Tony Bennett Dies At Age 96
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Tony Bennett, iconic standards singer, dies at 96
By Ethan Sacks 5-6 minutes 7/21/2023
Tony Bennett, one of the most beloved and recognizable voices in the history of American popular music, died Friday at 96, less than two weeks shy of his birthday, his publicist said in a statement.
Bennett died in his hometown of New York, publicist Sylvia Weiner said. A cause was not immediately disclosed.
Bennett provided the soundtrack to generations of romantic evenings and proved that his timeless brand of standards could have broad, consistent appeal as the music industry shifted with the rise of rock and rap.
In recent years, even as his velvety voice found purchase with a new generation, he secretly struggled with a cognitive disorder. On Feb. 1, 2021, his family revealed in AARP magazine that Bennett had been battling Alzheimer’s for the previous five years — even though he still managed to record more music.
“ Life is a gift — even with Alzheimer’s ,” Bennett’s official account tweeted at the time.
And what a gift it was: The life and career of Bennett, a World War II veteran and a civil rights activist , could provide fodder for a number of biopics, but his most enduring legacy is likely to be his unique vocal style, which made him a superstar in the 1950s and helped him enjoy a remarkable second act over the last 25 years of his life.
Tony Bennett at the Grammy Awards in 1966. NBC
“The way that we dispose of music all the time, and dispose of art and decades (past) all the time, as if they’re dated, that being nostalgic is for geeks — it’s painful,” Bennett’s friend and frequent collaborator Lady Gaga said in 2015. “So much of the music that has been introduced through the Great American Songbook, through Fred Astaire, is passed on through generations of men and women, and Tony is one of those men.”
Born Anthony Bennedetto on Aug. 3, 1926, in Astoria, Queens, Tony Bennett got his start in music after having studied singing at the American Theatre Wing. He was reported to have been discovered by the legendary African American singer Pearl Bailey, who hired him to open for her in 1949.
A year later, Bennett began to make his own mark, signing with Columbia Records and crooning hits like “Rags to Riches” and “Because of You.” His signature hit, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” arrived in 1962 as a B-side that launched him to the A-list.
The songs effectively straddled the worlds of pop and jazz while earning critical acclaim: Bennett won the 1962 Grammys for record of the year and solo vocal performance.
The statuettes would prove to be the first of 18 Grammy Awards over his seven-decade career.
Perhaps because of his close connection to jazz musicians, among them Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Bennett also launched himself into the civil rights movement of the era. He was recruited by the actor Harry Belafonte for Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 march from Selma, Alabama, a career risk at a time when his audience was predominantly white.
“I said I’m not, I’m walking away from all this,” Bennett told CNN in 2013 . “This is just insane. It’s so ignorant. But then he told me what went down, what was going down, how some Blacks were burned, had gasoline thrown on them and they were burned. When I heard that, I said, ‘I’ll go with you.’ You know, I just realized that this is insanity.”
As popular music evolved, Bennett’s style fell out of fashion. And while aficionados praised some of his work in the late 1960s, the ‘70s and the ‘80s, audiences backed away. During this dark period, Bennett got heavily involved in drugs.
“I used to take pills — uppies, downies and sleepies,” he wrote in his 2011 autobiography. “I was in a completely self-destructive tailspin.”
And yet, Bennett survived and kicked his drug habit cold. He would emerge triumphant in the ‘90s, completing one of those most impressive comebacks in music history. He was embraced wholeheartedly by the MTV generation (recording duets with younger pop stars), and his 1994 “Unplugged” set for the network took home the Grammy for album of the year.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga perform live at Radio City Music Hall in New York in 2021. Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for LN
“It wasn’t a surprise at all,” Bennett told The Independent in 2011. “And I’ll tell you why. Good music is good music. I’m not concerned with whether someone who listens to me is old or young. In fact, in many ways, I’m not interested in the young at all. I’m interested in age. People learn to live properly when they get of an age, you know?
“The late Duke Ellington once said to me that he was really offended by the word ‘category,’” he added. “Music has no category; it’s either good or it isn’t, and I sing good songs, great songs, written by the best songwriters. It’s that kind of quality that makes them last. Trust me, people will be singing these songs forever.”
Between the recording sessions and concerts, Bennett proved that he had a talent for the visual arts, as well. His paintings, brushed under his birth name, have been exhibited in the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bennett is survived by his wife since 2007, Susan Crow, and four children, including Antonia Bennett, who has become an accomplished standards singer in her own right.
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I have to say, this is one of my all time favorite songs
The Good Life - Tony Bennett
His concert with Lady Gaga was extraordinary and he was 95 years old at that time.
RIP Tony, you were one of a kind.
This Is All I Ask - Tony Bennett
If I Ruled The World
Two greats now gone but their duet lives on.
A Classic:
He was one of the greats.....If you liked people who could sing.
He was one of the best. He left my heart in San Francisco.
My thanks to those of you who had the courtesy of describing what the YouTubes you posted were.
"Good music is good music"
He was one of the best.
San Francisco was really special in the 60's.
Mr. Bennett fought as an infantryman in the Battle of the Bulge when he was 18. After the war while still in Germany, he saw a friend from NYC and they had Thanksgiving dinner together. Bennett's commanding officer chewed him out for eating with a Black man. Year later, he joined the MLK's march from Selma to Montgomery.
He not only chewed him out he stripped him of his rank (cpl) and assigned him to grave registration duty.
Mr. Bennett marched with MLK and was a strong advocate for Native Americans and often said for years the only singer he listened to was Mildred Bailey a Native American singer. He was interviewed on the documentary, ''Indians That Rocked the World''. NA's contribution to all forms of music where he spoke of Ms.Bailey.
When we talk today of patriotism, class and being a tough guy, Mr. Bennett is the classic example. He never bragged about the months of combat he was in nor his support for minorities, he just did it. Many could learn a lesson from him.
We sure could use more like Mr. Bennett.
Thanks for filling in the blanks.
In my old age I have become very fond of his Once upon a Time.