Tony Bennett, legendary pop crooner, dies at 96
Tony Bennett, whose professional career spanned nearly 80 years, died on Friday morning in New York City, according to The Associated Press.
He was 96. He would have turned 97 in August.
Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death, according to the AP, saying he died in his hometown of New York. No specific cause of death was reported.
Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 but continued to perform — notably with Lady Gaga — until 2021. Bennett’s last public performance was with Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in August 2021 in a show titled “One Last Time,” The New York Times reported.
Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto, Bennett is perhaps best known for his signature 1962 hit “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” He released more than 70 albums in his lifetime, bringing him 19 competitive Grammys.
“I enjoy entertaining the audience, making them forget their problems,” he told the AP in 2006. “I think people … are touched if they hear something that’s sincere and honest and maybe has a little sense of humor. … I just like to make people feel good when I perform.”
Bennett had his own share of troubles as his popularity waned with the onset of rock. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he suffered a failed marriage and had an addiction to drugs. He was able to turn his life around and see a resurgence in his career later in his life.
According to Bennett, in the midst of his addiction to cocaine, an entertainment manager said of him, “He sinned against his talent.”
“That one sentence just changed my life. It meant that I had to drop everything I was doing. I stopped all drugs completely,” Bennett said.
He was also an accomplished painter who has three of his works in the Smithsonian Museum’s permanent collection.
Bennett was a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat who was active in the civil rights struggle in the 1960s. He participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march in Alabama in March 1965, and performed at the Stars for Freedom rally on the City of St. Jude campus on the outskirts of Montgomery on March 24, 1965.
Viola Liuzzo, a volunteer who participated in the march and helped with the concert, drove Bennett to the airport after the concert. She was murdered later that day by members of the Ku Klux Klan, the Times reported.
Bennett received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2001, and in 2022, he received one for the best traditional pop vocal album for two recordings with Lady Gaga, The Washington Post noted.
“I wanted to sing the great songs, songs that I felt really mattered to people,” he said in “The Good Life” (1998), an autobiography written with Will Friedwald.
Here are some memorable photos of singer Tony Bennett through the years.
1965: American singer Tony Bennett with a group of chorus girls during a rehearsal for the Royal Variety Show in London on Nov. 7, 1965.
1968: American singer Tony Bennett signs autographs on April 8, 1968.
1969: American singer Tony Bennett in London.
1970: American singer Tony Bennett with some of the dancing girls who appear in his show at the London Palladium.
1971: American singer Tony Bennett painting a city landscape on June 11, 1971.
1972: American singer Tony Bennett feeding the pigeons with his daughter, Joanna, on Jan. 14, 1972.
1973: Singers Diana Ross and Tony Bennett attending the premiere of the film "Lady Sings the Blues" at the ABC 1, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, on April 5, 1973.
1977: American singer and painter Tony Bennett holding one of his paintings,
which he creates under the name Anthony Benedetto, on Nov. 7, 1977.
1995: Singer Tony Bennett (center) performs during halftime at Super Bowl XXIX at the Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers won 49-26.
1999: Elton John and Tony Bennett at the Rainforest Foundation Benefit at Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 17, 1999.
2000: Tony Bennett and Diana Krall launch their "Two for the Road" tour on Friday, Aug. 4, 2000, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
2001: Tony Bennett (center) with daughter Antonia (right) and date Susan Crow (left) arrive at the 43rd annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 21, 2001.
2002: Tony Bennett (left) poses with Billy Joel after presenting him with a lifetime achievement award during the 2002 New York Magazine Awards Luncheon on December 16, 2002, at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City.
2003: Tony Bennett in the press room at the 45th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on February 23, 2003, in New York City.
2004: Singer Tony Bennett (left) and Larry King appear onstage at An Evening With Larry King and Friends to benefit the Larry King Cardiac Foundation on April 23, 2004, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, in Beverly Hills, California.
2005: U.S. President George W. Bush (center) and first lady Laura Bush stand with the Kennedy Center honorees, actress Julie Harris, actor Robert Redford, singer Tina Turner, ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell and singer Tony Bennett, on December 4, 2005, in Washington, D.C. The entertainers were all honored at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.
2006: Singers Michael Buble and Tony Bennett arrives at the 48th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on February 8, 2006, in Los Angeles.
2007: Musicians Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder accept the award for "Best Pop Collarboration with Vocals" onstage at the 49th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on February 11, 2007, in Los Angeles.
2008: Singer Tony Bennett performs on stage at the third annual Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence Awards at the Waldorf-Astoria on April 7, 2008, in New York City.
2009: Singer and co-founder of Exploring the Arts organization, Tony Bennett (left), and former president Bill Clinton attend the Exploring the Arts Gala at Cipriani, Wall Street on September 21, 2009, in New York City.
2010: Singer Tony Bennett, dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, playwright Tony Kushner, musicologist Henry-Louis De La Grange, actress Patty Lapone, opera director Frank Corsaro and philanthropist Glorya Kaufman pose as they attend the 2010 commencement ceremony where they received an honorary degree at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, on May 21, 2010, in New York City.
2011: Aretha Franklin and Tony Bennett perform onstage during Tony Bennett’s 85th Birthday Gala Benefit for Exploring the Arts at the Metropolitan Opera House on September 18, 2011, in New York City.
2012: Singer Tony Bennett (left) and Carrie Underwood speak onstage at the 54th annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center on February 12, 2012, in Los Angeles.
2013: Journalist/TV personality Katie Couric, Tony Bennett and Susan Crow attend the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 40th Chaplin Award Gala supported by Grey Goose vodka at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, on April 22, 2013, in New York City.
2014: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga pose backstage after her show at Roseland Ballroom on April 6, 2014, in New York City.
2015: Singers Lady Gaga (left) and Tony Bennett, winners of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for "Cheek to Cheek," pose in the press room during the 57th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on February 8, 2015, in Los Angeles.
2016: Recording artists Tony Bennett (left) and Ariana Grande attend the Republic Records Grammy Celebration presented by Chromecast Audio at Hyde Sunset Kitchen & Cocktail on February 15, 2016, in Los Angeles.
2017: Tony Bennett and Lucy Liu attend the American Theatre Wing Centennial Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on September 18, 2017.
2018: Recording artists Tony Bennett (left) and John Legend speak onstage during the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018, in New York City.
2019: Katie Holmes and Tony Bennett attend the American Ballet Theatre 2019 Fall Gala at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on October 16, 2019, in New York City.
2020: In this screengrab, Tony Bennett appears/performs during the 2020 Carousel of Hope Ball benefiting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation on October 10, 2020.
