As Tony Bennett celebrates his 95th birthday today and prepares to kick off his and Lady Gaga’s two-night “One Last Time” performances this evening, the pair announced Tuesday (August 3) that their new, second duet album, Love for Sale, will drop October 1.
The “Rain on Me” singer took to Instagram to post animated visuals of the album cover. The jazz legend holds a sketchbook that depicts a profile sketch of Gaga, while the pop icon is leaning down fixing Bennett’s bowtie.
“The day we released ‘Cheek To Cheek’ in 2014, Tony Bennett called me and asked me if I wanted to record another album with him, this time celebrating the songs of Cole Porter,” Gaga captioned. “I’m always honored to sing with my friend Tony, so of course I accepted the invitation.”
Along with the album announcement, the first single “I Get a Kick Out Of You” is now available everywhere. Originally written by composer Porter, who established the musical standards for Broadway, and sung by Ethel Merman in the 1934 Broadway musical Anything Goes, the song has been covered by many prominent artists, including Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, thus remaining a timeless classic.
The track begins with Gaga’s vocals and Bennett joining in over a slow piano intro. The song shifts to a more lively sound with saxophones and trumpets blowing during the chorus.
“I get no kick from champagne / Mere alcohol doesn’t thrill me at all,” Gaga sings. “So tell me why should it be true / That I get a kick out of you?”
Bennett doesn’t fail to deliver his strong vocals even at 95. “Some, they may go for cocaine / I’m sure that if I took even one sniff / It would bore me terrifically, too,” he sings. “Yet I get a kick out of you.”
Gaga and Bennett are expected to perform both tonight and on August 5 at Radio City Music Hall for “One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.” Love For Sale is Bennett’s final recording, and this concert will mark his final onstage performances in New York City. In February, his family announced to AARP magazine that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
Love For Sale will follow their 2014 jazz-pop album Cheek to Cheek, which debuted No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Cheek to Cheek became Bennett’s second No. 1 album and Gaga’s third consecutive No. 1 in the U.S. Prior to the album’s release, Gaga and Bennett first met and performed together at the Robin Hood Foundation gala in 2011, beginning their decade-long friendship. Two months later, their first collaboration, “The Lady Is a Tramp,” was released on Bennett’s Duets II album.
A tracklist for Love For Sale can be found below.
- It’s De-Lovely
Night and Day
Love for Sale
Do I Love You
I Concentrate on You
I Get a Kick Out of You
So In Love
Let’s Do It
Just One of Those Things
Dream Dancing
