Posted on 02/01/2021 1:11:20 PM PST by SeekAndFind
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The family of Tony Bennett has revealed that the legendary singer has been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, breaking their silence on his condition four years after he was diagnosed with the progressive, memory-destroying disease.
His wife Susan told AARP Magazine in an interview published on Monday that the 94-year-old singer, whose first hit “Because of You” was released in 1951, had been losing his ability to make decisions. In an effort to keep working, Bennett had been hiding his diagnosis, she said.
Bennett remains upbeat but his condition is increasingly deteriorating, his wife said.
“He would ask me, ‘What is Alzheimer’s?’ I would explain, but he wouldn’t get it,” his wife told AARP Magazine.
Gayatri Devi, a neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan and author of “The Spectrum of Hope” about Alzheimer’s, diagnosed Bennett in 2016.
Devi has strongly encouraged Bennett’s family to keep him singing and performing for as long as he can enjoy it.
“It kept him on his toes and also stimulated his brain in a significant way,” Devi is quoted as telling AARP Magazine.
The disease, the most common form of age-related dementia, causes a decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
It leaves its victims dependent on caregivers, although Bennett so far has been spared the disorientation that can sometimes prompt patients to wander from home or experience terror, rage or depression, AARP Magazine said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Dementia is awful when you can't even remember your family or past events. Just let me drop dead before I encounter it. I don't want to wander around my area and not know how to get home. Also, don't want to put my Wife through it.
“94-yr. old singer...had been losing his ability to make decisions.”
If I reach 94 and that is my only issue, I’ll be gleeful.
Tough luck lefty.
As Judy Garland sang...I don’t care, I don’t care...
At least better than that doofus (you know who) who sang Over the Rainbow and couldn’t keep track of what verse he was on.
And his brain somewhere else.
For those who are focusing on Bennett’s political views:
Bennett is not just a WW 2 vet. He’s a combat veteran who was involved in heavy house-to-house fighting as the Allies pushed into Germany. Bennett later said that horrors he saw there shaped his political thinking.
So yeah, Bennett is a leftist. And those folks can do a lot of harm. But I think I’ll give the old infantryman a pass here.
He left his mind in San Francisco. He’s a lousy democrat.
I saw him about 20 years ago in the Fairmont Hotel for the filming of a PBS special with KD Lang. My son and I somehow walked in a back door of the hotel and saw Bennett berating his staff (maybe they deserved it, I don’t know). We were in the second row. It was a great performance. Clayton Cameron on drums was great too, and Bennett gave him props several times.
hmmmm 2016, 2016, 2016? Maybe it is TDS.
I’ve never been all that interested in an entertainer’s political views. He’s a great singer and I’ve enjoyed his music through the years. He’s enriched the world with his art. Godspeed.
He was great on Celebrity Jeopardy on SNL. But a total Gun grabbing douche bag lefty. He only could make the money he made and trashes the place. Hope he enjoys his dementia. FU Antonio DiBenedetto
Ditto.
Then he is a bigger jerk than I imagined. He fought in a war to overcome other leftist loons and chose to be a leftist. Amazing disconnect.
And the leftists have destroyed the subject of one of his best known songs (San Francisco). Arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world until it was overtaken by leftist thugs and ruined. I cant even visit it anymore, it makes me cry. He really is a jackass.
Perry Como all time best crooner.
Different genre, but Mario Lanza has always been a favorite. I wore out the “Student Prince” as a kid.
> He’s enriched the world with his art. Godspeed. <
Agreed. Some leftists are leftists because of experience, or upbringing, or just plain being misinformed. They might cause the country damage, but they do not do so deliberately. Tony Bennett is in that category. I will continue to listen to his music. And I wish the old vet nothing but the best.
On the other hand, there are leftists who have deliberately tried to do damage to the country. For example, Jane Fonda comes to mind. I won’t watch any of her movies. And I’ll switch the channel if she shows up on TV. But I will not hate her, for New Testament reasons.
That explains his TDS comments last year.
I hope so.
I’m not gonna go on about the politics of a 94 year old.
His last name is actually Italian.
Anthony Dominick Benedetto
My pop came over from Italy is a kid in the 1920s.
He was hardcore conservative but but for a number of immigrants it was hard to shake the socialist ideas in their heads.
It shouldn’t been but it is what it is.
Now my generation, which includes 41 first cousins is all republican, though some aren’t conservative.
That distinction shouldn’t have to be made.
Rs can blame themselves
Andy Williams was a world class singer and patriot.
“Will he forget he’s a leftist?”
****
Loudly and stated that he hated Republicans and conservatives. Ah, this is too easy for me and I have no sympathy for this puke .
“Then he is a bigger jerk than I imagined. He fought in a war to overcome other leftist loons and chose to be a leftist. Amazing disconnect.”
Yup. Freepers forget that. He’s a lefty ass. I guess everything’s come full circle now..
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