Gaga—whose collaborations with the legend include their 2014 album Cheek to Cheek, followed by Love for Sale released seven years later—praised Bennett in his latter years and often credited him as being a mentor, especially during a time in her life she remembered feeling “sad” about the prospect of her music career.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she told Parade Magazine in 2014. “I felt dead. And then I spent a lot of time with Tony. He wanted nothing but my friendship and my voice.”
But the close bond had more of impact than just friendship, as Gaga shared that Bennett served as an inspiration for a new chapter in life.
“The other day, Tony said, ‘I’ve never once in my career not wanted to do this,'” she continued. “It stung. Six months ago, I didn’t feel that way. I tell Tony every day that he saved my life.”
In fact, the Artpop singer learned a great deal from the music titan—and for her, it was Bennett’s remarkable presence that stood out the most.
“I learned very quickly that you always follow the wisest person in the room,” she told Jazzwax.com in 2021. “And that was always Mr. Bennett. And he empowered me, and my young friends that play jazz, to join him and his band, as well as the orchestra, to create a stage performance that crossed generations. There are 60 years between me and Tony. And we spanned those years, and we did it together.”
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