Lady Gaga may appear calm, cool, and collected around the legendary Tony Bennett, but beneath the surface Mother Monster was a bundle of nerves.
Although she’s known for her impossibly catchy pop hooks, her unique (and somewhat shocking) sense of fashion, and the ability to generate controversy with the flick of her wrist, Gaga decided to shift musical gears a bit for her follow-up to the commercially disappointing Artpop . Instead of cranking out another batch of modern pop tracks, the singer teamed up with Bennett for something a bit old-fashioned and a lot more jazzy.
Since Tony is the epitome of cool, Lady Gaga was understandably nervous when she hit the studio for their duets album, Cheek to Cheek . According to Unreality TV , her nerves were so ridiculously jangly that she needed a few shots of whiskey to help her settle down. Apparently even Mother Monster gets starstruck from time to time.
The information reportedly came to light during a recent chat with E! Online . While Lady Gaga was understandably nervous to record some songs with Bennett, she still enjoyed all the time they spent putting those songs together.
“The second we were in the studio together, it was so magical. We were bouncing improvisation off each other and we were laughing. I was keeping a whiskey under my stool because I was very nervous to be around him. And then, gradually, we became greater and greater friends. And I think because of that, our singing became more and more honest and more and more authentic.”
Lady Gaga also credits Bennett with keeping her in the game.
“He’s the reason that I’m here today, that I’m still making music, that I’m still excited to make music. Even singing with Tony now, going back on tour, it has completely changed the way I am on stage. It actually revived something in me that I haven’t felt in a few years. It’s a certain resilience, a certain confidence.”
The Inquisitr previously reported that Lady Gaga’s nerves were once so bad that she used marijuana to calm herself down. Unfortunately, this resulted in a habit she reportedly had a difficult time shaking. Not surprisingly, Gaga is not exactly a fan of legalization .
“I have been addicted to it and it’s ultimately related to anxiety coping and it’s a form of self-medication and I was smoking up to 15 or 20 marijuana cigarettes a day with no tobacco. I was living on a totally other psychedelic plane, numbing myself completely. I just want young kids to know that you actually can become addicted to it, and there’s this sentiment that you can’t and that’s actually not true.”
Are you surprised Lady Gaga was extremely nervous around Tony Bennett?
[Image via Fight Dirty Ink]