Tony Bennett

No one else in popular American music has recorded for so long and at such a high level of excellence as Tony Bennett. In the last ten years alone he has sold ten million records. The essence of his longevity and high artistic achievement was imbued in him in his loving childhood home in the Astoria section of Queens where he was born on August 3, 1926. His father died when Tony was 10 and his mother, Anna, raised Tony and his older brother and sister, John and Mary, in a home surrounded by loving relatives who were Tony’s first fans filling him with encouragement and optimism. He attended the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan, where he continued nurturing his two passions, singing and painting. From the radio he developed a love of music, hearing Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and James Durante.

As a teenager Tony sang while waiting on tables, and then enlisted in the Army during World War II. While in Europe he performed with military bands. He later had vocal studies at the American Theatre Wing School. The first time Bennett sang in a nightclub was in 1946 when he sat in with trombonist Tyree Glenn at the Shangri-La in Astoria. Bennett's big break came in 1949 when comedian Bob Hope noticed him working with Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village in New York City. As Bennett recalls, “Bob Hope came down to check out my act. He liked my singing so much that after the show he came back to see me in my dressing room and said, ‘Come on kid, you're going to come to the Paramount and sing with me.’ But first he told me he didn't care for my stage name (Joe Bari) and asked me what my real name was. I told him, ‘My name is Anthony Dominick Benedetto’ and he said, ‘We’ll call you Tony Bennett.’ And that's how it happened. A new Americanized name—the start of a wonderful career and a glorious adventure that has continued for over 60 years.”

With millions of records sold worldwide and platinum and gold albums to his credit, Bennett has received seventeen Grammy Awards—including a 1995 Grammy for Record of the Year for his “MTV Unplugged” CD, which introduced this American master to a whole new generation—and the Grammy Lifetime Award. His 2007 prime-time special, “Tony Bennett: An American Classic,” won seven Emmy Awards. His initial successes came via a string of Columbia singles in the early 1950's, including such chart-toppers as “Because of You,” “Rags to Riches,” and a remake of Hank Williams “Cold, Cold Heart.” He had 24 songs in the Top 40, including “I Wanna Be Around,” “The Good Life,” “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” and his signature song, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” which garnered him two Grammy Awards.

Tony Bennett is one of a handful of artists to have new albums charting in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and now in the first two decades of the 21st century. He has introduced a multitude of songs into the Great American Songbook that have since become standards for pop music. He has toured the world to sold out audiences with rave reviews whenever he performs. Bennett re-signed with Columbia Records in 1986 and released the critically acclaimed The Art of Excellence. Since his 1991 show-stopping performance at the Grammy Awards of “When Do The Bells Ring For Me,” from his Astoria album, he has received a string of Grammy Awards for releases including Stepping Out, Perfectly Frank, and MTV Unplugged.

In the new millennium, Bennett's artistry and popularity was higher than ever. In 2006, the year of his 80th birthday, his Duets: An American Classic was released. The album—which included performances with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Bono, and others—won three Grammy Awards and went on to be one of the best selling CDs of the year and Tony’s career. Bennett’s first Duets album also inspired the Rob Marshall-directed television special Tony Bennett: An American Classic which won seven Emmys making it the most honored program at the 2007 Emmy Awards.

In celebration of his 85th birthday in 2011, the release of Bennett's highly anticipated Duets II featured Tony performing with a new roster of celebrated artists including the late Amy Winehouse (her last recording was their duet of “Body and Soul”), Michael Bublé, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, and many others. Duets II debuted at #1 on the Billboard Album charts, making Tony the only artist at the age of 85 to achieve this in the history of recorded music. Bennett won two Grammys for Duets II in the 2012 Grammy ceremony and this year marked the 50th Anniversary of the recording and release of his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” A documentary entitled THE ZEN OF BENNETT, which was created and conceived by Danny Bennett, Tony’s son and manager, was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2012. At the end of 2012, Bennett also authored his fourth book, the New York Times bestseller, LIFE IS A GIFT, which highlights his personal philosophies learned throughout his life and career.

Tony Bennett became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2005, was named an NEA Jazz Master in January of 2006, a Citizen of the World award from the United Nations and a Billboard Magazine Century Award in honor of his outstanding contributions to music. Tony Bennett is a dedicated painter whose interest in art began as a child. He continues to paint every day, even as he tours internationally. He has exhibited his work in galleries around the world. The United Nations has commissioned him for two paintings, including one for their 50th anniversary. His original painting, “Homage to Hockney,” is on permanent display at the Butler Institute of American Art and the landmark National Arts Club in New York is home to Tony's painting “Boy on Sailboat, Sydney Bay.” Three of his paintings are part of the Smithsonian Museums permanent collections including his portrait of his friend Duke Ellington that became part of the National Portrait Gallery's collection in 2009.

