Singer and showman Tony Bennett, whose joyful impact on the pop and jazz music landscape spanned 70 years, died Friday. He was 96.
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00:00 Singer and showman Tony Bennett,
00:01 whose joyful impact on the pop and jazz music landscape
00:04 spanned 70 years, died Friday.
00:07 He was 96.
00:08 His publicist shared that he died
00:11 in his hometown of New York.
00:12 On his Facebook page, it was noted that Bennett was,
00:14 quote, "still singing the other day at his piano,"
00:17 and his last song was "Because of You."
00:19 That was his first number one hit in 1951.
00:22 ♪ Because of you ♪
00:28 "Because of You" was quickly followed by another chart topper,
00:30 a cover of the Hank Williams song "Cold Cold Heart."
00:33 Those were the first of his 24 songs
00:35 to make it into the top 40.
00:37 He sold in the neighborhood of 60 million records
00:39 over the course of his career,
00:40 and charted albums in every decade
00:42 from the 1950s to the 2020s.
00:45 Bennett's initial taste of superstardom
00:47 came with the ballad "I Left My Heart in San Francisco,"
00:49 which he first recorded in early 1962.
00:52 It won Grammys for Record of the Year
00:54 and Best Solo Vocal Performance Male.
00:56 ♪ Climb halfway to the stars ♪
01:00 However, the singer hit a rough patch
01:01 amid personal crises in the late 1970s,
01:04 and he later turned to his oldest child, Danny Bennett,
01:07 to manage and resuscitate his career.
01:09 He then started targeting a younger audience,
01:11 showing up on places like the MTV Video Music Awards.
01:14 He scored a hit with the 1992 album "Perfectly Frank,"
01:17 a tribute to his idol Frank Sinatra,
01:20 which went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.
01:22 And he cemented his comeback in 1994
01:25 with his appearance on MTV Unplugged.
01:27 Later, Bennett perfected the art of the duet,
01:29 teeming with the likes of Lady Gaga,
01:31 Christina Aguilera, and Elton John.
01:33 The album "Duets II,"
01:34 released on his 85th birthday in 2011,
01:37 became the first number one album of his career.
01:40 And 2014's "Cheek to Cheek," his first LP with Lady Gaga,
01:43 made him at age 88 the oldest performer
01:45 to have a number one album.
01:47 In February 2021, Bennett revealed
01:49 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
01:51 five years earlier, but he soldiered on
01:54 in the recording studio and on tour.
01:56 He and Lady Gaga headlined two shows
01:58 at New York's Radio City Music Hall in August 2021,
02:01 after which he announced he was canceling his fall tour.
02:04 The recipient of 20 Grammy Awards,
02:06 including a Lifetime Achievement Honor presented in 2001,
02:09 he earned his final trophy in April 2022
02:12 for his work with Lady Gaga on the album "Love for Sale,"
02:15 becoming the second oldest winner in history.
02:17 ♪ 'Cause I've got you ♪
02:21 ♪ Under my skin ♪
02:22 - For much more on the life and career of Tony Bennett,
02:25 go to thr.com.
02:26 This is The Hollywood Reporter News.
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