Tony Bennett Recorded a New Album With Lady Gaga Even As He Battled Alzheimer’s

Tony Bennett’s family revealed to AARP magazine that the legendary musician has been battling Alzheimer’s for the last four years.

Bennett, 94, was first diagnosed with the most common form of age-related dementia in 2016, and while moments of clarity are becoming “increasingly rare,” he has so far “been spared the disorientation that can prompt patients to wander from home, as well as the episodes of terror, rage or depression that can accompany Alzheimer’s frightening detachment from reality.” According to his wife, Susan Crow, Bennett can still recognize family members, but he’s not always sure of what’s happening around him and can become stumped by everyday objects, like a fork or house keys.

But even through all of this, Bennett hasn’t stopped working. Two years after his diagnosis and four years after releasing Cheek to Cheek, Lady Gaga and the singer decided to record a follow-up album together. According to Crow, he was already showing clear signs of the disease when they started recording but they decided to try anyway. In documentary footage of their studio sessions, the article says that Bennett rarely speaks “and when he does his words are halting; at times, he seems lost and bewildered.” Gaga speaks to him in short, simple sentences, as recommended by his doctors, and despite being clearly pained and sad at points manages to keep her composure until, “Tony sings a solo passage of a love song. Gaga looks on, from behind her mic, her smile breaking into a quiver, her eyes brimming, before she puts her hands over her face and sobs.” She was also very supportive of the singer’s family’s decision to got public with his diagnosis, telling Bennett’s son Danny, “It’s just another gift that he can give to the world.”

And according to Dr. Gayartri Devi, the neurologist who first diagnosed Bennett, that’s exactly what his struggle will be for other people with this diagnosis. Devi said that the spectrum of the disease varies greatly and depends a lot on the kind of brain the patient has, “and Tony Bennett brought an amazingly versatile brain.” He has some “cognitive issues, but multiple other areas of his brain are still resilient and functioning well. He is doing so many things, at 94, that many people without dementia cannot do. He really is the symbol of hope for someone with a cognitive disorder.”

The doctor also credits the singer’s resilience to his wife and family’s unflagging support. “I’ve been humbled by the level of devotion,” Devi said. “She also expects a lot from him. I think her background as a teacher helps, but she’s also very much in love with him. And he rises to her expectations.” 

Despite his diagnosis, there has been one constant that always seems to make Bennett’s symptoms disappear, if just for a few minutes—music. “Singing is everything to him,” his wife explained. “Everything. It has saved his life many times. Many times. Through divorces and things. If he ever stops singing, that’s when we’ll know.”

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