Just two weeks shy of his 97th birthday, legendary jazz crooner Tony Bennett died in his hometown of New York, his publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed on Friday.
The singer’s cause of death was not revealed; however, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
Bennett’s death brings a close to a generation of jazz crooners including Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The singer’s last public concert was held with his friend and co-singer Lady Gaga at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in 2021, in celebration of his then 95th birthday.
As Bennett preserved the classic American popular song, he was also known for staying true to his personal style by sporting tuxedos and tailored suits from Italian brand Brioni, even as rock began to take over pop charts.
“The only thing that lasts is quality — suits, music, people,” Bennett said in a 2010 interview. “It’s all the same. My suits are very expensive but they never go out of fashion, and I can keep them for up to two decades.”
Bennett’s career, which spanned seven decades saw him perform alongside musicians including Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, K.D. Lang, Elvis Costello, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bono, Sting, Celine Dion, John Legend and Lady Gaga.
Towards the end of his life, Bennett befriended his future co-singer Lady Gaga. The pair recorded two albums together including 2014’s “Cheek to Cheek” and 2021’s “Love for Sale.” “Cheek to Cheek” went to the number one spot on Billboards 200, and won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album.
Gaga and Bennett first met in 2011 at a fundraiser for the Robin Hood Foundation, when Bennett found himself deeply impressed by Gaga’s cover of a Nat King Cole song.
“Tony is one of my most favorite people on the whole planet, and I love him with all my heart,” the "Bad Romance" singer told a British radio show in 2021. “I can’t tell you how much I learned from him, and what it’s like to sing with a legend for so many years.”
“When I came into this with Tony, he didn’t say, ‘You’ve got to take off all the crazy outfits and just sing,’” she told a news outlet in 2014. “He said, ‘Be yourself.’”
When Gaga found herself struggling with her career following an unsuccessful album, hip surgery, and chronic pain from fibromyalgia, Bennett shared advice he received from Duke Ellington: “Number one - don’t quit. Number two - listen to number one.”
Despite Bennett’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, during which he struggled to remember Lady Gaga’s name, Bennett was still able to remember and perform their musical sets.
“When that music comes on – something happens to him,” Gaga said in an interview last year. “He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
"Most artists that are connected with one famous thing, they get upset: 'Why should it just be one thing? What about all the other things that I do?'" Bennett said of his song “San Francisco,” from the 1962 record “Once Upon a Time'' - the B-side of which won him a Grammy for record of the year. "But I feel different. I love 'San Francisco,' the song. I sing it every night like it was the first time I ever sang it."
During that same interview, Bennett credited Sinatra with changing his career.
“For my money, Tony Bennett's the best in the business," Sinatra said, according to Bennett. "He changed my career," Bennett said. "All of his fans wanted to find out about what he was talking about. And from that day on, I've been sold out everywhere in the world."
The Kid From Queens
Bennett was born in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens on August 3, 1926, as Anthony Dominick Benedetto. He grew up in poverty, as his mother who worked as a seamstress became a widow when he was just 10 years-old.
The singer was also a war veteran, having served in World War II in Germany in the infantry. His experience, which occurred during the tail-end of the war, was spent on the front lines, which Bennett once described as a “front-row seat in hell.” Bennett was among those who helped to liberate the prisoners at the Landsberg concentration camp.
Towards the end of the war, Bennett began singing with Army bands, but upon returning home in 1946 he pursued his career as a musician. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, he was able to take classes at the American Theater Wing.
FILE - American singer Tony Bennett and 27-year-old Sandi Grant smile during the reception held at the Hilton Hotel, London on March 8, 1968, for Bennett who is in London for a concert tour. Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" graced a decadeslong career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday, July 21, 2023. He was 96.
© AP Photo / Bob Dear
A Liberal Democrat for all his life, Bennett also participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery Civil Rights march in 1965. He was even driven to the airport by a fellow volunteer, Viola Liuzzo, who was later murdered that same day by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
In general, criticism of Bennett was not far-reaching, as was proven by a reporter who met with him in 2002, who could not help but be charmed by the legendary singer.
“Bennett is outrageous,” reporter Simon Hattenstone wrote in 2002. “He mythologizes himself, name-drops every time he opens his mouth, directs you to his altruism, is self-congratulatory to the point of indecency. He should be intolerable, but he’s one of the sweetest, most humble men I’ve ever met.”
Mourning a Legend
With such a legacy, across history, politics, arts and culture, celebrities and artists took to social media to mourn the loss of Bennett.
“Tony Bennett was the one of the most important interpreters of American popular song during the mid to late 20th century. He championed songwriters who might otherwise have remained unknown to many millions of music fans,” wrote the American singer Billy Joel, who was also born in New York.
“We will miss you,” wrote pop artist Mariah Carey.
English singer “Ozzy” Osbourne wrote that he was “very sad” to hear of Bennett’s passing.
Keith Richards, an English musician and band member of the Rolling Stones, shared a photo of himself and Bennett.
”Tony Bennett was an iconic songwriter and entertainer who charmed generations of fans. He was also a good man—Michelle and I will always be honored that he performed at my inauguration. We're thinking of his wife Susan, his kids, and everyone who is missing him today,” wrote former US President Barack Obama.