Tony Bennett Used His Fame To Raise Awareness About Civil Rights:
Tony Bennett frequently recounted a narrative from when he was in the Army about how he invited a Black soldier to Thanksgiving dinner, which got him in a lot of trouble and got him demoted. The story was meant to show where his dedication to civil rights came from.
Tony Bennett died two days ago at the age of 96. Two days after his death, his wife, Susan Benedetto, is talking about her memories of her late husband.
Susan Benedetto Stated That She Was Very Lucky To Have Tony In Her Life:
“Benedetto,” which is his family name and which I took when we got married, means “the blessed one,” Susan, who is 56 years old, told on Sunday. “I was very lucky to have Tony throughout my life,” she said.
Benedetto, whose real name was Susan Crow, married the singer upon June 21, 2007. During his seven-year fight with Alzheimer’s disease, she was his main nurse.
Tony Bennett Died On Friday At The Age Of 96 Years:
Tony Bennett, who died on Friday at the age of 96 years old, is said to have sung one last song while lying at his piano in the days before he died.
It was his first hit, “Because of You,” which came out in 1951. It was the song that made him famous, rich, and famous for life for more than seven decades.
But it was never just a way to get somewhere else. Bennett didn’t downplay “Because of You” like many artists do with their early work.
People Like His Work For Civil Works And His Care Of Great American Pop Song:
People will remember Bennett for many things, like his work for civil rights and his care of great American pop songs. Without “Because of You,” it might not have happened at all.
In the year 1945, three years before racism ended in the U.S. military, Bennett, who had just turned 18 and been drafted into the Second World War, ran through a high school friend as well as fellow serviceman in controlled Germany.
Tony Bennett Published His First Book Titled The Good Life:
In his 1998 book, Bennett wrote about how an angry officer stopped him and his friend Frank Smith on their way to the holiday meal for white soldiers at the mess hall.
She gave the magazine a picture of the well-known Rags to Riches singer that was taken on their vacation in Florence, Italy.
Benedetto said that the performer, who was born in Manhattan, naturally enjoyed traveling to his native country, and we spend many summers within Italy over the years, which always felt like a special time for ourselves to be jointly, just the two of us.’
“It was actually more appropriate to be friends with German soldiers than with a Black American soldier.” Bennett wrote about this in “The Good Life.”
Benedetto talked about what the I Left My Heart within San Francisco singer liked to do when they went on vacation to Italy.
Bennett Is Additionally Renown For His Painting:
Bennett was also known for his paintings, which he did under his real name, Anthony Benedetto, or simply Benedetto. He kept up with his youth interest by going to school, working, and going to museums throughout his life.
He drew or painted every day. When he was on tour, he often drew or painted the view from his hotel room.
Benedetto said, “Tony used to paint the entire day, and then we’d enjoy pasta, which was his preferred food.” “Tony had a big heart, yet he additionally had a wonderful soul,” said everyone.
Benedetto discussed publicly for the first time since she and Bennett’s son, Danny Bennett, released a joint statement after Bennett’s death on Friday. Bennett would have reached 97 upon August 3.
In the press release, they thanked “all of Tony’s fans, friends, and coworkers who celebrated his existence and humanity as well as talked about how much they loved him and his music.”
They talked about the singer’s long career and just how excited he was about it all along.
Tony Bennett Started His Career As A Waiter Singer At Queens:
They said, “From his first shows as a singing waiter within Queens to his last shows at Radio City Music Hall in 2021, Tony loved singing the songs he loved as well as making people happy.” “And as difficult as right now was for every one of us, Tony’s legacy will always bring us happiness.”
They worked together for the first time in 2011. This was the height of Gaga’s weird scientific period, after the release of Born This Way, which had sold over one million records in its first week.
That made it even more surprising when she showed up on Bennett’s jazz-heavy Duets II record, where she sang Mitzi Green’s 1937 song “The Lady Was a Tramp” with him.
No One Can Imagine That A Most Prominent Artist In Modern Pop Will Work With 80 Years Old Artist:
No one could have guessed that one of the most prominent artists in modern pop would work with an 80-year-old, especially one that most of Gaga’s radical-youth fans probably didn’t know much about.
Bennett remembered that the officer pulled out a razor blade as well as chopped the corporal stripes off Bennett’s uniform, spat on them, and threw them on the ground.
