Tony Bennett's Wife Shares His Last Words Before Dying
Tony Bennett's Wife Shares His Last Words Before Dying
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00:00 He didn't just light up a room, he just loved the room.
00:02 He just was all love, all love, all the time.
00:07 - Tony Bennett's wife has spoken out in her first interview
00:10 since his passing about his life and legacy
00:13 on what would have been his 97th birthday.
00:16 In a new interview with Today's Hoda Kotb,
00:19 Susan Benedetto and Tony's eldest son, Danny,
00:22 talked about their final moments with the legendary singer,
00:25 who passed away on July 21st in New York City.
00:28 - His last words to me was thank you.
00:30 - Yeah.
00:31 - Can't say it better than that.
00:33 - What was the last thing he said to you, Susan?
00:36 - That he loved me.
00:37 Yeah, so, I mean, he would wake up every day
00:41 and still say that.
00:43 He woke up happy every day,
00:45 even if he had had a bad day or not,
00:47 you know, he didn't remember it.
00:48 That was the only blessing.
00:50 And yeah, he woke up happy and he's just like,
00:52 Susan, you're the best thing that ever happened to me.
00:54 And he was saying it all the time.
00:56 - Susan and Tony were together for more than 20 years
00:58 before tying the knot in 2007.
01:01 And she took his legal last name, Benedetto,
01:04 rather than his stage name.
01:05 The couple had an over 40 year age gap between them.
01:08 But Susan opened up about it
01:10 and revealed why their relationship worked so well
01:13 for so many years.
01:14 - He performed to everybody.
01:16 He never saw generation gaps or anything.
01:19 And so, and privately, we didn't either.
01:21 You know, we just absolutely loved each other
01:23 and he was my life.
01:26 - The "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" singer
01:28 was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2016.
01:31 But Danny and Susan shared that even after struggling
01:33 with the disease for many years,
01:35 he never forgot his family or his music.
01:38 And Susan revealed the final song he sang to her
01:40 just days before his death.
01:42 - So even though you forget a lot with Alzheimer's,
01:45 he remembered the songs.
01:46 - He could do that.
01:47 - It's amazing. - He could do the songs.
01:48 - I'm gonna let this one, the week before he passed away.
01:51 - Not even, just a couple days?
01:53 - Yeah, yeah.
01:53 - What was he singing?
01:54 - He sang "Because of You."
01:56 We were getting him up to exercise
01:58 and so it was easy to just latch onto the piano.
02:01 And I said, "Tell him why don't you get up
02:02 "and you can sing, you know, any excuse to just get him up."
02:05 And he's like, I said, "Why don't you sing?"
02:07 He's like, "What do you wanna hear?"
02:08 I said, "How about singing 'Because of You'?"
02:10 So he sang "Because of You."
02:12 ♪ Because of you ♪
02:17 ♪ There's a song in my heart ♪
02:21 - That was the last song he sang?
02:24 - Literally, that was the last song he sang, yeah.
02:25 - What does that moment mean to you now, Susan?
02:28 - Well, of course, it bookends his career,
02:29 if you think just musically speaking,
02:31 that was his first hit.
02:32 And then that was literally just the last song
02:34 that he sang.
02:35 But the music never left him.
02:37 And when he did have more alert moments
02:39 or like first thing in the morning,
02:41 he didn't ask really about anyone or anything,
02:44 except, "Am I working tonight?"
02:46 That's really, and the other day he's like,
02:47 "Susan, am I in a good theater tonight?"
02:49 You know, it's like stuff like that.
02:51 - Susan concluded by sharing how Tony
02:52 wanted to be remembered
02:54 and how she is coping with the loss
02:56 of her quote, "North star."
02:58 - And he didn't want to be remembered as the best.
02:59 And he just really wanted to be remembered
03:02 as a nice person.
03:03 And I think all the outpouring of love
03:06 from people that we know and love
03:08 and complete strangers has proven that.
03:11 People feel like they've lost a family friend,
03:13 even if they never met him.
03:14 And you know, when he sang,
03:16 he truly believed what he was singing.
03:19 - What did you lose the day Tony died?
03:23 - Well, I mean, the obvious thing is to say everything.
03:26 I lost my North star, but you know,
03:29 no reason to feel bad for me though,
03:32 because my life has been wonderful.
03:34 And you know, I'll find a way to make sure
03:37 it stays that way.
03:38 It'll just be different forever.
03:40 - On the day of Tony's death,
03:42 countless stars took to social media
03:43 to honor the music legend.
03:45 Access Hollywood has taken a look
03:47 at some of the many tributes that poured in.
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