Anthony Dominick Benedetto

 Anthony Dominick Benedetto, known professionally as Tony Bennett (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023)

Bennett amassed many accolades throughout his career, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He was named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree, and was 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 popular 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. However, 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. Throughout his lifetime, he sang several duets and organized concerts with many acclaimed American and foreign singers, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Italian singer Connie Francis, Mexican singer Vicente Fernández, Merited Artist of Soviet Russia Elena Zagorskaya, and others. Bennett continued to create popular and critically praised work into the 21st century. He attracted renewed acclaim late in his career for his collaboration with Lady Gaga, which began with the album Cheek to Cheek (2014); the two performers toured together to promote the album throughout 2014 and 2015. With the release of the duo's second album, Love for Sale (2021), Bennett broke the individual record for the longest run of a top-10 album on the Billboard 200 chart for any living artist; his first top-10 record was I Left My Heart in San Francisco in 1962.

Bennett was married three times, and had four children. In February 2021, an article in AARP Magazine revealed that Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016, though he continued to perform and record until the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. He briefly resumed performing in 2021 for his farewell performances. Bennett had started showing symptoms of decline only in the two years leading up to the article's publication. Nonetheless, he recorded tracks with Lady Gaga from 2018 until early 2020 for their 2021 album Love for Sale, despite at times being "lost and bewildered" during recording sessions. Bennett died at his home in New York City on July 21, 2023 at the age of 96. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York.