It remains one of the most impressive pushups I’ve ever seen a live musician perform—and at 88 years of age, no less.
In 2015, during a sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall in New York, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga shared the bill, promoting “Cheek to Cheek,” their 2014 album of intergenerational duets., which topped the charts. They had a light and snappy chemistry on the songs they sang together, but the best parts of the night were their solo appearances, each inviting their respective fan bases into the other’s world.
For most of the concert, they had been playing with a full band and orchestra, but for one song during his own set, Bennett called out a solo guitarist to join him in the spotlight. He delivered a velvety rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” holding the microphone at his side. A few lines later, he placed the microphone on a piano and sang the rest without any kind of amplification. The room hung in silent stillness, and Bennett’s voice was so strong and clear you could hear every crystalline note and letter spoken.
It was mesmerizing, and very Tony Bennett in all his glory: the unassuming elegance and the ease with which he suddenly transformed from a capable melodic singer to a gifted singer who could project his instrument like an opera singer. In August 2021, afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, Bennett – who died on July 21 at the age of 96 – made his last public appearance on that same stage, again with Lady Gaga. He demonstrated resilience again, this time by simply showing up. In rehearsals, she told Gaga: “He would call me ‘honey.’ But she wasn’t sure he knew who I was.” However, “when the music comes on, something happens to it,” she said. “He knows precisely what he is doing.”
Bennett was no stranger to reinventing himself on cue. He broke into MTV when he was in his 60s, recording an album, “Unplugged,” that included collaborations with Elvis Costello and KD Lang, and that ended up earning him a Grammy for Album of the Year. He sang with more eclectic and, in some cases, even younger musicians on his “Duets” album series, from 2006 to 2012.
With “Love for Sale,” a cover album of Grammy Award-winning Cole Porter songs in 2021, Bennett seemed to be passing the baton to Gaga.
One of their last and most bittersweet moments of mutual respect came during that 2021 show at Radio City. After weeks of calling her “honey,” her name finally came back to him when they were—where else?—onstage. “Wow!” Bennett exclaimed, to the obvious delight of her duet partner. “Lady Gaga!”.
LINDSAY ZOLADZ. THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6829508, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-08-01 20:40:06
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