Throughout his career, Tony Bennett has always put his heart and time into humanitarian concerns. He has raised millions of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, which established a research fund in his name. His original paintings each year grace the cover of the American Cancer Society's annual holiday greeting card, proceeds from which are earmarked for cancer research. He is active in environmental concerns and social justice. He marched with Dr. King in the historical Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights movement and the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta bestowed upon him their “Salute to Greatness Award” for his efforts in fighting racial discrimination.

In 1999, Tony Bennett, with his wife Susan Benedetto, a former public school teacher, founded Exploring the Arts (ETA) to strengthen the role of the arts in public high school education. ETA connects private funders, individual artists, and cultural institutions to Partner Schools to achieve greater equality of resources and opportunity for youth of all means and backgrounds. ETA programs are designed to help school principals and teachers sustain the arts in the face of budget cuts and better leverage the arts to strengthen student learning and engagement. ETA's first endeavor was the establishment of Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (FSSA), a public high school founded in 2001 by Tony and Susan in partnership with the NYC Department of Education. FSSA is housed in a newly constructed building in Tony's hometown of Astoria, Queens. Its state of the art facilities include visual art studios and a gallery, black box theatres and a stagecraft workshop, dance studios, choral and orchestral classrooms, an 800-seat concert hall, a multi-media technology lab, and a rooftop performance garden. All students major in Dance, Theatre, Film, Fine Art, Vocal or Instrumental Music. FSSA also offers a rigorous academic curriculum and holds one of the highest graduation and college enrollment rates for NYC public high schools. ETA continued beyond its commitment to FSSA to expand their support and to date, ETA currently partners with 17 public high schools—14 in all five boroughs of New York City and 3 schools located in East Los Angeles.

Today Tony Bennett's artistry and accomplishments are applauded here at home and all over the world from people from 12 to 90 years old. Recently former President Bill Clinton observed, “Now in his seventh decade of singing, Tony Bennett has somehow kept his unique voice, with its beauty and range, its strength and style, and still in perfect pitch. But as talented as he is, Tony's most impressive quality is his giving spirit!”

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Interruptions On A Christmas Eve

by Arthur R George
December 24, 2023

The small restaurant and occasional music bistro was closed for Christmas Eve. Its owner Ernie DiVitale had darkened the room. There was light enough, from the Christmas tree in the corner and spilling in from a lamp over the prep area in the kitchen, to relax with his wife Veronica at a back table over cappuccini and frutti di bosco tortas, ricotta cheese cake with fresh fruit toppings, a special treat in winter. For Ernie and Veronica it ...

Interview

A Fireside Chat With Tony Bennett

by AAJ Staff
July 23, 2023

This interview was first published on All About Jazz in September 2001. Tony Bennett hails from a period in Americana where style loomed larger than sustenance and men were less than men without a martini or scotch in one hand and a cigar or cigarette burning from the other. Those were the days. And although Tony was never a member of the “Rat Pack," he still had that swagger. At seventy-five, Tony's longevity is a tribute to his ...

799

Film Review

Clint Eastwood Presents: Tony Bennett - The Music Never Ends

by Chris M. Slawecki
July 23, 2023

This article was first published on All About Jazz on April 11, 2008. Tony Bennett Clint Eastwood Presents: Tony Bennett--The Music Never Ends Warner Home Video 2007 No matter how much you know, or think you know, about the life and artistry of Tony Bennett, you will learn something new from Clint Eastwood's lovingly rendered, impeccably produced two-DVD documentary Tony Bennett--The Music Never Ends. Eastwood and director Bruce Ricker weave together performance ...

264

Building a Jazz Library

The Best of Tony Bennett

by Chris M. Slawecki
July 23, 2023

"Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song," Frank Sinatra once said. “He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more. There's a feeling in back of it." Tony Bennett began his career as a singing waiter in his Queens, NY neighborhood. He served in WWII as part of “the greatest generation" and returned home to his music. Two enduring career hallmarks--his inexhaustible ...

