- Tony Bennett has reportedly died on the age of 96.
- The musician received 18 Grammys all through his profession, together with a lifetime achievement award.
- Bennett is survived by his spouse Susan Benedetto and his 4 youngsters.
Tony Bennett, the legendary jazz singer-songwriter, has died, in line with studies by the Related Press and the New York Instances.
He was 96.
Bennett, whose full identify was Anthony Dominick Benedetto, was born in Queens, New York, on August 3, 1926. He studied music and portray on the New York Excessive Faculty of Industrial Arts, however dropped out when he was 16 years outdated to assist help his household with a job as a waiter.
Earlier than starting his profession within the music business, he served within the US Military throughout World Warfare II from 1944 to 1946.
In his 1994 autobiography, “The Good Life: The Autobiography of Tony Bennett,” he was candid about his conflict experiences abroad, which made him a pacifist for the remainder of his life.
Tony Bennett approached by autograph seekers after a efficiency on Oct. 4, 1951.
AP
“Anyone who thinks that conflict is romantic clearly hasn’t gone by one,” Bennett wrote.
After he was discharged, Bennett went on to check the bel canto self-discipline at New York Metropolis’s American Theatre Wing.
He rose to prominence within the Nineteen Fifties after touring with Bob Hope — who initially advised Bennett that he didn’t like his stage identify on the time (Joe Bari) and shortened his actual identify to be what we all know right now.
Bennett signed with Columbia Information shortly after, and obtained his first hit single in 1951 with “Due to You.” He then started to collaborate with many prime jazz musicians of the time, together with Rely Basie, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Artwork Blakey.
In 1962, he launched one in all his staple songs, “I Left My Coronary heart in San Francisco,” which peaked at No. 19 on Billboard’s Prime 100 chart.
Tony Bennett carried out on ABC’s “Saturday Night time Reside With Howard Cosell” on November 22, 1975.
ABC Picture Archives/Getty Photographs
However the singer went by a lull in his musical profession within the late 70s. He left Columbia Information in 1972, and was briefly signed to MGM information, however ended up leaving them to begin his personal document firm.
Apart from his profession woes throughout that point, Bennett’s private life was additionally at its lowest.
Within the 70s, he handled what he described because the “darkest interval of his life” whereas battling drug habit and monetary troubles, which he revealed in his 2011 autobiography, “All of the Issues You Are: The Lifetime of Tony.”
Bennett additionally had two divorces. One in 1971 to his first spouse, Patricia Beech, with whom he had two youngsters, and one other in 1984 with Sandra Grant, with whom he additionally had two youngsters.
His profession took a flip for the higher when his son, Danny Bennett, started to handle him in 1986. He re-signed with Columbia Information and launched “The Artwork of Excellence,” which turned his first hit album since 1972.
Tony Bennett with the Grammy he obtained for greatest conventional pop vocal for “Completely Frank” on the thirty fifth annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California on Feb. 24, 1993.
AP
The musician received 18 Grammys all through his decades-long profession, together with the lifetime achievement award in 2001. He’s additionally received two Emmys and was inducted into the Massive Band and Jazz Corridor of Fame in 1997.
Bennett additionally discovered nice success in reaching a youthful viewers after showing on MTV’s “Unplugged” in 1994, which resulted within the platinum studio album, “MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett.”
The New York Instances praised him for his resilience within the leisure business in a evaluation of the album.
“Tony Bennett has not simply bridged the era hole; he has demolished it,” the evaluation learn. “He has solidly linked with a youthful crowd weaned on rock. And there have been no compromises.”
Bennett continued to broaden his collaborations with artists from throughout genres and generations, together with the Pink Scorching Chili Peppers, Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera, Juanes, and Girl Gaga.
In 2014, Bennett and Gaga recorded a joint studio album, “Cheek to Cheek,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Along with his storied music profession, Bennett was additionally a painter.
The United Nations commissioned him for 2 work, and three of his work are a part of the Smithsonian Museum’s everlasting exhibit. In 2017, 40 of his work have been displayed within the exhibit, “Tony Bennett: Celebrating 90 Years of Artistry,” at New York Metropolis’s Paley Middle for Media.
“I’ve at all times achieved the 2 issues that I like to do, which is sing and paint, and it’s fantastic being honored about it,” he advised Reuters in an interview on the exhibit.
Tony Bennett posed for a photograph with one in all his work at Ella Fitzgerald’s one centesimal Birthday Celebration & Ella Fitzgerald Day Proclamation at The Rainbow Room on April 25, 2017.
Monica Schipper/FilmMagic by way of Getty Photographs
Bennett and his spouse, former public college instructor Susan Benedetto, whom he had a long-term relationship with because the 80s earlier than marrying in 2007, based Exploring the Arts. The charitable group is devoted to strengthening the humanities in public highschool schooling.
Additionally they based the Frank Sinatra Faculty of the Arts in 2001, which Bennett named after his buddy, Frank Sinatra. The college is situated in his hometown of Astoria, a neighborhood in Queens, New York.
Bennett is survived by his spouse Susan Benedetto and his 4 youngsters, Dae Bennett, Danny Bennett, Antonia Bennett, and Joanna Bennett.