Considered the last American Crooner, Tony Bennett made the history of world music: he died at the age of 96 in New York
The music world learned with great sadness the news of the death of Tony Bennett, one of the last American crooners, capable of winning over 20 Grammys in his long career and releasing over 100 albums. In 2021 he had retired due to complications of Alzheimer’s which he had been suffering from since 2016. He was 96 years old.
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born in New York on August 3, 1926, to a family of Italian origins. His father died when he was only 10, the same period in which Tony began to devote himself to singing.
As a boy he also enlisted in the army and participated, in 1944, in the liberation of the Landsberg concentration camp in Germany.
Back in the USA, he went back to performing in the clubs of the big apple and in 1950 he signed his first big contract, the one with the Columbia Recordswho at that time had ended his collaboration with Frank Sinatra.
The 50s and 60s were full of successes for Tony Bennett, as were the 70s and 80s. Although in the latter he had to deal with serious drug addiction problems from cocaine.
He managed to to recover thanks to the passion for his work, music, and the help of his family.
Bennett is considered the last true one Crooners. This term refers to those singers who perform with a sweet, delicate style, obtained thanks to superior quality microphones that pick up less intense sounds and a wider range of frequencies. This elite included artists of the caliber of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Perry Como.
In over 70 years of career, Tony Bennet has published more than 100 albumscollected collaborations with the greatest of all time in music and won 20 Grammy Awards and 2 Emmy Awards.
Tony Bennett and Alzheimer’s
In 2016, as mentioned, the singer discovered he had the disease Alzheimers but that didn’t stop him.
He continued to perform and release albums until 2021, by which time the disease was taking its toll on him. That year he released a new album, in collaboration with Lady Gaga, and performed for the last two times at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
In his life he is married three times. The first in 1952 with Patricia Beech, the second in 1971 with Sandra Grant and the third in 2007 with Susan Crow. She had four children: two boys, Danny and Daegal born from the first marriage, and two girls, Joanna and Antonia, born from the second marriage.
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