Lady Gaga pays tribute to victims of 2017 Las Vegas shooting, dedicates Born This Way to them

Singer Lady Gaga dedicated her 2011 hit Born This Way to the victims of the mass shooting that took place in the city six years earlier. She paid tribute to the victims during her performance in Las Vegas on Sunday night, Variety reported.

“I just want to remind everyone here what a resilient wonderful city this is. I want to dedicate this song to everyone we lost.” On October 1, 2017, 59 people died and more than 500 were injured when professional gambler Steven Paddock opened fire on the crowd at the Harvest 91 country music festival from his room at the MGM Grand Hotel. It was the most deadly mass shooting in US history.

Gaga, who is playing her Jazz and Piano residency in the city, later paid tribute to her friend and collaborator Tony Bennett, who died on July 21.

Before she sang Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words), she shared how much she missed him and how she thinks about him every day. Gaga worked with him on the 2014 release Cheek to Cheek and the 2021 album Love For Sale. She said, “I’m sure you know he was a wonderful amazing performer. He played jazz for as long as he could, he was singing a week before he passed away.” She went on to say, “He was just the most optimistic person. He could always find the good in everything.”

Gaga shared one of Tony’s favourite stories, “He told me when he was a kid, ‘My family didn’t have enough money for the holidays’. He entered a raffle and he won a turkey. He was so happy, he brought the turkey home for his family.” Gaga said, “That’s Tony.”

The Academy Award-winning singer will wrap up her 12-date Summer/Fall residency on October 5.