Stewart Perrie
Lady Gaga has broken her silence on the death of Tony Bennett.
The 96-year-old legend died on July 21 and the music industry was devastated at the loss of the last great saloon singer.
He was very close with the Chromatica artist in his latter days and Gaga has taken some time to properly grieve her friend's death.
She has composed a heartbreaking statement touching on their relationship and how much he meant to her.
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The singer wrote 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. 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."
Gaga told her followers that their friendship 'wasn't an act' and was 'very real'.
She reflected on how Bennett taught her about 'music, showbiz, how to keep her spirits high and her head screwed on straight'.
The 37-year-old then praised his optimism and his gratefulness.
"I've been grieving the loss of Tony for a long time," she said.
"We had a very long and powerful goodbye. 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."
Gaga touched on how 'painful' it was watching Tony battle Alzheimer’s disease.
While it was difficult when he wouldn't remember certain things, she said it was nice just being in his company.
"All I wanted was for Tony to remember how much I loved him and how grateful I was to have him in my life," she said.
"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. 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."
RIP Tony.