I've been singing jazz since I was a child and really wanted to show the authentic side of the genre. It was important to Tony that this was a jazz record. " Cheek to Cheek came out of a very organic friendship and relationship that Tony and I have built over the years and it truly was a collaborative effort. Swing band and composer Marion Evans was also under consideration for collaborating on the album Bennett confirmed recording sessions would start soon after. In September 2012, Bennett confirmed to Rolling Stone that Gaga wanted to record a jazz album with him and there was a well-known composer associated with the project, and although not on a par with songwriters like George Gershwin or Cole Porter, he had had several hits to his name. Bennett then asked Gaga to sing a duet with him on his album Duets II, and the pair recorded " The Lady Is a Tramp" for the album. In 2011, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga first met after she had performed a rendition of Nat King Cole's " Orange Colored Sky" at the Robin Hood Foundation gala in New York City. The duo's second collaborative album, Love for Sale, was released on September 30, 2021. The album also reached the top ten in Australia, Canada, Greece, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The album became Bennett's second number-one album and Gaga's third consecutive number-one in the US Gaga became the first female artist in the country to have three number-one albums in the 2010s decade, while Bennett extended his record as the oldest artist to achieve a number-one album on the chart. Cheek to Cheek debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, with 131,000 copies sold in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has since sold 773,000 copies in the United States. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, the album won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The album was preceded by the release of two singles: " Anything Goes" and " I Can't Give You Anything but Love", which both reached number one on Billboard 's Jazz Digital Songs Chart in the United States.Ĭheek to Cheek received generally positive reviews upon release, with critics praising the vocal chemistry between Bennett and Gaga. The artists promoted Cheek to Cheek through multiple performances in and around New York, a "behind the scenes" program detailing the recording of the album on the Home Shopping Network (HSN), and a televised concert titled Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek Live!, which aired on PBS in October 2014. The full-length track listing and cover artwork was released thereafter including the track lists for many alternate editions. The release date of the album was delayed multiple times, and the final date was announced by Bennett and Gaga on The Today Show.
Gaga deviated from her previous contemporary pop albums as she wanted instead to create a jazz record. It was recorded in New York City, where Bennett and Gaga were accompanied by a live band and jazz musicians associated with both artists. In January 2013, the album was announced by both artists and started its recording process after Gaga recovered from a hip surgery. It was inspired by Bennett and Gaga's desire to introduce the songs to a younger generation, since they believed these tracks have a universal appeal.
Cheek to Cheek consists of jazz standards by popular composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin. The two first met at the Robin Hood Foundation gala in New York City in 2011, and later recorded a rendition of " The Lady Is a Tramp" together, after which they began discussing plans of working on a jazz project. It is Bennett's fifty-eighth studio album, and Gaga's fourth. Cheek to Cheek is the first collaborative album by American singers Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, released on September 19, 2014, by Columbia and Interscope Records.