Grammy Winner Tony Bennett Dies at 96

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Latest News: Tony Bennett Dies at 96

Grammy-winning singer Tony Bennett died on July 21, 2023, in New York City. His publicist confirmed the news but didn’t share a cause of death. The 96-year-old was less than two weeks away from his birthday. Bennett, whose career spanned eight decades, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 and retired in 2021.

Who Was Tony Bennett?

Jazz singer Tony Bennett enjoyed his first hit single, “Because of You,” in 1951, and in 1962, he released his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Bennett’s popularity waned as younger fans turned to rock music, but he rebounded by the 1990s through increased exposure and an acclaimed MTV Unplugged appearance. He later teamed up with artists such as Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, and Carrie Underwood for the highly successful Duets and Duets II albums, adding to his collection of Grammy Awards even as he approached his 90^th birthday. In 2014, the 88-year-old broke his own record as the oldest artist to have a No. 1 album with the release of Cheek to Cheek, a collaboration with Gaga. Bennett died in July 2023 at age 96.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Anthony Dominick Benedetto (stage name Tony Bennett)
BORN: August 3, 1926
DIED: July 21, 2023
BIRTHPLACE: Queens, New York
SPOUSES: Patricia Beech (1952-1971), Sandra Grant (1971-2007), and Susan Benedetto (2007-2023)
CHILDREN: Danny, Dae, Johanna, and Antonia
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

Early Life

Tony Bennett was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926, in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York. His parents were Italian, and his father immigrated to the United States as a boy. Coming of age during the Great Depression, he experienced more difficulty at age 10, when his father passed away. His mother worked as a seamstress to support Bennett and his two siblings.

Bennett attended the High School of Industrial Arts in New York City, but he dropped out to help the family finances and worked as a singing waiter. After serving in the Army infantry during World War II, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill and studied singing at the American Theatre Wing. During this period, his vocal coach Mimi Spear offered some advice that he took to heart: Don’t imitate other singers; emulate instrumentalists instead.

Early Songs

First Hits: “Because of You” and “Cold, Cold Heart”

Performing under the name Joe Bari, Bennett was discovered in 1949 by Pearl Bailey, who asked him to open for her show in Greenwich Village. He subsequently caught the attention of Bob Hope, who advised him to take the name Tony Bennett and put him in his road show. As Bennett told Billboard in 1997, “I’ve been on the road ever since.”

Bennett signed with Columbia Records in 1950 and started working with record producer Mitch Miller. His early hits included “Because of You,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” and “Rags to Riches,” his smooth voice earning the adoration of young fans.

By the late 1950s, Bennett had become interested in creating jazz albums, and he teamed with some of the top talent in the business. His 1958 album with Count Basie, Basie Swings, Bennett Sings, featured the tracks “Jeepers Creepers” and “Chicago.” While his songs were more substantive by this point, they also failed to match the success of earlier hits.

“I Left My Heart in San Francisco”

Bennett returned to the spotlight in 1962 with the debut of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Released as the B-side to “Once Upon a Time,” “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was the recording that captured the public’s attention. It led to Bennett’s first Grammy Awards, for Best Record of the Year and Best Male Solo Vocal Performance, and became his signature song. Its popularity also paved the path for more immediate success, with the subsequent releases “I Wanna Be Around” and “The Good Life” going on to crack the Top 20.

In 1994, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Professional and Personal Struggles in the 1970s

Bennett’s success led to some artistic differences between the singer and his record company. His interest in singing quality material made him want to try new songs and new kinds of music, but Columbia for a while wanted him to repeat the style of his early hits. The relationship became further strained in the late 1960s, when the company tried to steer Bennett toward the contemporary rock sound popularized by The Beatles and other artists.

Bennett left Columbia in the early 1970s and soon founded his own label, Improv. Although he recorded what has come to be regarded as some of his best work, including The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (1975) and Together Again (1976), his songs failed to gain traction on the charts. By the end of the decade, Improv was out of business, and Bennett had stopped recording.

Bennett’s break from the studio coincided with some difficult times for the singer. Having moved to Los Angeles, he began using cocaine and marijuana, drugs that were an integral part of the celebrity party scene. A near-death experience in the bathtub and the memory of Lenny Bruce’s drug-related death scared Bennett into changing his habits.

Career Revival: 'The Simpsons' and 'MTV Unplugged'

With help from his oldest son, Danny, who became his personal manager, Bennett was able to put his personal and professional lives back together. The singer re-signed with Columbia records, and in 1986, he released The Art of Excellence, his first studio album in nearly 10 years.

Danny Bennett saw to it his father received plenty of exposure; the elder Bennett surfaced on talk shows with David Letterman and Jay Leno, made an animated appearance on The Simpsons and delivered an acclaimed performance on MTV Unplugged, which led to a pair of Grammy Award wins for Album of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.

Bennett unleashed a series of acclaimed tribute albums during this period, including Perfectly Frank (1992) for Bennett’s childhood idol Frank Sinatra, Steppin’ Out (1993) for Fred Astaire, and Tony Bennett on Holiday (1997) for Billie Holiday. He also branched out with an album of children’s songs, Tony Bennett: The Playground (1998), and in 2002, he delivered a collection of holiday favorites with Christmas with Tony Bennett and the London Symphony Orchestra.

