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‘You’re my family, Tony’: Stars salute Bennett for his 90th birthday

Tony Bennett, who turned a spry 90 in August, was honored with a two-hour special that aired on NBC Tuesday.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
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What a wonderful world for jazz icon Tony Bennett, who celebrated his 90th birthday with friends way more famous than yours. Bennett, who became a nonagenarian in August, was honored with a two-hour special that aired on NBC Tuesday.

Shot in September at Radio City Music Hall, the star-studded “Tony Bennett at 90: The Best Is Yet to Come” featured performances by Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, k.d. lang and Michael Bublé, among others. Saluting the singer whose career spans nearly seven decades, they sang renditions of Bennett’s classic hits including “The Lady Is a Tramp” to “I’ve Got the World on a String.”

Even Alec Baldwin, on break from skewering Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” showed up to honor Bennett in his own special way. He sported a suit and prosthetic nose in a loving impersonation of the jazz great.

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Gaga, who collaborated with Bennett in 2014 for the jazz album “Cheek to Cheek,” showed off her tattoo inspired by the icon, before performing her second piece of the evening “La Vie en Rose.”

“You’re my family, Tony,” Gaga said. “You really changed my life.”

makeda.easter@latimes.com

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