Lady Gaga Recalls the Time Tony Bennett Sketched a Tattoo for Her

Lady Gaga has fond memories of her beloved friend and musical collaborator Tony Bennett, who died on Friday (July 21) at the age of 96.

In a new People cover story remembering the late legend, the publication revisited a 2014 interview with Gaga, in which she shared that Bennett sketched a tattoo of a trumpet for her.

“I asked Tony to draw me a trumpet, and he sketched me Miles Davis’ trumpet,” she recalled. “Then I had it tattooed with his last name, Benedetto, underneath. Just so I would always remember this time together.”

Their 2014 jazz album, Cheek to Cheek, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. After Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, he went on to release a second jazz album with Gaga, titled Love for Sale, in 2021.

“Tony heard me sing [‘Orange Colored Sky’] and he asked to meet me,” Gaga said in 2014. “He said, ‘Do you want to do a jazz album together?’ I said, ‘Of course I do!’ We were fast friends.”

In 2021, Bennett announced that he was retiring from touring and performing after one last show in August of that year with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall entitled “One Last Time.”