Lady Gaga describes ‘long and powerful goodbye’ after death of ‘true friend’ Tony Bennett
Lady Gaga has described working with Tony Bennett as “life in a time warp,” saying the pair took on “magical power” when they sang together, giving old music “new life” as a duo.
The 37-year-old singer also credited the legendary jazz singer, who died aged 96 on 21 July in his hometown of New York, as her “real true friend”.
Despite nearly 60 years between them, Gaga and Bennett collaborated together on several projects, including his final album.
Bennett performs with Lady Gaga
In a lengthy post on Instagram, shared with a picture of the singers hugging one another, Gaga wrote: “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, modernised the music together, and gave it all new life as a singing duo. But it wasn’t 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. ‘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.”
In 2014, when Bennett was 88, he broke his own record as the oldest living performer with a number one album on the US Billboard 200 chart for his duet project with Gaga – Cheek To Cheek.
Three years earlier, he had topped the charts with Duets II, which also featured Gaga, as well as the last studio recording of Amy Winehouse.
Bennett’s final album in 2021, titled Love For Sale, featured duets with Gaga on the title track, Night And Day and other Cole Porter songs, and won him his last Grammy award.
Bennett retired from performing in 2021 after revealing he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016.
Gaga said: “I’ve been grieving the loss of Tony for a long time. We had a very long and powerful goodbye.
“Though there were five 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 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.”
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At the end of her post, Gaga offered advice for others with ageing relatives and friends.
She wrote: “If I could say anything to the world about this I would say don’t discount your elders, don’t leave them behind when things change.
“Don’t flinch when you feel sad, just keep going straight ahead, sadness is part of it.
“Take care of your elders and I promise you will learn something special. Maybe even magical.
“And pay attention to silence – some of my musical partner and I’s most meaningful exchanges were with no melody at all.”
US musician and rock producer Steve Albini, who has worked with acts including Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Pixies, has died aged 61.
The “punk legend” recorded Nirvana’s third and final studio album In Utero, released in 1993, as well as Pixies’ debut studio album Surfer Rosa, which came out in 1988, and PJ Harvey’s second studio album Rid Of Me, in 1993.
Pixies were one of late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain’s favourite bands.
Albini also recorded and mixed the 1998 record Walking Into Clarksdale, the only album by surviving Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
(L-R) Nirvana’s Dave Grohl, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic in August 1991. Pic: AP
He also performed in his own bands including Big Black and his most recent project, Shellac.
Shellac had just finished recording a new album, To All Trains, due for release next week, and the group were set to tour the record prior to Albini’s death, according to the music website Pitchfork.
In 1997, he opened his famed Electric Audio recording studio in Chicago.
He told The Guardian last year: “The recording part is the part that matters to me – that I’m making a document that records a piece of our culture, the life’s work of the musicians that are hiring me.
“I take that part very seriously. I want the music to outlive all of us.”
Brian Fox, an engineer at the studio, said Albini died following a heart attack on Tuesday night.
Speaking in 2018, Albini said he had worked on more than 2,000 albums, mostly for underground or indie bands.
Among the tributes, Pixies posted a photo of him on X, with the caption RIP Steve Albini.
The Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood wrote: “Ugh man, a heartbreaking loss of a legend. Love to his family and innumerable colleagues. Farewell, Steve Albini.”
Rough Trade, a retail chain of record shops in the UK and US, wrote on X: “Musician, studio engineer and the mastermind behind some of rock’s greatest albums. A hero to us all. Thank you for setting the standard so high. RIP Steve Albini. Deeply missed, forever loved.”
Born on 22 July 1962 in Pasadena, California, he grew up in Montana and went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied journalism.
He became a fixture on the Chicago punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he began performing with various bands and engineering albums.
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Albini remained a prominent figure in the Chicago music scene after his time at Northwestern, owning and operating Electrical Audio.
Pitchfork reported he did not take royalties from records he worked on, and he kept his day rates for artists comparatively low, especially as a producer with his pedigree.
He also became well-known for his commentary on the state of the music industry in the age of streaming.
Albini is survived by his filmmaker wife Heather Whinna.
Legislation dubbed the “Taylor Swift bill” has passed in Minnesota in an effort to help people buy concert tickets.
The bill, officially called House File 1989 in reference to Taylor Swift’s hit album and the year she was born, was signed into Minnesota law on Tuesday.
It will require sellers offering tickets to people in the state or tickets for concerts being held there to disclose all fees up front and prohibit resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures.
Minnesota State Representative Kelly Moller, chief author of the bill, pushed for the legislation after she tried to get tickets to one of Swift’s concerts in 2022.
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Ms Moller said she was among thousands of people who became stuck in ticket sales company Ticketmaster’s system after it crashed amid the huge demand for Swift concert tickets and attacks from bots, which tried to buy tickets for resale at inflated prices.
The situation led to congressional hearings but no federal legislation.
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Governor Tim Walz, who signed the bill into law at First Avenue, a popular concert venue in downtown Minneapolis, said it was “protection so you don’t get a bad ticket, a fraudulent ticket, and resellers can’t snatch them all up before you get an opportunity”.
Two young girls – one wearing a shirt that said “A LOT going on at the moment” in a nod to Swift, and another wearing a shirt that said “Iowa 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark – attended the bill signing with their dad, Mike Dean, who testified in support of it.
An eras tour ticket. Pic: Fernando Gens/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Mr Dean said his daughter came to him in December and said she wanted to see Clark play. He said the website initially showed the tickets would cost $300 total, but they ended up costing over $500 because of hidden fees.
The timer had begun in the online checkout process, so he had just minutes to decide whether to buy the tickets for the higher price or lose them.
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He ultimately bought them, but he told the Associated Press these practices mean customers can’t make informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to the process.
Sky News contacted Ticketmaster for comment.
A spokesperson for fellow ticket sales giants StubHub said: “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices in the ticket buying process.
“We share the goals of HF1989 and look forward to continuing discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide more transparency, more control, and more choice for ticket buyers.”
The law takes effect from 1 January 2025 and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.
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