RIP: Tony Bennett, the last of the Great American Crooners

[thewayne]

Tony had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's over a decade ago, though the cause of death is undisclosed. He was 96.

He was a social activist and marched in Selma. During World War 2, he lunched with a black friend from high school and was busted from corporal to private and given more demeaning duties. Even then he was singing, his career really launched when he was discovered by Bob Hope who suggested he change his name to Tony Bennett.

Throughout his EIGHT DECADE career, he earned EIGHTEEN Grammy awards, his ever-popular I Left My Heart In San Francisco earning a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame. He recorded with Lady Gaga, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elvis Costello, K.D. Lang, and many others.

I recommend reading the Rolling Stone article. If they want you to subscribe, open a private browsing window and copy/paste the URL into it.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tony-bennett-dead-1123737/

Comments

[disneydream06]

and I'd tell them they couldn't afford me ;-)
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good for you. :)

I forgot about Perry Como. :)
I've heard that about Willie Nelson. :)

Just remembered the name I was trying for earlier, Andy Williams.
Would he fit into the crooner category?
I read his autobiography, seemed like a pretty decent guy.

[acelightning73]

I was almost always the only woman in mostly-male groups, and I developed coping strategies. (Although a lot of the time they treated me like "one of the guys", which sometimes got frustrating.)

Andy Williams wasn't Italian-American - he seems to have been of ordinary American WASP ancestry. Most of his hit songs were "ballads", which sort of makes him a crooner. I think he got a little too "show-biz" later in his career.

[disneydream06]

We stopped in Branson, Missouri many years ago and I had hoped to see Andy Williams there, he had one of the early "theaters" there, but of course he was out of town when we were there. :p