He was then given the job of digging up the bodies of troops who had been buried within mass graves so they might be reburied alongside more respect.
Bennett and Benedetto met for the first time after one of Bennett’s shows. Before they got married, they had been together for 20 years. It was a turning point for the young singer, who came back from the war determined to build his career in music.
Twenty years and a lot of fame later, Bennett took part during the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march within 1965. He played for the protesters along with other singers like Harry Belafonte, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, as well as Joan Baez.
Bennett had been married twice prior to he married Benedetto, who used to be a teacher. From 1952 to 1965, he was wed to Patricia Beech. They broke up in 1965, and their divorce was completed in 1971. He got married to actress Sandra Grant in 1971. They broke up in 1983.
Bennett’s death upon Friday at the age of 96 brought back memories of his cool friendliness as well as charm that made him one of the best singers of American songs. It also brought back memories of how he was a strong supporter of civil rights.
Bennett Mentioned Regarding How His Wife Helped Him To Feel Better In The Book Called “Just Getting Started”:
In his 2016 book, “Just Getting Started,” Bennett wrote about how his wife has helped him feel better. “Susan Benedetto has demonstrated to me how love provides you the trust and determination to be the best that you can be, as well as the peace and happiness that comes with it,” he wrote.
In a message to the source on Friday, Bennett’s agent said that the artist had died.
Bennett’s career took off within the 1950s and 1960s. When he started hanging out with jazz greats like Nat King Cole as well as Duke Ellington, he saw how racist the American entertainment business had become.
Bennett remembered that Cole couldn’t sit down within the dining area of the club where he was playing, and Ellington couldn’t go to the celebration at the hotel where he as well as Bennett were headlining.
Bennett wrote in his book, “I had never been interested in politics, yet these things moved beyond politics.” “Nat as well as Duke were geniuses, brilliant people who made a few of the most beautiful music the world has ever heard, but they were treated such as second-class citizens.”
Tony Bennett was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926, in Astoria, Queens. He died this morning at the age of 96 in his hometown of New York City.
In 1965, Belafonte asked him to join the march to Montgomery. He told him that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted artists to help get the media’s attention, he wrote in a book.
Bennett agreed, and he went on the road with Billy Eckstine, a singer and bandleader. In his book, he wrote that the march made him think of fighting his way through Germany at the conclusion of the war. He compared the Germans’ hatred to that of the white state troops.
But that wasn’t the end. Exploring the Arts is a charity that Bennett as well as his wife started. It has brought arts programs to more than 25,000 children in 56 schools in each of the five boroughs as well as Los Angeles.
The day before the protesters got to the Alabama State Capitol, Bennett sang at a gathering in a field where they were sleeping for the night. The stage was made out of coffin boxes and plywood.
Viola Liuzzo, a worker from Michigan, drove Bennett and Eckstine to the airport when they left the march. People from the Ku Klux Klan killed her later that day.
In a 2007 video about Bennett, Belafonte said that his friend brought the “spirit of the Second World War into our vision of the America of the future.”
It went on to say, “The beloved singer, who passed away alongside Alzheimer’s disease within 2016, was survived by his spouse, Susan Benedetto, his two sons, Danny as well as Dae Bennett, his two daughters, Johanna Bennett as well as Antonia Bennett, and nine grandchildren.”
The singer never stopped caring about the cause. “All the Things You Are,” a book about Bennett that came out in 2011, says that the singer additionally refused to appear in South Africa during the time of apartheid.
Coretta Scott King stated that the King Center, the group she started after her husband was killed, is still important to her. Bennett’s name is displayed on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta.
Later In This Year Bennett Give Most Of His Charity Money To Art Education:
In his later years, Bennett gave most of his charity money to arts education. He and his wife, Susan Benedetto, who he married in 2007, started a public high school within Queens called the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts and a nonprofit that helps schools with arts programs.
In honor of Tony Bennett and to reach and inspire every child, New York City must return to give all of its kids a better education within music, theater, visual art, dance, and every other forms of artistic expression. Our kids will sing their thanks to us.
In his last years, when talking about social justice, Bennett would often quote the singer Ella Fitzgerald, who also went to the Selma-to-Montgomery march: “Tony, we are all here,” he said she told him.