The Life & Legacy of a Music Icon

LOVED ONES PAY TRIBUTE TO THE GENERATIONS-SPANNING LEGEND, WHOSE UNWAVERING KINDNESS TOUCHED COUNTLESS LIVES

- BRIANNE TRACY

TONY BENNETT - 1926-2023

Tony Bennett never stopped singing, even when he could no longer carry on a conversation. After the legendary crooner retired in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and his progressing Alzheimer’s disease, he continued rehearsing his 90-minute set with his longtime pianist Lee Musiker twice a week at his home overlooking Manhattan’s Central Park. “Singing is everything to him,” his wife, Susan, 56, told AARP Magazine that year. “It has saved his life many times.”

On July 21 Bennett died at age 96 in his hometown of New York City. Just days before, he had sat down at his piano one last time to sing his first No. 1 hit, 1951’s “Because of You.” It was a fitting final performance for the man whose story, music and unwavering kindness touched countless lives throughout his seven-decade career. “Benedetto, his family name, which I made my own when we married, means ‘the blessed one,’” Susan tells People, “and I was most certainly blessed to have Tony in my life.”