Posted on 07/21/2023 6:38:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Tony Bennett, the master pop vocalist who had a professional career spanning eight decades with a No. 1 album at age 85, died on Friday morning in New York City. He was 96.
Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, but had continued to perform and record through 2021.
His peer Frank Sinatra called him the greatest popular singer in the world. His recordings – most of them made for Columbia Records, which signed him in 1950 – were characterized by ebullience, immense warmth, vocal clarity and emotional openness. A gifted and technically accomplished interpreter of the Great American Songbook, he may be best known for his signature 1962 hit “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
He was equally at home in front of intimate combos (which often featured his pianist and longtime musical director Ralph Sharon) and lushly arranged orchestras. Though never strictly a jazz singer, he flourished in jazz settings, and cut memorable sessions with Count Basie’s big band and the lyrical pianist Bill Evans.
Active as a recording artist from 1949, and one of the top pop performers in the ‘50s and early ‘60s, Bennett saw his career surge anew in the ‘90s and again in the new millennium, under the management of his son Danny.
In later years, he memorably dueted on the standard “Body and Soul” with Amy Winehouse, and released a full-length duet album with Diana Krall and a pair of recordings with Lady Gaga. Even after the revelation in early 2021 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he remained active.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Easy for my wife and I. We haven’t been fans of any entertainers in our almost 45 years of marriage. I guess that’s one of several things I liked about her when we were dating: no glorifying of entertainers. (And that includes pro athletes).
They are just regular people that have promoters. She wouldn’t ever get excited or starry eyed if a celebrity passed near her. We both see through the hype.
Hype is a multi-billion dollar business. One that has a hard time prying money out of us.
THE VERY BEST OF TONY BENNETT (FULL ALBUM)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCWu3UFyOtI&t=43s
awww. He was so entertaining. I still am moved by his lovely rendition of Left my heart in SF.
RIP Mr. Tony Bennett.
God gives the talent. It’s a shame the talented don’t all give God the glory, but that’s the human condition.
He had some nice songs from the 50’s and 60’s.
His voice was gone decades ago and was just a rasp.
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