Lady Gaga shares a tribute to the late Tony Bennett: "Tony & I had this magical power"

Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death, revealing he passed away in his hometown of New York. His death comes just two weeks short of his 97th birthday. Lady Gaga and Bennett found a lifelong connection through music which continued – even strengthened as Bennett’s Alzheimer’s disease increasingly impacted his memory.

In a statement shared to her Instagram page, Lady Gaga notes that not only was Bennett a mentor in music, he also helped her as a human being, navigating an intense career: “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 said. "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."

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Lady Gaga goes on to add that despite there being five decades between them, he was a "true friend", and it did not matter to their relationship.

Reflecting on what it's like to witness somebody slowly losing their memories to Alzheimers, she added: "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."

Sharing what she's learnt from the experiencing of losing a dear friend – one that was from a completely different era as her – she said: "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".

Bennett and Gaga collaborated on two albums – Cheek to Cheek, which was released in 2014, and Love For Sale, which came out in 2021. The pair won the Grammy for Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Love for Sale – their collection of Cole Porter standards. At the age of 95, this made Bennett the second oldest Grammy Award winner.