Legendary vocalist Tony Bennett has died at the age of 96. The news of Bennett’s passing was confirmed by his publicist, Sylvia Weiner, to the Associated Press.
Weiner did not reveal the cause of Tony Bennett’s death but noted he died in his hometown of New York City. Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. He continued to work through 2021, a year in which he played two shows with singing partner Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in New York City a few months before the pair released their sophomore collaborative album, Love For Sale.
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born in NYC on August 3, 1926 as his death came mere weeks ahead of his 97th birthday. The vocalist embarked on an illustrious career interpreting the Great American Song Book following a stint in the miltary. Bob Hope discovered Bennett while Tony worked at a Greenwich Village club in 1949.
“Bob Hope came down to check out my act. He liked my singing so much that after the show he came back to see me in my dressing room and said, ‘Come on kid, you’re going to come to the Paramount and sing with me.’ But first he told me he didn’t care for my stage name (Joe Bari) and asked me what my real name was. I told him, ‘My name is Anthony Dominick Benedetto,’ and he said, ‘We’ll call you Tony Bennett.’ And that’s how it happened,” Bennett recalled to PBS in 2007. “A new Americanized name, the start of a wonderful career and a glorious adventure that has continued for 50 years.”
Tony Bennett signed to Columbia Records and scored his first number-one hit with “Because Of You” in 1951. Bennett’s versions of “Rags To Riches,” “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” and “Fly Me To The Moon” were among his best-known songs.
The timeless vocalist put out over 70 albums and scored 19 competitive Grammys. Tony Bennett released Cheek To Cheek in 2014 at age 88. It was Bennett’s first album of duets with Lady Gaga and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. With Cheek To Cheek Bennett broke his own record as the oldest living artist with an album to top the Billboard 200.
Tony Bennett was an icon familiar to four different generations. Over the past 30 years he appeared on a variety of late night television shows, The Simpsons and presented the Red Hot Chili Peppers with an MTV Music Video Award in 1993. Other honors besides the 19 Grammys earned by Bennett included the organization’s 2001 Lifetime Achievement award, two Emmys and being named an NEA Jazz Master and Kennedy Center Honoree. Tony Bennett sold over 50 million records worldwide over the course of his life.
