![tony bennett lady gaga cheek to cheek live tony bennett lady gaga cheek to cheek live](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/lady-gaga-tony-bennett-04.jpg)
The duo had been working on Love for Sale, Cheek to Cheek’s follow-up due out October 1, after Bennett’s 2016 Alzheimer’s diagnosis. (In Gaga’s opening solo set at Radio City, she introduced “Orange Colored Sky” by recalling how she briefly panicked that night ten years ago and demanded her crew “make me look like a lady, damn it,” changing from latex stagewear into a more subdued outfit to meet Bennett.) Later that year, she joined him to sing a duet of “The Lady Is a Tramp” for his Duets II: The Great Performances album, kick-starting a prolific, chart-topping friendship in the decade since they released and toured behind Cheek to Cheek, their love letter to their beloved standards, in 2014, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart. Lady Gaga, like Bennett, grew up with an affinity for the Great American Songbook classics, and was thrilled when he wanted to meet her after watching her croon Nat King Cole’s “Orange Colored Sky” at a 2011 benefit concert in their hometown. One collaboration - with another Italian American, jazz-worshipping native New Yorker - has proven to be more fruitful than the rest. A handful of albums featuring collaborations with contemporary chart-toppers - from Billy Joel and Sheryl Crow to Amy Winehouse - followed, reinvigorating the elder statesman’s career. Though Bennett’s early fame in the ’50s and ’60s earned him deserved accolades, his first Grammy awards, and the praise of Frank Sinatra, Bennett enjoyed an unusual resurgence in his senior years, when he continued to sing the standards of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and the rest of the Great American Songbook with renewed fervor thanks to 1994’s successful MTV Unplugged special, which restored his relevance. Last night’s show was also, as the program’s title suggests, a coda for the singer at the end of a seven-decade career that began across the East River, where a teenage Anthony Benedetto worked as a singing waiter in his native Astoria before his smooth tenor won over fans across geography and generations. This week’s shows marked the first time Bennett, who turned 95 on August 3, performed in public since his family revealed his Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis in February. “One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga” was as much a festive homecoming as it was a poignant farewell. The vast majority of those present for Bennett’s final performance at Radio City Music Hall understood the assignment: We were here to watch a beloved New York icon say good-bye to the stage, with his decorated protégé giving him a proper send-off. When the curtain rose an hour later to reveal Bennett for the first time, standing by the piano with his arms outstretched in elated greeting, they stood - clapping and waving, this time as if facing an old friend for the first time in years - until he picked up his microphone and began to sing.
![tony bennett lady gaga cheek to cheek live tony bennett lady gaga cheek to cheek live](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sbjJZPdXoy4/maxresdefault.jpg)
When Gaga made her entrance just after 9 p.m., in a sparkling white ball gown, and struck a pose, the crowd - which included Hillary and Bill Clinton, who received a shout-out from the mistress of ceremonies - leapt to their feet and cheered.
![tony bennett lady gaga cheek to cheek live tony bennett lady gaga cheek to cheek live](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ladygaga/images/f/ff/7-28-14_Joseph_Sinnott_011.jpeg)
Many dressed for the occasion in ball gowns, tuxedos, and gemstone-drenched smoking jackets masks were sparse (though attendees were required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter the venue), but there were even a few rhinestone-studded face coverings spotted in Radio City’s teeming lobby beforehand. It was the second and final performance of “ One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga,” and the sold-out audience had come to pay their respects - and in their sequined, bedazzled best. Though unused for the past 18 months, Radio City Music Hall’s 6,105 red velvet chairs will likely need a tune-up by the end of this week thanks to Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, and the 27 standing ovations the pair received during their miraculous, magnificent concert there on Thursday night (August 5). WCNY connects with the curious of all ages through innovation, creative content, educational programs, and transformative experiences to open minds and spark change.Photo: Marco Piraccini/Archivio Marco Piraccini/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images