Tony Bennett, the iconic New York pop and jazz singer, passed away at the age of 96.
Sylvia Weiner, his publicist, announced his death in a statement to the Associated Press. He died in his hometown of New York, according to her. Although no cause of death was given, Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016.
Bennett received numerous awards over his career, including 20 Grammys, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmys. He was a Kennedy Centre Honoree and an NEA Jazz Master, and he founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York.[1] Bennett has sold over 50 million records globally.
About Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett (also known as Anthony Dominick Benedetto) was an American Pop and Jazz singer. Tony Bennett was born in 1926 in Queens, New York City. In 1906, John immigrated from Podargoni, a rural eastern area of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy. Tony grew up with Mary, his older sister, and John Jr., his older brother. The children were grew-up in poverty because their father was ill and unable to work. Although John Sr. fostered in his son a love of art and literature, as well as sympathy for human suffering, he died when Tony was 10 years old. Growing up during the Great Depression and disliking the impact of Herbert Hoover's presidency would turn the child into a lifelong Democrat.
Tony studied painting and music at New York's School of Industrial Art, and would later admire their emphasis on perfect technique. He dropped out at the age of 16 to support his family. He worked as a copy boy and runner for the Associated Press in Manhattan, among other low-wage jobs.
Bennett started singing at a young age. He served as an infantryman in the United States Army during the last phases of World War II in the European Theatre. Following that, he improved his vocal skills, signed with Columbia Records, and had his first number-one hit with "Because of You" in 1951. In early 1953, several popular songs such as "Rags to Riches" were released. He subsequently modified his method to include jazz singing. With records like The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings, he reached his artistic pinnacle in the late 1950s. Bennett recorded "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in 1962, which became his hallmark tune. During the height of the rock music period, his career and personal life took a long downhill. Bennett launched a revival in the late 1980s and 1990s, releasing gold record albums and broadening his appeal to the MTV generation while maintaining his musical approach. He sang several duets and organised performances with many notable American and foreign singers, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Connie Francis, Elena Zagorskaya, and others, during his career.
Tony's work remained popular and critically acclaimed well into the twenty-first century. Late in his career, he received newfound fame for his collaboration with Lady Gaga, which began with the album Cheek to Cheek (2014); the two singers toured together to promote the record in 2014 and 2015. Bennett surpassed the solo record for the longest run of a top-10 album on the Billboard 200 chart for any living artist with the release of the duo's second album, Love for Sale (2021); his first top-10 record was I Left My Heart in San Francisco in 1962. He also set the Guinness World Record for the oldest individual to release a new album, aged 95 years and 60 days.
Tony Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016, it was disclosed in February 2021. Due to the slow course of his illness, he continued to record, tour, and play until his retirement from concerts due to physical issues, which was announced following his final performances at Radio City Music Hall on August 3 and 5, 2021.
