Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett was married to Patricia Beech from 1952 until their divorce in 1971. They had two sons, Danny Bennett and Dae Bennett. He married actress Sandra Grant in 1971, and they had two daughters, Johanna Bennett and Antonia Bennett; their marriage ended in divorce in 1983.

Bennett married Susan Crow in 2007. Together they founded Exploring the Arts, a nonprofit organization supporting arts education, and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens. Bennett died at his home in New York City on July 21, 2023, following a seven-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Queens.

Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born in Astoria, Queens, and grew up in a poor Italian American family. He began singing for money as a teenager, performing as a singing waiter in restaurants, and studied music and painting at New York's High School of Industrial Arts before leaving school at 16 to help support his family. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later studied bel canto singing at the American Theatre Wing on the GI Bill.

After the war, Benedetto performed under the name Joe Bari and worked in clubs while developing a jazz-influenced vocal style shaped by musicians such as Art Tatum and Stan Getz. Pearl Bailey gave him an important opportunity by hiring him to open for her in Greenwich Village. Bob Hope saw him perform with Bailey in 1949, invited him to sing at the Paramount Theatre, and changed his stage name to Tony Bennett. Bennett signed with Columbia Records in 1950, and his recording of "Because of You" became his first major hit.

Bennett reached the top of the charts during the early 1950s with songs including "Because of You," "Cold, Cold Heart," "Rags to Riches," and "Stranger in Paradise." He increasingly incorporated jazz into his work, recording with artists and ensembles such as Count Basie, Art Blakey, Stan Getz, and Zoot Sims. His 1957 album The Beat of My Heart emphasized jazz percussion, while his work with the Count Basie Orchestra produced well-regarded albums including In Person! and Strike Up the Band.

In 1962, Bennett recorded "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," which became his signature song and won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Solo Vocal Performance. He also gave a successful Carnegie Hall concert that year featuring 44 songs. His popularity declined after the rise of rock music and the British Invasion, and he left Columbia in 1972. During the 1970s he formed the Improv label and recorded two acclaimed albums with pianist Bill Evans, but the company later closed and Bennett lost his major recording contract.

Bennett's career revived after he returned to Columbia Records in 1986 and released The Art of Excellence. His son Danny Bennett became his manager and helped him reach younger listeners without abandoning his tuxedoed presentation, jazz-influenced phrasing, or repertoire from the Great American Songbook. Tribute albums such as Perfectly Frank, dedicated to Frank Sinatra, and Steppin' Out, dedicated to Fred Astaire, earned gold records and Grammy Awards.

His 1993 appearance on MTV Unplugged introduced him to a wider Generation X audience. The resulting album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. Bennett later recorded successful collaborative albums with artists from different generations, including Duets II with Amy Winehouse, Cheek to Cheek and Love for Sale with Lady Gaga, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern with Bill Charlap, and Love Is Here to Stay with Diana Krall. Duets II became his first number-one album on the Billboard 200 in 2011, while Cheek to Cheek reached number one in 2014.

Bennett's final album, Love for Sale, was released in 2021. It was his second collaboration with Lady Gaga and earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. His final public concerts took place with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall on August 3 and 5, 2021, after which he retired from concert performances because of physical challenges.

Bennett was also a painter who signed his work Anthony Benedetto or Benedetto. He exhibited internationally, was selected as the official artist for the 2001 Kentucky Derby, and had paintings in the permanent collections of the Butler Institute of American Art, the National Arts Club, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He published the art book Tony Bennett: What My Heart Has Seen in 1996 and the autobiography The Good Life in 1998.

His military service contributed to his lifelong pacifism and humanitarian work. He participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and supported civil rights causes. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005, was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2006, and received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize in 2017. He also received two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.