote in part.
For more Page Six you love …
Gaga noted that she has been “grieving the loss” of Bennett “for a long time,” as he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, forcing him to retire from performing in 2021 after eight decades.
The unlikely duo released two albums together, 2014’s “Cheek to Cheek” and 2021’s “Love for Sale,” both of which were critically acclaimed and won Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
“We had a very long and powerful goodbye,” she wrote. “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.”
