Seven years after their previous Grammy-winning joint album, Lady Gaga and veteran crooner Tony Bennett, are at it again with a second duets compilation.
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Recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, "Love for Sale," out next month, showcases their collaborative tribute to legendary American composer and songwriter Cole Porter's songbook of classic jazz standards with both duet and solo selections by Gaga and Bennett.
The duo has just released their rendition of "I Get a Kick Out of You", written by Porter in 1934 for the Broadway musical "Anything Goes" and originally sung by Ethel Merman, as the lead single from the new album.
"Love for Sale" has a bittersweet element as it marks the 95-year-old Bennett's sixty-first and final album, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in recent years. Last February his family made the announcement with an article in AARP Magazine, where his wife Susan said, "There's a lot about him that I miss because he's not the old Tony anymore. But when he sings, he's the old Tony".
For Lady Gaga this latest musical effort is to be followed by her next acting role later this fall in the biographical crime drama "House of Gucci", playing Italian convicted criminal and former socialite Patrizia Reggiani, opposite such stars as Al Pacino and Jared Leto. The film could see Gaga stand out in awards season three years after her break out role in "A Star is Born", for which she won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for her original song "Shallow", her duet with director and co-star Bradley Cooper, and also got a Best Actress nomination.
Since then, Gaga released her sixth studio album "Chromatica", nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the last year's Grammy Awards, where she won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Rain on Me" with Ariana Grande, making history as the first female collaboration to win the award.
Musical partnerships seem to bode well for the pop star, dating back to her first duet with Bennett a decade ago, when she was a featured artist performing a cover of "The Lady is a Tramp" with him on his 2011 Grammy winning "Duets II" album, which also saw him duet with Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and Amy Winehouse, in her latest recording before her death.
In September 2014, Gaga and Bennett released "Cheek to Cheek" which was unofficially launched in Israel, where both of them had separate concerts. Then during Lady Gaga's show at Tel Aviv's Ha'Yarkon Park, she surprised the crowd and brought Bennett to the stage, and they sand together.
"The day we released "Cheek to Cheek" in 2014, Tony called me and asked me if I wanted to record another album with him, this time celebrating the songs of Cole Porter, I'm always honored to sing with my friend Tony, so of course I accepted the invitation"', said Gaga regarding the new follow up album.
"I think something I was craving for myself was a truly authentic collaboration, a true artistic exchange. With Tony I found not only that, but I found a friend. Not only do we spend a lot of time together and make music, but we talk. It's been an incredible experience all the way around. He passed along a very special message he got from his best friend Duke Ellington, saying, 'Number one, don't quit. Number two, listen to number one'".
