Gaga & Bennett - It Don't Mean A Thing

Out today is the latest single from Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett's album of American songbook standards, which was a surprise hit and made 88 year-old Bennett the oldest living artist to achieve a #1 pop album.

RELATED: In other "gay icon remakes oldies" news, Bette Midler tied Babs for a chart record last week.

Bette Midler celebrates a fifth consecutive decade of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, as It’s the Girls debuts at No. 3. She's only the second woman, following Barbra Streisand, to notch Top 10 albums in each of the last five decades (1970s through 2010s). The new album's arrival gives Midler her highest debut ever, her second-highest charting album, and sixth top 10 overall. The three-time Grammy Award winner's first Top 10 came with her debut, The Divine Miss M, which arrived almost 42-years ago on the chart dated Dec. 9, 1972. It peaked at No. 9 the following March. She later visited the top 10 with a self-titled album (No. 6 in 1974), the Beaches soundtrack (No. 2 in 1989), Some People's Lives (No. 6 in 1991) and Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook (No. 10 in 2005).

Giorgio Moroder Remixes Gaga/Bennett

Bennett/Gaga Duets Album Debuts At #1

Cheek To Cheek debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart today, breaking Tony Bennett's own record as the oldest artist (88!) to reach that chart's summit.

The standards album, released Sept. 23 on Interscope/Columbia Records, sold 131,000 copies in the week ending Sept. 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also hits No. 1 on both the Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums charts. 88-year old Bennett is the oldest living act to earn a No. 1 album, beating a record he set himself back in 2011. That year, a then 85-year old Bennett scored his first No. 1 album with Duets II (which included a collaboration with Gaga on "The Lady Is a Tramp"). Gaga previously led the list with ARTPOP, less than a year ago, and Born This Way, in 2011.

Cheek To Cheek dethrones Barbra Streisand's duets album Partners, which was her tenth #1 album including greatest hits compilations and soundtracks.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Fly Life, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is Cheek To Cheek, the new all-duets album from Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, which went on sale today nationwide at retailers and online.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer raves:

Lady Gaga rarely does anything subdued. So when she does, listeners should take note, even if it's just for the shock factor. Yet, the only thing shocking about "Cheek to Cheek," Gaga's collaborative album of jazz standards with Tony Bennett, is just how good it is. Gaga holds her own with the musical icon on an album that will likely be a contender for Album of the Year come Grammy night. "Cheek to Cheek" opens with "Anything Goes," a lighthearted tune from composer Cole Porter that's right in Bennett's wheelhouse. Gaga does her best Barbra Streisand impersonation, proving that her voice doesn't need an assist from wild costumes or electronic beats to come off as stunning. She further emphasizes that point on the piano ballad "Lush Life." Gaga goes solo on the tune with a powerful voice vocal performance. "Lush Life," along with the amazing "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," is enough to make you fall in love with Gaga the singer, rather than the stage performer. Not to be outdone, Bennett, who sounds youthful at age 88, delivers a fantastic vocal on the Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" and the string-heavy "Don't Wait Too Long." Both songs underscore a key component of "Cheek to Cheek," which is the flawless backing instrumentation.

We have five copies of Cheek To Cheek to give away. Enter to win by commenting on this post and please leave an email address in the text. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time.

Lady Gaga And Tony Bennett: I Can't Give You Anything But Love

Last week we got the lyric video. Today comes the production clip. The duets album, Cheek To Cheek, comes out September 23rd.

Lady Gaga And Tony Bennett: I Can't Give You Anything But Love

Another track from their coming duets album. From the press materials:

Cheek To Cheek features classic jazz standards sung by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett in a combination of vocal duets and solo performances. From the title track to “But Beautiful” to “I Won’t Dance,” the record’s duets showcase the chemistry between the two artists, who span 60 years in age. As Bennett says, “What I really love about being a jazz singer is that jazz artists are very creative, very honest, from phrase to phrase” and Lady Gaga adds, “We wanted to make something that sounded perfect because of the quality of the emotion…the honesty.” Cheek To Cheek also features the Lady Gaga solo, “Lush Life,” accompanied by Tony Bennett’s solo of “Sophisticated Lady.” The two songs complement each other, as Lady Gaga explains, “I loved making ‘Lush Life,’ Tony mentored me emotionally through the process,” and Tony Bennett adds, “I sang ‘Sophisticated Lady’ to answer her on ‘Lush Life,’ and because Duke Ellington wrote it, who collaborated with Billy Strayhorn, the writer of ‘Lush Life.’”

On October 24th, PBS will air a special on Cheek To Cheek that was taped at Lincoln Center.

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Anything Goes

The first single from their duet album, due in September, was released today.

Cheek To Cheek features classic jazz standards sung by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett in a combination of vocal duets and solo performances. Each song was handpicked by the artists, and the album features classic selections from the Great American Songbook including “Anything Goes,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)," “Sophisticated Lady,” “Lush Life,” and the record’s title track, “Cheek To Cheek.” Recorded in New York City, the record took over a year to complete and features jazz musicians associated with both artists including members of Bennett’s quartet, Mike Renzi, Gray Sargent, Harold Jones and Marshall Wood as well pianist Tom Lanier. Jazz trumpeter Brian Newman, a long-time friend and colleague of Lady Gaga appears on the album as well with his NYC based jazz quintet. Jazz soloists on selected tracks include tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano and flutist Paul Horn, who passed away earlier this month.