In a career spanning 70-plus years, Tony Bennett sang as if there was no tomorrow. His velvet voice will not be forgotten, working its magic with romantic ballads with as much ease as jazzy saloon songs. In 1965, Frank Sinatra told Life magazine: “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.” He leaves behind some invaluable lessons.
Work for (and with) future generations
Tony Bennett belonged to the 1950s as much as he did to the early 21st century. He was one of the few musicians who brought out the best in young singers, be it K.D. Lang (“When she sings, I can actually see angels.”), Lady Gaga (“She was so warm and friendly and sweet.”) or Amy Winehouse (“Some people think that anyone could sing jazz, but they can’t. It’s a spirit that you’re either born with or you’re not. And Amy was born with that spirit”). He ensured that the value of the American Songbook is cherished by generations to come.
Don’t give in, don’t give up
Bennett cemented his place on the music scene before Elvis Presley arrived and he survived The Beatles, Woodstock, The Doors, Bee Gees, Abba, Madonna…. In the 1960s he was asked to change his style of singing to suit the era. Instead, he decided to record I Left My Heart in San Francisco, his signature song. He recorded it in one take and it was released as a B-Side to the single Once Upon A Time in 1962. He continued with his style and lived by what Frank Sinatra taught him: “If you’re gonna sing them, sing the ones that are gonna be around for a long time.”
For heaven’s sake, wear a suit
What’s a man without a suit?! His earliest memory of wearing a great suit was on July 11, 1936. It was a white silk suit. “There are too many things that are successful but forgotten right away. But if you do something with quality, it will always sound good or look good, no matter what year it is, no matter what the trends are. Quality lasts,” he told The Los Angeles Times a few years ago. Most of his tailored suits were crafted by Brioni and also from Costa Mesa-based label David August. He basically walked in the footsteps of Frank Sinatra, who ensured that men turning up at his concerts wore sharp suits. And if that wasn’t enough, he simply believed in the quietness to the energy of tailored suits.
The glass is half full
He wasn’t the face of postwar American optimism but he injected that spirit into people around him in the subsequent decades. Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra left in quick succession and songs of uncomplicated love, heartbreaks and optimism via the American Songbook could have taken a backseat had it not been for Bennett. The world fell for the optimism of his big sound and passion for life. He came from a generation of musicians who had to work as a team to bring out an album rather than the present trend of working in isolation. What the Sinatras of the world taught him was friendly competition instead of hypercompetitive excesses, and to maintain a relaxed camaraderie. He was dignified and lovable till the end.
It’s all about the family
Bennett grew up in the Depression era and he was very young when his father passed away, leaving her mother to raise three children. It was then he understood the importance of having a big family. His Italian-American family would visit their house every Sunday to support his mother and have a big meal. They would gather in a circle while Tony and his brother and sister would sing. “Those Sundays with my family inspired me to become a performer as they gave me such encouragement and I loved entertaining them. To this day, when I go on stage, I want to perform the best songs with the best musicians by my side and to make sure that for an hour and a half, the audience enjoys themselves and can forget about their own problems and daily troubles,” he told Forbes in 2016.
Never compromise
It’s easy to throw in filler moments, like performing two-three mediocre songs during a concert. Don’t. “I was taught never to compromise; to never sing a cheap song. I never look down at the audience and think that they are ignorant, or think that I’m more intelligent than they are. To think otherwise is totally incorrect, and runs contrary to everything I was raised to believe. I was taught by my parents and teachers, who showed me that you should make every move with care, and put the accent on quality,” he wrote in his book Life Is a Gift: The Zen of Tony Bennett.
Share your blessings
Bennett had a tough childhood after his father passed away but that didn’t get in the way of generosity. A drunk once tried to break into his family’s grocery store. He slipped and knocked himself out. The police arrived and asked Bennett’s father whether he would like to press charges and send the man to jail. “My father sighed and asked the failed robber if he had a job. When he shook his head, my dad said: ‘Well, you have one now. You can work for me, if you want.’ And he did. My father didn’t do it out of pity. He truly felt that we were obliged to share our blessings with the less fortunate,” he told The Guardian in 2017.
Have patience
Rosemary Clooney and Tony Bennett started out around the same time and had their first million-selling records around the same time. He ran into Jack Benny and George Burns, both of whom had a simple piece of advice. He was doing well in life but don’t let it get to the head. He was told it would take about six years to learn how to perform properly. He understood their advice only after six years when he started feeling confident about doing things right on stage.
Have a support system
Bennett was open about his drug use in the 1970s and he credited his former wife, Sandra Grant, coming to his rescue in 1979. It was also the time when the IRS sought to seize his Los Angeles home after he failed to pay $2 million in taxes. “I realised I was throwing it all away, and I became determined to clean up my act,” he wrote in one of his memoirs. His children helped him turn his career around.
Take chances
Bennett learned he had Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 but he continued to perform and he appeared with Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in a show titled ‘One Last Time’ in 2021. For a man who had taken chances throughout his career, the concert didn’t seem out of place. His son Danny Bennett told Jazz Times around that time: “Dealing as we have with Alzheimer’s for the last four years, we know that it’s cognitive, that he has memory loss, but that that doesn’t mean that all this is inside of him. He doesn’t use a teleprompter. He knows every line… From the physical point of view of being a singer, it’s a muscle. He continues to do scales daily, bel canto, and works out with a trainer twice a week, and I’m amazed every time I hear him in his apartment. If he’s not in his art studio, he’s singing. Did we take chances doing the Radio City shows and recording another album? Yes. Tony’s always taken chances.”