Lady Gaga will ‘miss’ Tony Bennett FOREVER, singer says in tribute

Lady Gaga paid tribute to Tony Bennett.

Lady Gaga paid tribute to the late Tony Bennett in a song that discussed their friendship, their work together, and the singer's final years as an Alzheimer's patient. She writes on Instagram, "I will miss my friend forever."

"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. But it wasn’t an act. Our relationship was very real."

Bennett, who was 96 years old, passed away this month, though Gaga claims she had been "grieving the loss of Tony for a long time"

"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 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. 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."

The first joint project between Gaga and Bennett was the duet's album Cheek to Cheek from 2014; Love for Sale, a Cole Porter tribute album which was released seven years later. During one of the sessions, Gaga was seen sobbing as she tried to speak with Bennett, who was exhibiting signs of Alzheimer's. The pair performed two gigs at Radio City Music Hall to commemorate the record in 2021, the week of Bennett's 95th birthday.