*Legendary singer Tony Bennett is dead after a seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
His representative confirmed that Bennett passed Friday morning, July 21, at his New York City home. He was 96, The Associated Press reports.
Bennett was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016, and his wife, Susan Benedetto, opened up over the years about life as his caretaker.
“He would ask me, ‘What is Alzheimer’s?’” she shared on “60 Minutes” in October 2021. “I would explain, but he wouldn’t get it.”
“He’d tell me, ‘Susan, I feel fine.’ That’s all he could process, physically he felt great. So nothing changed in his life. Anything that did change, he wasn’t aware of,” she continued.
“Tony Bennett, born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in Astoria, Queens on Aug. 3, 1926, has passed away in his hometown of New York City at the age of 96 earlier today,” Bennett’s rep shared. “The beloved singer, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, is survived by his wife, Susan Benedetto, his two sons, Danny and Dae Bennett, his daughters Johanna Bennett and Antonia Bennett and 9 grandchildren.”
During Bennett’s eight decades in the spotlight, he won 20 Grammy awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
“I enjoy entertaining the audience, making them forget their problems,” Bennett told The Associated Press in 2006. “I think people … are touched if they hear something that’s sincere and honest and maybe has a little sense of humor. … I just like to make people feel good when I perform.”
Tributes from fellow musicians are pouring in on social media amid news of his death.
“My most heartfelt condolences go out to Tony Bennett’s family and friends,” Nile Rodgers shared on Twitter. “They’re also my emotional family and friends.”
Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers wrote, “i love the immortal Tony Bennett, what a dude, what a class act, what a singer. so grateful to have shared a stage with him,” he shared. “a beautiful human being.”
Stevie Van Zandt also honored Bennett, writing on Twitter: “The last of the legends,” he penned. “A man whose heart was as big as his voice. The world’s foremost practitioner of the ‘Art of Excellence.’ Deepest love and condolences to my friend Danny and the family.”
Rev. Jesse Jackson also took a moment to remember Bennett.
“Sending my prayers for and condolences to the family of #TonyBennett whose legendary career spanned seven decades. He marched with us in 1964. He was dedicated to civil and human rights and to the arts. He will live as long as we remember him. #IleftmyheartinSanFrancisco,” he wrote.
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