Appreciated for his warm personality and constancy, which made him win over young audiences in the 1990s, he was diagnosed in 2016 with Alzheimer's disease.
ADVERTISING
Created when big bands defined American pop music, Bennett achieved an unlikely resurgence when he began to win over young audiences in the 1990s, without the need to reinvent himself.
At over 80 years old, he became the oldest person to reach number one on the US album sales chart thanks to a collection of duets with Lady Gaga, who became his friend and tour companion.
Gaga was just one of a long list of young stars who worked with the singer, whose death was announced this Friday by his publicist Sylvia Weiner.
ADVERTISING
Beginning with recording the song for the film “For Your Cause” in 1951, Bennett sang dozens of hits, including “Rags to Riches,” “Stranger in Paradise” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” which earned him two of the 19 Grammy Awards of his career.
But the British invasion of the United States led by The Beatles wore down the singer, whose music began to become dated. Over time, however, his career was resurrected.
“When rap came along, or disco music, whatever the new trend was, I didn't try to find something that fit the style of the music scene,” Bennett told British magazine Clash.
ADVERTISING
“I just stood by myself and sang sincerely and tried to be honest with myself, withoutpromehave never, simply making the best songs I could think of for the public”, he said. “And luckily it worked.”
Warm and optimistic
Born on August 3, 1926 in Astoria, in the most cosmopolitan district of New York, the musician, whose real name is Anthony Benedetto, owes part of his singular longevity to his vocal technique.
Trained in bel canto, he, who was initially known as Joe Bari, kept his voice intact throughout his life.
ADVERTISING
Bennett personified post-war song without losing relevance. He left few classics, unlike Frank Sinatra, another son of Italian immigrants from the New York region, with whom he was often compared, but whose success was much greater.
His biggest hits, such as “Cold, Cold Heart” and “Because of You”, came at the beginning of his career, in the early 1950s.
However, Tony Bennett, who adopted this stage name at the suggestion of comedian Bob Hope, maintained a loyal audience thanks to thousands of shows and a stage presence admired by everyone.
ADVERTISING
“As a viewer, I believe Tony Bennett is the best singer,” declared Sinatra. “I get emotional when I see it, it moves me,” he said. Her friendliness, elegance and energy projected a warm and optimistic image.
Never predictable
Bennett struggled in the 1970s and 1980s, a period marked by cocaine addiction and an overdose in 1979. His son Danny intervened and paved the way for a second career by introducing him to a younger audience.
Thus, in 1994, he held “Unplugged” on MTV, acoustic shows generally reserved for young, rising artists.
In 2006, he released the album “Duets: An American Classic”, alongside big names in popular music, from Stevie Wonder to Bono.
The success was total to the point that in 2011 a second album, “Duets II”, was released, with which he reached the top of record sales in the United States for the first time at the age of 85.
The album contains duets with Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse, which reveal the two young singers in a refined approach.
For seven decades, Bennett followed Sinatra’s advice: “Never be predictable.”
Read more:
* The text of this article was partially generated by artificial intelligence tools, state-of-the-art language models that assist in the preparation, review, translation and summarization of texts. Text entries were created by the Curto News and responses from AI tools were used to improve the final content.
It is important to highlight that AI tools are just tools, and the final responsibility for the published content lies with the Curto News. By using these tools responsibly and ethically, our objective is to expand communication possibilities and democratize access to quality information. 🤖
