R.I.P. Tony Bennett, prolific singer and showman
After living with Alzheimer's for years, Tony Bennett has died at 96
Aux News Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett, an iconic singer and performer with a seven-decade career, has died. He was 96 years old. His publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed to the Associated Press this morning that he passed away in his New York City home. While no specific cause of death was shared, Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016; the diagnosis was shared publicly in 2021.
In life, Bennett had a truly singular career. He received 20 Grammy Awards, including a final win in 2022 for Love For Sale, his second album with Lady Gaga. In his career, Bennett sold about 60 million albums and collaborated with a staggering amount of fellow stars, including Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah, Willie Nelson, and many more. His style of performance, originating from and harkening back to the Rat Pack era, helped to introduce younger generations to standards, swing, and big band.
Born in Queens, New York in 1926 as Anthony Benedetto, Bennett grew up in poverty during the Great Depression. By age ten, however, he was already performing, singing beside Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia at the opening ceremony of the Triborough Bridge in 1936. By 13, he was performing as a singing waiter. In the early 1940s, he had his first successful singing gig in Paramus, New Jersey. Before long, though, World War II came calling, and Bennett was drafted to the frontlines of France and Germany in early 1945. In his autobiography The Good Life, he later shared that he was involved in the liberation of a concentration camp.
When Bennett returned Stateside, his musical career really began in earnest. After studying at the American Theater Wing via the G.I. Bill, Pearl Bailey invited him to open for her in Greenwich Village. Bob Hope was in the audience, who eventually took Bennett on tour and helped him cut his first demo in 1950. Anthony Benedetto became Tony Bennett.
In the early 1950s, Bennett found early success with his rendition of “Because Of You,” a ballad that topped the pop charts for 10 weeks. Despite the ascendance of rock displacing the crooners from the charts, Bennett held relatively steady throughout the decade. 1962 saw Bennett record and release “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” the first song to become truly, indelibly his. Though only a moderate commercial hit at the time, it’s now known as Bennett’s signature song. In 2019, the singer told The Mercury News that the “song has been a blessing ever since.”
Bennett had a major career resurgence as the new millennium approached. His son, Danny Bennett took the reins of his career in 1979, and slowly but surely helped him book new gigs after a cool period for his career in the 1970s. His well-remembered MTV Unplugged set in 1994 introduced the crooner to a generation raised on Madonnas and Michael Jacksons. “Tony wanted to do his music, and he had grown up with the premise that you perform for the entire family,” Danny told The New York Times in 1994. “He told me, ‘I hate the notion of demographics. Why can’t I be on MTV?’ And he was right.”
The artist remained steadily booked through the ‘90s and ‘00s, releasing 10 albums between 1995 and 2010. 2011 saw another major artistic success with the release of his duet “Body and Soul” with Amy Winehouse for his Duets II album. The track is believed to be Winehouse’s last recording before her death and was widely lauded, and made Bennett the oldest artist to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also included Bennett’s first duet with Lady Gaga, sparking a creative partnership that would define the last decade of his life.
Bennett and Gaga released Cheek To Cheek in 2014, taking the album on tour together and winning the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The two released another album, Love For Sale, in 2021, which would prove to be Bennett’s final work. A month before its release, Bennett’s son Danny announced his retirement from performing, based on doctors’ instructions, and canceled his remaining tour dates. Even in his final year as he struggled with Alzheimer’s, music remained a respite. “Tony may not remember every part of doing that show,” Danny told Variety in 2021. “But, when he stepped to the side of the stage, the first thing he told me was: ‘I love being a singer.’”
Rest in peace, Tony Bennett.
28 Comments
It really hurts to see people of his generation disappearing. Tony saw the horrors of war and fascism and told about his experiences. If people like him were still in charge, we wouldn’t be facing the disaster of Republican Party Trumpism.Tony was an amazing talent and a good, decent man.
WTF are you yammering on about?! The guy saw TEN Republican presidents in his lifetime yet somehow you blame everything on Trump? Dummy.
I’m not fucking around with goddamn fascists. Tony didn’t.Fuck off Trumpers. Flagged and dismissed.
Sure thing
lol
Based on how most vets and old people vote I bet most WW2 vets voted for Trump.
No doubt, he seems like he was a real one
The Howard Stern interview is amazing.
Based on how most vets and old people vote I bet most WW2 vets voted for Trump.
Man, this really feels like the actual end of an era. In my book, Tony Bennett was up there with names like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
Legend.
Don’t fret, he was up there in everyone’s book.
It is the end of an era. Bennett was the last of the great crooners.
Does Paul Anka count? He’s still touring constantly.
Yeah he’s one of the few performers who was able to fully transcend genre and generations. His MTV, Winehouse and Gaga experiences never felt like desperate grabs at relevance by an aging artist. If anything, the people who he performed with later in life seemed like they were hoping Bennet’s universal appeal would rub off on them.
The story of his caregiving was genuinely amazing. His much younger wife was absolutely devoted to personally maintaining his dignity and whatever semblance of a normal life he could manage, and while I’m sad about Bennett, I’m glad her burden is done.Rest in peace.
Rest in peace, legend.
He worked with all the greats. Sarah Vaughan. k. d. lang. Bob and Doug McKenzie.
I saw him perform in Philly in 2011. It was wonderful. He goes around and introduces his band, and each bandmember gets a solo. They turned the lights off of Tony and focused a spotlight on the player performing the solo. And it hit me: This 80something year old man is so magnetic, so amazing on stage, even though he’s not moving much, that I absolutely cannot take my eyes off of him unless they literally turn off his spotlight.RIP.
Everyone should do themselves a favor and go look up the album of Gershwin songs he did with Diana Krall, Love is Here to Stay. It came out in between the two records he did with Lady Gaga and maybe because of that didn’t get as much attention as it deserved. It’s wonderful.
This is sad. Years ago when my youngest son had issues going to sleep we found this old HBO special called “Good Night Moon and other stories” and it ends with Tony Bennet singing. Even now that he is 8, when he is having a rough night it helps him get back to bed
Great singer, good dude. For a famous crooner he had a seriously gentle vibe. Very little swagger, just a kind, low-key personality.
We should all have such a great run. He lived for so long he was hip and relevant multiple times over and never had to endure the indignity of being a nostalgia act. He was also a gentleman and a class act to the end. Most importantly, he defied the worst stereotypes of aging and remained a committed and very vocal Democrat to the end.
I remember seeing an interview with him (I think on CBS News Sunday Morning?) after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Despite his fading memory, he could still remember lots of songs. I guess that shows the power of music.
Godspeed legend.
How soon until we find out if Bennett’s will stipulates that his heart be left in San Francisco… for them to poop on?
Arrivederci Anthony. You left your heart with all of us.
I saw in at Radio City Music Hall in 2017 (working as an usher); he played there every year on his birthday, apparently. Great show, and one of the highlights was when he stood alone on the stage, without his band or a microphone, and sang a capella. The acoustics were great and his voice filled the room without any difficulty. It was truly a night to remember.