Tony Bennett, the acclaimed pop and jazz singer, died on Friday. He was 96.
His publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed his death in New York to the Associated Press, but no specific cause was given. Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
Bennett’s career spanned over 70 years, more than 70 albums, and won him the admiration of other legendary musical artists. Frank Sinatra, his friend and mentor, once called Bennett “the best singer in the business”—an opinion reflected in Bennett’s vast array of critical accolades and awards, including 19 competitive Grammys.
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As well as becoming one of the great saloon singers during his rise to fame in the 1950s, Bennett’s iconic voice and warm personality kept him in popular demand even into his later years. At the age of 88, in 2014, he became the oldest living performer to score a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Cheek to Cheek, a duets project with Lady Gaga.
The astonishing success and popularity of Bennett’s performances and recordings of numbers from the Great American Songbook endured throughout the 1960s as rock music swept across the country. His versions of music by the likes of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, and others remain among the most treasured interpretations of American musical standards.
His signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” was released in 1962 and won him his first two Grammys for record of the year and best solo vocal performance. His performance at Carnegie Hall the same year—for which the live album is still revered—was a runaway success and helped catapult him to international stardom.
Bennett continued releasing music in the following decades, with his career in the 1990s returning to the kind of fame and praise he enjoyed in his early years. His MTV: Unplugged show, featuring appearances from the likes of Elvis Costello and k.d. lang, introduced him to a whole new generation of fans, and an album of the performance released in 1994 hit platinum status—as well as scooping him the Grammy for album of the year.
He also carried on performing with artists he admired, including Amy Winehouse, into the 21st century. Bennett’s final public performance came in August 2021 alongside Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall. The show took place even after his wife, Susan, revealed his Alzheimer’s diagnosis earlier the same year.
As well as his wife, Bennett is survived by his sons, Danny and Dae Bennett, as well as daughters Johanna and Antonia Bennett, and nine grandchildren.
