Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American singer of Italian descent known for his prolific career in traditional pop and jazz music, which spanned more than seven decades.
Having taken up singing from a young age in the 1940s, Bennett achieved his first hit in 1951 with his recording of "Because of You". From there he went on to sell more than fifty million albums and chart more than thirty Top 40 hits over the decades.
Bennett retired from show business in 2021 after his final performances in August of that year, due to his advancing Alzheimer's disease (first diagnosed in 2016). He was married to Patricia Beech, Sandra Grant, and Susan Crow. He had four children, all of whom have been involved in show business: his sons Danny and Dae were members of the country-rock band Quacky Duck and His Barnyard Friends (and Danny later became his dad's manager), his daughter Antonia is a singer, and his other daughter Joanna is a prolific stunt woman (perhaps most prominently as Gal Gadot's double for Wonder Woman).
Tropes:
- And Starring: "And Tony Bennett" in The Oscar.
- As Himself: He appeared this way in quite a few movies and TV series over the years, including Suddenly Susan, Analyze This, Bruce Almighty, Entourage, Blue Bloods, 30 Rock, and Muppets Most Wanted.
- Christmas Songs: He recorded three different albums of them.
- Let's Duet: He did many of these, notably including a number of late-career collaborations with pop artists such as Lady Gaga, with whom he recorded albums in 2014 and 2021.
- Location Song: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", which is about a man pining for "my city by the Bay".
- Minimalism: He recorded two albums with just voice and piano in The '70s, where he was joined by Jazz legend Bill Evans.
- Stage Name: His real name was Anthony Dominick Benedetto. In his paintings, they were typically credited under that name or simply his real surname.
