Tony Bennett, one of the most beloved singers of all time, has died at 96.
The last of the great mid-century crooners, Bennett was regarded as one of the all-time best interpreters of the Great American Songbook: his friend and peer Frank Sinatra regarded him as “the best singer in the business.”
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His renditions of jazz standards made him a beloved act across his long career, and he also popularized songs like “Rags to Riches” and his signature song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Bennett’s death was confirmed to AP by his publicist Sylvia Weiner, who said he died in his hometown of New York. Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease since 2016.
Early life
Bennett was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926, in Astoria, Queens. His father passed away when he was 10, and his mother, a seamstress, raised three children on her own.
Idolizing jazz legend Louis Armstrong, Tony developed an interest in music. After dropping out of high school to support his family by working in an Italian restaurant, and soon got his start as a singing waiter.
“I loved that time of my life, and I honestly feel that, if I hadn’t made it professionally, I would be perfectly happy going back to being a singing waiter,” Bennett recalled to the San Diego Tribune. “It was a great training ground, as I learned so many songs from the cooks in the kitchen when we would get requests where we didn’t know the song or all the lyrics.”
His music career went on hold during World War II, when Bennett served in the US Army as an infantry rifleman, but he did entertain troops as part of a band unit…CONTINUE READING