Tony Bennett Dies at 96 After Alzheimer's Battle

Tony Bennett, the singer of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" who enjoyed success across an incredible eight decades, died early Friday of Alzheimer's disease complications. He was 96.

The pop phenom, once called the world's greatest singer by Frank Sinatra, had battled Alzheimer's since 2016, announcing his journey in 2021. He was said to be happy and centered onstage, so continued to perform and record until his final public performance, at Radio City Music Hall with Lady Gaga, in August of that year.

Born August 3, 1926, in Queens, he was a WWII veteran who began recording in 1949. Signed by Columbia Records in 1950, he enjoyed his first big hit, "Because of You," the following year. His first number-one single was followed by "Cold, Cold Heart" that year, and "Rags to Riches" and "Stranger in Paradise" in 1953.

A crooner and master interpreter of the American songbook, he survived the incursion of rock 'n' roll in a variety of ways — covering show tunes, briefly hosting (in 1956) his own TV series, venturing organically into jazz, and working up a nightclub act that served as a blueprint for other performers.

He sang on the first installment of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962).

Also in 1962, though it only barely broke the Top 20 on Billboard, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" became his signature tune, earning him a Grammy and going on to become one of the most famous recordings of the last century.

Having weathered rock, he was no match for the British invasion, and spent more than a decade trying to stay true to himself musically while satisfying record-company demands. By the '70s, he was bogged down by debt and substance abuse, and seemed to be all washed up.

A cocaine overdose nearly took his life in 1979, leading Bennett to ask his sons for help. His son Danny Bennett became his manager, helping to rehab his father's lounge-lizard image of late and recasting him as a keeper of the musical flame — a classic, a legend.

Impossibly, Tony Bennett became hip in his 60s.

By 1986, Bennett was enjoying chart success again with his albums, and sang "Life in a Looking Glass," the Oscar-nominated song from the film "That's Life."

In the '90s, he continued his renewed relevance, thanks in part to late-night talk show gigs, which culminated with his episode of "MTV Unplugged." His 1994 album "MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett" won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

He scored his (at that time) highest-ever Billboard 200 entry with the album "Duets: An American Classic" in 2006, which contained Amy Winehouse's last recording, the moving collaboration "Body and Soul." He hit number one for the first time — and became the oldest person to do so — with "Duets II" in 2011, which also led to a long and fruitful collaboration with Lady Gaga. Their album "Cheek to Cheek" broke his own record — he was 88 when it debuted atop the Billboard 200 in 2014. It spawned a live album and tour that rejuvenated Gaga's own career after her disappointing showing with 2013's "Artpop."

His final album, "Love for Sale" in 2021, was a Top 10 hit, and broke the record for oldest person to release an album of new material. He was 95.

Bennett released over 70 albums throughout his career — selling more than 50 million records — won 18 competitive Grammys and two Emmys, and was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2005.

He is survived by his wife Susan Benedetto, his sons, Danny and Dae Bennett, his daughters Johanna Bennett and Antonia Bennett, and his nine grandchildren.