Tony Bennett dead at 96- A look at his life and legacy
Tony Bennett dead at 96- A look at his life and legacy
,
Tony Bennett dead at 96, A look at his life and legacy,
singer,tony bennett,artist,music,legacy
,
Tony Bennett dead at 96, A look at his life and legacy,
singer,tony bennett,artist,music,legacy
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NewsTranscript
00:00 The world is paying tribute to Tony Bennett this morning.
00:03 A wreath was laid next to a statue
00:05 of the late recording artist in San Francisco,
00:08 the city he sang about in his biggest hit.
00:11 Bennett died Friday at the age of 96.
00:13 Our Anthony Mason revisits some of the time
00:16 he spent with Bennett in recent years
00:18 and gives us a closer look
00:20 at the legendary singer's legacy.
00:22 ♪ The best is yet to come ♪
00:25 ♪ And babe, won't that be fine ♪
00:28 Over the past 70 years,
00:30 popular music has changed with each passing decade,
00:34 except for the timeless, effortless voice of Tony Bennett.
00:38 ♪ Keep on ♪
00:40 Back in 1951, Bennett's first single, "Because of You,"
00:45 went to number one.
00:46 ♪ I left my heart ♪
00:49 But it was another song in 1962
00:54 that would become his signature.
00:56 ♪ In San Francisco ♪
00:59 You started singing in restaurants?
01:01 Yeah, I was a singing waiter.
01:03 I was a saloon singer.
01:05 Tony Bennett was born Anthony Benedetto
01:07 in Astoria, Queens in New York.
01:10 At first, he performed under the name Joe Barry.
01:13 Then one night, Bob Hope gave him some advice.
01:16 He said, "Look, you're an Italian-American.
01:19 "What's your real name?"
01:20 I said, "Anthony Dominic Benedetto."
01:22 "Well, that's a little long."
01:23 He said, "But why don't we call you Tony Bennett?"
01:25 Bob Hope gave me my name.
01:27 In a 2015 interview for CBS This Morning Saturday,
01:31 Bennett gave credit for his eventual superstardom
01:34 to an older Italian-American singer from Jersey,
01:38 Frank Sinatra, who he met in 1956.
01:42 And he said, "What is it, kid?"
01:45 You know, he's, to the day he died, he called me kid.
01:48 (laughing)
01:49 And I told him my problem.
01:52 I said I was very nervous.
01:53 And right away, he gave me the best singing lesson
01:56 I ever had in my life.
01:57 He said, "You have to understand that the public,
02:00 "when they come in to see you, they adore you.
02:04 "So they're your friends."
02:06 Sinatra would pay him the ultimate compliment
02:09 in a profile in Life Magazine in 1965, saying,
02:13 "For my money, Tony Bennett's the best in the business."
02:17 After that quote, I'd been sold out my whole career.
02:20 You know, he was my biggest influence.
02:22 He and Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole.
02:25 - But by the mid-1960s,
02:27 those crooners had become old-fashioned.
02:30 As the Beatles ushered in a new era,
02:33 Bennett's career faded.
02:35 No manager, no recording deals,
02:38 and a cocaine habit that nearly destroyed him.
02:41 But with the help of a new manager, his son, Danny,
02:45 Tony Bennett got back on his feet.
02:48 ♪ I left my heart ♪
02:51 And reintroduced his music career to younger audiences.
02:55 By 1994, the New York Times wrote,
02:58 "Tony Bennett has not just bridged the generation gap,
03:02 "he's demolished it."
03:03 His 2006 album Duets and 2011's Follow-Up
03:08 each earned Bennett Grammy Awards
03:11 and gave the singer the first number one album of his career,
03:15 completing one of the greatest comebacks ever.
03:19 - I'm 86 and I've never been harder.
03:22 It's so funny, I'm sold out all over the world.
03:24 ♪ Don't get around much anymore ♪
03:27 - The albums paired Bennett with contemporary singers.
03:30 ♪ Oh, it don't mean a thing ♪
03:33 ♪ If it ain't got that swing ♪
03:34 - Most famously, Lady Gaga.
03:37 - This is your mom over here?
03:38 - This is my mom.
03:39 - I met up with the pair in a 2014 story
03:42 for CBS Sunday Morning.
03:44 - I was a jazz singer since I was a little girl
03:47 and nobody had really picked up on it
03:49 and so when Tony asked, I got really excited.
03:51 - Two years later, Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
03:55 ♪ That's why the lady is a drag ♪
03:59 In 2021, he once again paired up with Lady Gaga.
04:03 For one last time, an evening with Tony Bennett
04:06 and Lady Gaga recorded over two nights
04:09 at Radio City Music Hall.
04:11 ♪ Your golden sun ♪
04:13 - They were the legendary singer's final performances.
04:17 Tony Bennett died at age 96.
04:21 For CBS Saturday Morning, Anthony Mason, New York.
04:25 - He was such a, you know, I interviewed him back in 2011.
04:30 I remember telling him about Sinatra
04:33 and asking him the question.
04:35 He says, "You were his favorite."
04:36 He's like, "What does he know?"
04:38 And then I asked him about the big number one hit
04:43 with duets and whether or not he could do it again.
04:47 He said, "Well, they say it's never gonna happen again.
04:51 "That's what they tell me, so let's see what happens."
04:54 Of course, he did it two more times, so just what a guy.
04:57 - It was such a great way to bridge a gap
04:59 with younger audiences, certainly.
05:01 - He looked better and better the older he got.
05:04 - What a boy. - And sounded better
05:06 and better. - What a handsome guy.
05:07 Well, tomorrow night, CBS will air
05:09 an encore performance of "One Last Time,"
05:11 an evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.
05:14 You can see it beginning at 9 Eastern on the stream
05:16 or stream it on Paramount+.