Footage has resurfaced of Lady Gaga saying that “Tony Bennett saved [her] life” in the wake of the latter’s death.
The veteran crooner died in New York City today (Friday, July 21) at the age of 96. A cause of death has not yet been disclosed, but Bennett had been living with Alzheimer’s disease since 2016.
His final studio recording was 2021’s ‘Love For Sale’, a collaborative album with Gaga. The pair had previously joined forces on a 2014 duet LP called ‘Cheek To Cheek’. In 2011, Bennett recorded a version of ‘The Lady Is A Tramp’ with Gaga for his ‘Duets II’ collection.
During an interview with CBS nine years ago, Gaga credited Bennett with “saving” her following a period of personal and professional difficulty.
“You know, it’s one thing to put a train on the tracks,” she explained. “But it’s another thing to keep the train on the tracks. You just can’t let a train out on the tracks and just run out. It’ll… I crashed.”
Gaga went on to say at the time that she “didn’t even want to make music anymore” at one point in 2013.
“I just want to be happy, and I can’t tell you how happy singing this music makes me,” the pop star added tearfully, referring to ‘Cheek To Cheek’.
“Tony Bennett saved my life” —Lady Gaga pic.twitter.com/ehj463TrBO
— Gaga Daily (@gagadaily) July 21, 2023
“I got tired of fighting to keep [the music] my way,” she explained. “And Tony… that’s one of the first things he said to me. He said, ‘Don’t you ever, ever, ever, ever, again or in the future let anybody take down the quality or the intelligence of what you do’.”
Gaga said: “I was a jazz singer since I was a little girl, and nobody had really picked up on it. So when Tony asked [to collaborate], I got really excited.”
In a separate 2014 interview with Parade, Gaga commented: “I tell Tony every day that he saved my life.
“I’m not going to say any names, but people get irrational when it comes to money – with how they treat you, with what they expect from you. But if you help an artist, it doesn’t give you the right, once the artist is big, to take advantage of them…I was so sad. I couldn’t sleep. I felt dead.”
She continued: “And then I spent a lot of time with Tony. He wanted nothing but my friendship and my voice.”
Remembering the start of the ‘Cheek To Cheek’ project, Gaga said: “When I came into this with Tony, he didn’t say, ‘You’ve got to take off all the crazy outfits and just sing’. He said, ‘Be yourself’.”
Bennett and Gaga played two special shows at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City in 2021 shortly before the former announced his retirement. The performances were captured for a TV special titled One Last Time, which later earned a nomination at the Emmys in the Outstanding Variety Special category.
Additionally, Bennett and Gaga delivered a stripped-back intimate set for MTV Unplugged.
Other artists to have collaborated with Bennett include Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, U2 frontman Bono, Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder and George Michael.
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