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Living legend and cool crooner Tony Bennett has announced his retirement from the music stage at the impressive age of 95. Proving that he can keep up with the best of today, Bennett has indeed gone out with a bang, following two final ‘goodbye’ concerts held in New York City.
The incredible singer performed two concerts at New York’s Radio City, in partnership with Lady Gaga. The duo had previously worked together in recent years, and are releasing a second album of duets this October, titled Love for Sale.
The sold-out shows coincided with Bennett’s 95th birthday, and were certainly a stylish and classy way to punctuate a life’s work, that were much the same. When the often quoted “You’re only as good as your last gig” crops up, no doubt this would be the ideal scenario for any performer.
Hopefully, this is the way that Bennett looks at his enduring live career, as it was a tough decision to retire, and one that is seldom done in an official capacity. Initially, there had been plans to undertake a small tour consisting of cancelled pandemic shows that would have taken place in the run up to Christmas 2021.
Speaking to Variety magazine, Bennett’s son and manager Danny explained that the demands of performing might be too much to sustain at the moment, and on ‘doctor’s orders’, the decision was made to go out on a high:
“This was a hard decision for us to make, as he is a capable performer. This is, however, doctors’ orders. His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors — when Tony’s wife, Susan heard them — she said, ‘Absolutely not.’ He’ll be doing other things, but not those upcoming shows. It’s not the singing aspect but, rather, the traveling. Look, he gets tired. The decision is being made that doing concerts now is just too much for him. We don’t want him to fall on stage, for instance — something as simple as that. We’re not worried about him being able to sing. We are worried, from a physical stand point… about human nature. Tony’s 95.”
Amazingly, Bennett is also living with Alzheimer’s, a condition that has been with him for the last five years, and Danny explained that even up to now, his father has never relied on a teleprompter, and still connects deeply with the music on stage – a remarkable feat for most singers without any of the cognitive memory issues Bennett has been coping with.
Tony Bennet undoubtedly gained a new generation of followers with his duet series of 21st Century recordings that have been consistently classic yet of the time also. As well as collaborating with Lady Gaga, Tony’s partnership with Amy Winehouse was extremely well-received in its release, and is fondly remembered as a favourite by many fans of both singers.
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born 3rd August 1926 and is an American singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth name that are on permanent public display in several institutions. He is the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York.
Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as a U.S. Army infantryman in the European Theater. Afterward, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records and had his first number-one popular song with Because of You in 1951. Several tracks such as Rags to Riches followed in early 1953. He then refined his approach to encompass jazz singing. He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, I Left My Heart in San Francisco.
His career and personal life experienced an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era. Bennett staged a comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, putting out gold record albums again and expanding his reach to the MTV generation while keeping his musical style intact.
He has won 20 Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award presented in 2001) and two Primetime Emmy Awards, and was named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. Bennett has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
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Michelle is a musician and composer from the UK. She has performed across the UK and Europe and is passionate about arts education and opportunities for women and girls.
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