'Duets' Albums and Other Collaborations

In 2002, Bennett teamed up with k.d. Lang to record A Wonderful World. The album netted Bennett another Grammy, for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, and established a standard for collaboration that would mark this late stage of his career.

To commemorate his 80^th birthday in 2006, the singer released Duets: An American Classic, recorded with a collection of stars that included Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Sting, and Michael Bublé.

The project proved such a success that he created another celebratory album in 2011, Duets II, with performances from Aretha Franklin, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson, and others. On its release, Duets II also hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200—something no other 85-year-old had done—marking Bennett’s first chart-topping album. Among the highlights were “The Lady Is a Tramp,” sung with Lady Gaga, as well as “Body and Soul,” which turned out to be the late Amy Winehouse’s final recording. The following March, Bennett took home a Grammy for his duo with Winehouse, as well as for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Also in 2012, his fans were treated to an inside look into the recording of Duets II and the life of the legendary singer in the documentary The Zen of Bennett. The project was the brainchild of Bennett’s son Danny, who served as its producer, and aired at the Tribeca Film Festival that April.

Later that year, Bennett released his next recording, Viva Duets. The Latin-themed album featured songs in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with contributions from such famed talents as Marc Anthony and Gloria Estefan. Despite now being well into his 80s, Bennett lined up a series of concerts to promote this latest album.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

From their collaboration on Duets II, Bennett and Lady Gaga struck up a friendship and continued working together for several years.

In September 2014, they released an album of jazz standards called Cheek to Cheek, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and also topped the Billboard 200. Discussing the collaboration in an interview with Parade magazine, Bennett expressed what he learned from working with the pop star, “Nobody has communicated with the public more than Lady Gaga. Ever. I trust the audience, and I’m very impressed. As far as they’re concerned, she’s part of their family. The only guy who ever did that was Bing Crosby, years ago.”

Bennett and Lady Gaga rejoined in 2021 for Love For Sale, their take on a collection of Cole Porter songs. Bennett’s last album, Love For Sale garnered five Grammy nominations and won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2022.

Final Albums and Retirement

The ageless crooner returned to solo vocals with his next album, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern (2015). A pared-down effort in comparison with his recent high-profile duos, the album nevertheless achieved a similar result by claiming the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Grammy in 2016. In 2018, Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 also garnered a Grammy in the same category.

In February 2021, Bennett revealed that he had Alzheimer’s disease. He had been diagnosed five years earlier. Later in the year, he released his final album, Love For Sale, and performed his final concert “One Last Time” alongside Lady Gaga. The first show in the two-night special at Radio City Hall in New York City coincided with Bennett’s 95^th birthday.

His career spanned eight decades and included dozens of accolades. Bennett won 19 Grammy Awards, including eight for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and the 1995 Album of the Year for his MTV Unplugged live recording. In 2001, the Recording Academy presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Bennett. Four years later, Bennett was honored by the Kennedy Center.

Paintings, Books, and Philanthropy

Along with his music, Bennett nurtured a lifelong love of visual art, dating back to his time in high school. His paintings, which he signed with his given name of Anthony Benedetto, have been featured in the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1999, he founded Benedetto Arts LLC to oversee this aspect of his artistic career.

Bennett’s first book, Tony Bennett: What My Heart Has Seen (1996), features a collection of his portraits, landscapes, and still lifes rendered in various mediums. He followed with The Good Life: The Autobiography of Tony Bennett (1998), Tony Bennett in the Studio: A Life of Art & Music (2007), and Life Is a Gift: The Zen of Bennett (2012).

Bennett was also involved in various charitable and racial justice causes, for which the United Nations named him a Citizen of the World and gave him the Humanitarian Award. In 1999, he started the nonprofit Exploring the Arts with Susan Crow, who would eventually become his third wife. The couple also founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a public high school in New York City. Beyond education, Bennett raised money to support the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the American Cancer Foundation.

While serving in the Army, Bennett disdained the racial segregation and prejudice he saw against Black soldiers. He got in trouble for bringing a Black friend to a Thanksgiving dinner meant only for white soldiers. Back in the States, Bennett joined Martin Luther King Jr. for the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and performed for the protesters alongside Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr., and others.

Wives and Children

Bennett was married three times and had four children.

In 1952, he married Patricia Beech. The couple had two sons—Danny and Daegal, known as Dae—before separating in the ’60s. Their divorce was finalized in 1971. Danny became his father’s manager in the 1980s and helped him revitalize his career. Dae also had a hand in his father’s success, working as a music engineer for Bennett.

Next, the singer married actor Sandra Grant, with whom he had two daughters, Johanna and Antonia. That union, which began in 1971, also ended in divorce. The paperwork was finalized in 2007, though the couple had split in the late 1970s.

In 2007, Bennett married his longtime girlfriend Susan Benedetto (nee Crow), a teacher. They remained married until Bennett’s death.

Quotes

• I think if you have a passion for what you do then there are no limitations on how long or how much you can accomplish.

• What you find out about Louis Armstrong, once you get hooked on
  his music, is he’s the original source of popular music in America.

• I need two lifetimes. I’ll never get finished.
  

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