Tony Bennett

Anthony Dominick "Tony" Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), stage name Tony Bennett, is an American singer of traditional pop standards, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also an accomplished painter, having created works—under the name Anthony Benedetto—that are on permanent public display in several institutions. He is the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York.

Born and raised in Astoria, Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as an infantryman with the U.S. Army in the European Theater. Afterwards, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records, and had his first number-one popular song with "Because of You" in 1951. Several top hits such as "Rags to Riches" followed in the early 1950s. Bennett then further refined his approach to encompass jazz singing. He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". His career and his personal life then suffered an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era.

Bennett staged a comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, putting out gold record albums again and expanding his audience to the MTV Generation while keeping his musical style intact. He remains a popular and critically praised recording artist and concert performer in the 2010s. Bennett has won 18 Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented in 2001) and two Emmy Awards, and has been named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide...Read more

Links To Peel
John claimed in Staying Single that Bennett's 1953 no. 1 UK hit Stranger In Paradise was the last record that he bought for the tune rather than the performance. He also once purchased an autographed copy of a book written by the singer for £2 at a celebrity auction in Chesterfield: he relates that he found it "almost unreadable, I have to admit, but quite pleased that I got it nevertheless."

The 1998 Glastonbury festival, however, belatedly brought Bennett to Peel's attention musically. The Telegraph listed the appearance at number 22 on their list of 100 best performances ever at the festival, commenting, "Immaculately suited and emanating smiling charm, Bennett lifted a crowd who had been battered by the elements all weekend, unbelievably taking them with him to a place where smooth big band jazz made perfect sense." Writing three years after the event, Peel concurred: "Anita Kamath, my Radio 1 producer, and I were so moved by Bennett's performance that we tried to book him for the programme. He was going to do it too but had to cry off at the last minute with a bad throat. Fair enough, we thought, but we'd still like him to give us a song if the opportunity arises again." (Tony Bennett, Radio Times, 12-18 May 2001, reprinted in Olivetti Chronicles, Corgi edition, p. 48.)

The show even went to the lengths of playing a song from a still commercially unavailable Bennett tape from Glastonbury: a recording of this programme has yet to surface.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * NoneTony Bennett - It Had to Be You

Sessions

 * None (see above)

Other Shows Played

 * 30 June 1998: 'It Had To Be You' (live from Glastonbury)
 * Staying Single: 'Stranger In Paradise'