Legendary New York pop and jazz singer Tony Bennett died Friday at the age of 96, according to a statement posted on his Twitter account.
“Tony left us today, and just a day ago he was playing his piano and the last song he sang was ‘Because of You’, which was his first #1 hit,” the message reads.
Elton John, Carole King and Hillary Clinton were among the first to pay tribute to the star on social media.
Among his most famous songs are The Way You Look Tonight, Body and Soul and (I Left My Heart) In San Francisco.
He is also known for collaborating with star artists from Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse to Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra.
Bennett has appeared on stage more than once with the eccentric Lady Gaga, nee. GettyImages
He has been described as “the best singer in the business”. In a career that spanned eight decades, Bennett sold millions of records and won 20 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award.
His publicist, Sylvia Weiner, told The Associated Press that he died in his hometown of New York. No specific cause of death was announced, but the singer, whose real name is Anthony Dominic Benedetto, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
“Undoubtedly the classiest singer, person and performer,” wrote Elton John on social networks. “He is irreplaceable. I loved and adored him. Condolences to Susan, Danny and the family,” the performer said.
Former US First Lady Hillary Clinton described Bennett as “a true talent, a true gentleman and a true friend”. She tweeted: “We’ll miss you Tony and thanks for all the memories.”
Singer Carole King wrote “Rest in peace Tony Bennett. Such a great loss. Deepest condolences to his family and the world.”
The singer revealed that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in early 2021, but that he continued to record after the diagnosis. “Life is a gift, even with Alzheimer’s,” he tweeted.
Later in 2021, after releasing over 70 albums, Tony Bennett retired from touring.
The last of the great lounge singers of the mid-twentieth century often said that his lifelong ambition was to create “a hit catalog rather than hit records.”
With his soft voice, Bennett captivated the audience, sn. GettyImages
Bennett didn’t tell his own story, he let the music do the talking. Unlike his friend and mentor Frank Sinatra, he interpreted a song rather than embodied it. Bennett was attractive with a casual, polite manner and an unusually rich and durable voice – “a tenor who sings like a baritone”, as he called himself. This made him a master of both caressing ballads and more uptempo songs.
“I like to entertain the audience, making them forget their problems,” Tony Bennett told The Associated Press in 2006. “I think people are touched when they hear something sincere and honest, and maybe a little humor. I just like to make people feel good when I sing.”
Bennett was often praised by his colleagues, but Frank Sinatra’s words in a 1965 Life magazine interview remain memorable: “To me, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He moves me when I look at him. He moves me. He is the singer who achieves what the composer intended, and probably a little more.”
Not only did Tony Bennett survive the rise of rock music, but he lasted so long and so successfully that he gained new admirers and collaborators, some of whom are young enough to be his grandchildren.
In 2014, at age 88, Bennett broke his own record for the oldest living artist to land an album at the top of the prestigious Billboard 200 chart with “Cheek to Cheek,” his duet with eccentric pop star Lady Gaga.
Three years earlier, he conquered the charts with “Duets II”, recorded in collaboration with contemporary artists such as Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood and Amy Winehouse in her last studio recording.
His relationship with Winehouse was chronicled in the Academy Award-nominated documentary Amy, which showed Bennett patiently encouraging the insecure young singer through her performance of “Body and Soul.”
Bennett has also collaborated with other major music stars such as Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Bono of You Two.
In collaboration with Paul McCartney, sr. GettyImages
The singer celebrated his 90th birthday in 2016 with a party in New York that attracted celebrities such as Bruce Willis and John Travolta. The Empire State Building put on a light show in his honor.
His latest album, released in 2021, Love for Sale, again featured duets with Lady Gaga.
For Bennett, one of the few artists who straddled pop and jazz with ease, such collaborations were part of his crusade to introduce new audiences to the great American songs.
“No country has given the world so much great music. Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin. Those songs will never die,” Tony Bennett said in a 2015 Downbeat magazine interview.
In addition to singing, the performer has pursued his passion for drawing throughout his life, taking lessons and taking his sketchbook on the road. His paintings, signed with his surname Benedetto, are in public and private collections. “I love to paint as much as I love to sing,” Bennett told The Associated Press in 2006. “It’s been a real blessing in my life.”
In June 2007, Tony Bennett married former teacher Susan Crowe after an 18-year relationship. He has four children from his two previous wives, Patricia Beach and Sandra Grant.
