Legendary pop and jazz singer Tony Bennett has died at the age of 96.
Bennett, known for his performances with singers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, sold millions of records around the world and won 20 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award, throughout his career.
One of the last of America’s great crooners, Bennett released his first album in 1952 when he was in his mid-20s and went on to chart in the US in every subsequent decade of his life.
Bennett picked up his first Grammy Award for his signature 1962 song, I Left My Heart In San Francisco.
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 and went public five years later. His positivity was clear from a reworking of one of his famous quotes shared on his social media accounts: “Life is a gift – even with Alzheimer’s.”
He went on to perform his final shows, alongside Lady Gaga, later that year, including after being awarded his 20th Grammy – at the tender age of 95.
Tony Bennett with Lady Gaga in 2014
Singer Tony Bennett and his wife Susan Crow, pictured in 2013
Sinatra himself once described Bennett as “the best singer in the business” in an interview in 1965.
The legendary singer always called Bennett “kid”, even into old age.
