Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born at St. John’s Hospital New York, August 3, 1926. His father John was seriously ill at the time of his birth and within a year, his father was unable to work. His father died when Tony was 10 years old. “I grew up in poverty,” he said, “That makes where I landed so unbelievable.“
“On Sunday my family would make a circle and the entertainment was my brother, sister, and myself. I had a beautiful family,” Tony recalled. “ I knew very early that I would sing and draw and paint my whole life.”
Tony was drafted into the Army in 1944. He served with the 63rd Infantry as it moved through France and Germany. “The main thing I got out of my military experience was the realization that I am completely opposed to war. Every war is insane. We still haven’t evolved a more humane approach to the way we work out our conflicts.”
Tony remained in Europe as part of the occupying force and singing regularly with a Special Services band that entertained the troops on Army bases. Upon returning to the States, he took a job at the Pheasant Tavern in Queens, New York City for $15 a week. He took bel canto singing lessons on the G.I. Bill and sang at the clubs in Greenwich Village, in New York City every night of the week. He took vocal studies at the American Theatre Wing School.
He used the stage name of Joe Bari. When he appeared on Arthur Godfrey’s TV show Talent Scouts, Bob Hope asked him his real name and then introduced himself as Tony Bennett. At age 25 he was one of the hottest singers in the country. Over the next seven decades, Tony Bennett sang his way into our hearts with his warm, soulful, renditions of popular songs.
It is through his dedication to excellence and his insistence on quality that he has endured. He has performed for 11 U.S. presidents, and marched side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma, Ala. in support of civil rights. The United Nations named him a Citizen of the World as one of their foremost ambassadors.
Life, of course, comes with the bitter as well as the sweet. Especially for an artist. The downs are predictable and hard. After a near-fatal cocaine overdose in 1979, he called his sons and asked for help. “Look, I’m lost here” he told them. With his divorce, he developed a drug addiction, was living beyond his means and the IRS was trying to seize his Los Angeles home. He had hit bottom.
His son, Danny, got his father’s expenses under control, moved him back to New York City, and began booking him in colleges and small theaters to get him away from a “Vegas” image. He recorded with Columbia Records and his Perfectly Frank and Steppin’ Out albums achieved gold status and won Grammys for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.
His considerable talents began to shine again. His love of drawing and painting sustained him.
By 1999 his assets were worth $20 Million. Today his estimated worth is $200 Million. His awards include induction into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, and induction into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” is one of his best-known songs. His voice, a bit raspy and mellow, enchants with every song he sings. He has sold 50 Million records and has accrued 19 Grammy Awards. He has appeared at Ravinia in Highland Park each June for many Summers.
Tony has been married three times and his current love, Susan, has been his wife since 2007. She is 40 years his junior and has born two daughters with him. He has four children, two of whom work with their father today. There is only one Tony Bennett of that magical voice and impeccable singing manner. May we live to celebrate his 100th birthday with him.