Tony Bennett - Songs

ABOUT

Tony Bennett (b. August 3, 1926) is a celebrated and veteran singer of jazz, traditional pop, big band, and show tunes who became famous beginning in the early 1950s. His many signature songs include "Because Of You" (1951), "Cold, Cold Heart" (1951), "Rags To Riches" (1953), "In The Middle Of An Island" (1957), and "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" (1962). Many years later, the affable jazz/pop legend staged a major comeback in the early 1990s and gained a new following with younger audiences while maintaining his original fan base.

Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in Queens, New York, he was performing in public by age 10 and as a child, had also developed a lifelong passion for drawing. He began singing professionally at 13 and soon after attended New York's School of Industrial Art where he studied painting and music. He dropped out at 16 to help support his family, and his many jobs included singing while waiting on tables. He was drafted in the Army in 1944 and fought in World War II on the front line in Germany, nearly losing his life several times while in combat, and was later part of the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. After his discharge in 1946, he returned to the U.S. and enrolled at the American Theatre Wing on the GI Bill where he studied bel canto, a breathing technique used by opera singers to achieve high volume without undue vocal strain, and developed his unique performing style that involved vocal imitations of the instrumental styles and phrasings of such jazz greats as Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, and Art Tatum. He made his first recordings in 1949 as Joe Bari for Leslie Records and got his first big break that year when he was discovered by Pearl Bailey who asked him to open for her in Greenwich Village. Bob Hope, who attended the show, invited him to tour with him and suggested he change his stage name to Tony Bennett, a shortened version of his given name. In 1950, he recorded a demo of "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and was signed to Columbia by Mitch Miller.

Tony Bennett debuted in 1951 on the Pop charts with "Because Of You," the first of three #1 hits that also include "Cold, Cold Heart" (1951) and "Rags To Riches" (1953). Other top hits from the 1950s include "I Won't Cry Anymore" (1951), "Blue Velvet" (1951, later a #1 hit for Bobby Vinton), "Stranger In Paradise" (1953), "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" (1954), "Cinnamon Sinner" (1954), "Can You Find It In Your Heart" (1956), "From The Candy Store On The Corner To The Chapel On The Hill" (1956), and "In The Middle Of An Island" (1957). In 1962, he achieved stardom and became a household name with the song for which he is most famous, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," which was followed by several other Top 40 hits that include "I Wanna Be Around" (1963), "If I Ruled The World" (1965), and "The Good Life" (1963). Although his popularity on the charts began to wane by the mid 1960s in the wake of the British Invasion, his long string of hits continued into the 1970s on both the Adult Contemporary and Pop/Rock charts and included various themes from movies and musicals as well as remakes of such then-current hits as Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life" (1967) and The Beatles' "Something" (1970). Bennett then formed his own short-lived label, Improv, and released several critically acclaimed jazz albums through the late 1970s.

During the early 1980s, Tony Bennett began revitalizing his career with the help of his son Danny who became his manager and booking agent. In 1986, he re-signed to Columbia and has since then released numerous gold- and platinum-certified recordings that include the smash live album, "MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett" (1994). He continued performing and recording to well into the 21st century while keeping his musical style and repertoire intact. In 2014, he released "Cheek To Cheek," a hugely popular album of pop and jazz standards performed as duets with pop icon Lady Gaga. Other top performing artists with whom he has collaborated since his comeback include Amy Winehouse and Diana Krall. Bennett's numerous honors and accolades include 19 Grammys (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), two Primetime Emmys, and being named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He is one of pop music's all-time top-selling artists with over 50 million records sold worldwide to date.

LINKS

MERCHANDISE

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VIDEO CLIP

Tony Bennett performs "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" on The Ed Sullivan Show (November 22, 1964).

Available on iTunes

SONGS

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Tony Bennett

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