Lady Gaga Pays Tribute to Tony Bennett in Honor of 97th Birthday

Lady Gaga paid tribute to her friend Tony Bennett on what would have been his 97th birthday.

Gaga honored the legendary singer—who died at 96 years old on July 21—with a touching message posted to Instagram.

“Happy Birthday Tony. August 3rd is Tony Bennett Day,” she wrote, referring to a resolution the U.S. Senate passed on July 27 officially designating Bennett’s birthday a holiday. “A day for smiling. But I’ll be celebrating you a lot more than once a year. 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. 😘”

Gaga also shared photos of herself posing in front of a sidewalk food cart in New York City, where she wore a black jacquard ball gown from Christian Siriano’s Spring 2018 collection. She accessorized with black cat-eye sunglasses from Illesteva, a black purse from Mark Cross, and a black hat from Gigi Burris Millinery.

Gaga’s close friendship with Bennett spanned more than a decade, with the powerhouse musical duo recording two Grammy-winning albums together, 2014’s Cheek to Cheek and 2021’s Love for Sale. The two also embarked on the Cheek to Cheek Tour from late 2014 to mid-2015, and performed together in the 2021 television special One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.

The “Born This Way” singer also honored Bennett with an Instagram post earlier this week. Captioning a photo of the two embracing, she wrote, “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 wasnt an act. Our relationship was very real. 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.”

She added, “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. 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 persons life. There’s such a feeling of vulnerability and a desire to preserve dignity.”

As an associate editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, Chelsey keeps a finger on the pulse on all things celeb news. She also writes on social movements, connecting with activists leading the fight on workers' rights, climate justice, and more. Offline, she’s probably spending too much time on TikTok, rewatching Emma (the 2020 version, of course), or buying yet another corset. 

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