Tony Bennett, Master Pop Vocalist, Dies at 96

Name: Tony Bennett, Master Pop Vocalist, Dies at 96
Uploaded: 2023-07-21T16:48:50+03:00
Channel: Radio Flora TM
Description: Tony Bennett, the affable pre-rock standards crooner who came to be newly appreciated and beloved by everyone from the grunge generation to Lady Gaga, died on

July 21, 2023 42 30

Tony Bennett, the affable pre-rock standards crooner who came to be newly appreciated and beloved by everyone from the grunge generation to Lady Gaga, died on Friday. He was 96. Bennett’s publicist, Sylvia Weiner, confirmed the singer’s death to the Associated Press.

A cause of death was not specified. But in 2016, Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and began experiencing memory loss, one of the leading symptoms of the disease (which has no known cure). Bennett’s condition, though, was not announced publicly until early 2021.

Tony Bennett – For Once In A Lifetime

With his slightly grainy baritone, avuncular demeanor, and recognizable aquiline nose, Bennett became one of the country’s most popular crooners in the years immediately after Frank Sinatra’s early success. He took on both the Great American Songbook standards alongside tracks by everyone from Hank Williams to the Beatles. Along the way, he helped bring jazz into the mainstream via collaborations with the likes of Count Basie. His trademark song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” was later included in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Tony Bennett and Judy Garland – I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Bennett won 18 Grammys over his remarkable eight-decade career, most notably Album of the Year for his 1994 MTV Unplugged that featured collaborations with Elvis Costello and K.D. Lang. He also won a Grammy for Cheek to Cheek, his 2014 year collaboration with Gaga, and the industry-wide respect he commanded was evidenced by his 2006 Duets: An American Classic, which paired Bennett with Paul McCartney, Elton John, the Dixie Chicks, Sting, Bono, John Legend, Billy Joel, among others.

Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse – Body and Soul

His last public appearance came with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in August 2021, two months before his last release, the Bennett-Gaga set “Love for Sale,” the sequel to their chart-topping 2014 collaboration “Cheek to Cheek.”

Bennett collected primetime Emmys for his recitals “Live by Request” (1996) and “An American Classic” (2007). He dipped his toe into acting with appearances on the ‘60s detective show “77 Sunset Strip” and a featured role in “The Oscar” (1966).

Though his gleaming, soaring tenor darkened into a burnished, grainy baritone in the later years of his career, Bennett never lost his interpretive skills. Nowhere was his continuing agility demonstrated more ably than on his two “Duets” collections, which challengingly paired him with a panoply of much younger stars. The second collection hit the top of the charts with a 179,000-copy debut week in September 2011, making Bennett the oldest performer in history to release a No. 1 album.