Lady Gaga is paying tribute to her beloved friend and musical collaborator Tony Bennett one year after his death.
On Saturday (July 20), the 38-year-old pop superstar and actress shared a heartfelt message on social media about the late crooner, who passed away on July 21, 2023, in his hometown of New York City of undisclosed causes after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. He was 96.
“It’s been one year since Tony passed away,” Gaga wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of herself with Bennett. “This picture says it all. I’m so grateful for my continued friendship with his wife Susan — the legacy of jazz music he left — and for the community of jazz musicians I still work with who all knew and loved Tony. We’re gonna keep on swingin’. Miss you … life is a beautiful thing.”
The black-and-white photo shows Gaga posing for a tuxedo-wearing Bennett as he sketches a notebook drawing for their 2021 collaborative album, Love for Sale. A video from that year shows Gaga crying after the drawing is revealed to her.
Bennett’s family first shared his Alzheimer’s diagnosis publicly in 2021. That same year, the iconic singer announced that he was retiring from touring and performing after one last show with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall, titled One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.
In addition to Love for Sale, Gaga and Bennett recorded the full-length jazz standards albums Cheek to Cheek in 2014. The project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Following his death last year, the “Million Reasons” singer paid loving tribute to her good friend on social media.
“I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together,” she wrote alongside an Instagram photo of Bennett giving her a warm hug. “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 wasnt an act. Our relationship was very real.”
Gaga added Bennett taught her about music, showbiz and life, but she said he also showed her 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. He served in WWII, marched with Martin Luther King Jr., and sang jazz with the greatest singers and players in the world. I’ve been grieving the loss of Tony for a long time. We had a very long and powerful goodbye.”
See Lady Gaga’s recent tribute to Bennett on Instagram here.