464

Album Review

Tony Bennett / Bill Evans: The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings

Read "The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
July 23, 2023

In the mid-1970s, when singer Tony Bennett got together with pianist Bill Evans to record The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (Concord, 1975) and Together Again (Concord, 1976), Bennett was considered terminally uncool by most jazz fans under 30, and rock fans of any age. Despite a few earlier outings in jazz contexts, including an album recorded with Count Basie's orchestra, Basie Swings, Bennett Sings (Roulette, 1959) he was primarily regarded as an MOR singer, defined in the public consciousness by ...

Beauty, Love and Justice: Living A Coltranian Life

Tony Bennett: A Hero's Journey in Authenticity

by Christine Passarella
July 23, 2023

This article was first published on All About Jazz on April 19, 2021. The Bennett Effect Jazz singer Tony Bennett always looms large in my mind because of the elegant way he artistically embraces humanity. Awareness of Tony Bennett came my way when his music greeted me as a child, especially on Sunday during Italian American family dinners. With the delicious sauce covered ravioli and crisp Italian bread, we also had the vital ingredient of great music. The ...

Profile

Gaga, Bennett, The Count, Presidents: Harold Jones Drums Across History

by Arthur R George
December 20, 2021

When Tony Bennett stepped past the twilight of Alzheimer's onto the stage of Radio City Music Hall in jny: New York City in August 2021, drummer Harold Jones was there ready for him, as he had been for Bennett over the past seventeen years, in a friendship going back to 1968. Lady Gaga, the popstar recreated as a jazz singer and Bennett's partner on two Columbia albums, Cheek to Cheek in 2014 and this year's Love for Sale, both also ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Tony Bennett

Source: Michael Ricci
August 3, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Tony Bennett's birthday today!

Recording

Backgrounder: Tony Bennett - Movie Song Album

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 25, 2023

As we say goodbye to the late Tony Bennett, let's listen to one of his favorite Columbia albums—The Movie Song Album. Here's the song list as well as the arrangers and notable soloists: Song From “The Oscar" (Maybe September) (arr,cond Johnny Mandel) (Lou Levy, piano) Girl Talk (arr,cond Neal Hefti) (Jimmy Rowles, piano) The Gentle Rain (arr,cond Johnny Mandel) (Luiz Bonfá, guitar) Emily (arr,cond Johnny Mandel) The Pawnbroker (arr,cond Quincy Jones) Samba De Orfeu (arr,cond Johnny Mandel) (Luiz Bonfá, guitar) ...
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Obituary

Tony Bennett (1926-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 24, 2023

For me, Tony Bennett's passing was personal. Since 2011, I interviewed the singer five different times for The Wall Street Journal, four at his art studio overlooking Central Park. Each time was a revelation, from the interview we did sitting in close quarters on a sofa to the last in 2018, when his Alzheimer's was already evident. It was one of the last media interviews he would give. The first time I saw Tony, I was with my artist father ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Tony Bennett

Source: Michael Ricci
August 3, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Tony Bennett's birthday today!

Video / DVD

Tony Bennett: If I Ruled the World

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 3, 2021

Readers frequently ask what, in my opinion, defines a great jazz vocal. I typically reply that it's a combination of the singer empathizing with the song's lyrics, vocalizing the song in such a way that the listener feels your delivery emotionally, and knowing where to improvise to give the song your special touch. I now have a video that captures all three of these factors, requiring no additional explanation from me. All you have to do is watch, listen and ...
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Interview

Lady Gaga on Tony Bennett

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 4, 2021

At the end of September, I interviewed Lady Gaga for a half hour by phone for The Wall Street Journal. We talked about Love for Sale—her new duet album with Tony Bennett—as well as a range of other subjects. My resulting piece went up online on Friday and the print version is in the paper's arts section today. The last time I interviewed Lady was in 2014, just before her first album with Tony, Cheek to Cheek, was released. A ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Tony Bennett

Source: Michael Ricci
August 3, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Tony Bennett's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Tony Bennett

Source: Michael Ricci
August 3, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Tony Bennett's birthday today!

Video / DVD

Videos: Tony Bennett, the '60s

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 13, 2020

If you're not smiling broadly as Tony Bennett sings in a video, something is off. In addition to being a terrific pop and jazz singer (coming in behind and ahead of the beat and improvising along the way), Tony was a visual explosion of joy. This was especially true in the 1960s, when he was often on TV at the top of his game. Here are videos of Tony in action from 1960 to 1969, many of which may be ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Tony Bennett

Source: Michael Ricci
August 3, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Tony Bennett's birthday today!

“We aren't likely to see a recording career like this again.” —The New York Times “...his voice is still a technical marvel, and no one else on Earth can make a lyric written eight decades ago sound as natural as a conversation at a coffee shop.” —New York Magazine