Tony Bennett dies at 96

Tony Bennett has passed away. The prolific, generation-spanning crooner died at home in Manhattan this morning (July 21) after a well-publicized, years-long battle with Alzheimers disease, his publicist Sylvia Weiner has confirmed.

Born in 1926 to a grocer and a seamstress, Anthony Dominick Benedetto was raised in Queens, New York. He was an early bloomer, and the comedian Bob Hope took him under his wing when he was still fresh from World War II duty, bringing him on tour in 1949. He scored his first number one hit, “Because of You,” in 1951, at the age of 25.

In the seven decades since, Bennett has been a champion of the Great American Songbook, breathing new life into old standards. By the end of the ’50s, he’d released nine studio LPs. And in 1962, he recorded what would become his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” His album of the same name, released the same year, was his first of many to reach the Billboard 200’s top 10.

He continued to pump out hit records throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, remaining dedicated to his clear, deceptively simple style even as the world changed around him.

In the 21st century, Bennett’s best-known releases have been his duets with a new generation of singers. Most notable of these are his rendition of “Body and Soul” with Amy Winehouse — reportedly the last song she recorded before her untimely passing in 2011 — and two full albums with Lady Gaga: 2014’s Cheek to Cheek and 2021’s Love For Sale, the latter of which gave Bennett the record for the longest span of top-10 albums in the history of the Billboard charts (59 years) and, at 95 years and 60 days young, made him the oldest person to ever release an album of new material. During the final decade of his life, he and Gaga developed a close creative partnership and personal friendship, touring together extensively to promote their first joint LP.

Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, a fact his wife, Susan Benedetto, made public in a 2021 profile of the artist for AARP: The Magazine. He continued to perform live for five years after his diagnosis, giving his final show in August 2021 with Lady Gaga at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Bennett is survived by his wife and four children. His daughter Antonia is also a jazz singer.