On the morning of July 21, the world lost one of its finest interpreters of the Great American Songbook when Tony Bennett died at age 96.
Bennett was born Antonio Dominick Benedetto in Long Island, NY on Aug. 3, 1926, and began performing in nightclubs the year after World War II ended under the name Joe Bari. It was entertainment icon Bob Hope who suggested the name change and helped boost the budding entertainer’s career.
Bennett’s bel canto singing style was inspired not by other singers, but by jazz instrumentalists, which allowed him to interpret a range of material, tackling songs from the jazz, country and even rock canon. His biggest hit of the Billboard Hot 100 era was “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” and despite a commercial downturn in the 1980s, Bennett came back with a bang in the ‘90s, earning new generations of fans (and a Grammy album of the year award) for 1994’s MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett album.
Bennett’s iconic voice and art endeared him to musicians, comedians, actors and politicians: He worked with everyone from Sammy Davis Jr. to Duke Ellington to Count Basie to Lady Gaga to Amy Winehouse to Paul McCartney to Fred Rogers.
“I just love the fact that in an era where everything’s based on youth, I can communicate with everybody — the young, the middle-aged and the old like me. I’m very content,” Bennett told Billboard in 2016 of his cross-generational, cross-genre appeal.
Here, we’ve rounded up a selection of career-spanning photos from the life of an American icon.
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Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Tony Bennett photographed circa 1954.
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Sammy Davis Jr. & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Archive Photos/Getty Images Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett performing on a television show circa 1960.
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Duke Ellington & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Duke Ellington and Tony Bennett on “The Best on Record” on May 11, 1966.
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Doris Day & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Doris Day and Tony Bennett on “The Doris Day Show” on November 23, 1970.
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Dean Martin & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images Dean Martin and Tony Bennett on “The Dean Martin Show” on March 21, 1968.
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Tony Bennett, Betty Aberlin & Fred Rogers
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Tony Bennett, Betty Aberlin (with puppet Lady Elaine Fairchilde) and Fred Rogers on ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.’
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Frank Sinatra & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett on “Frank Sinatra and Friends” on April 21, 1977.
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Tony Bennett & Stevie Wonder
Image Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder backstage during MLK Gala at The Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta on Jan. 13, 1982.
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Tony Bennett at Radio City Music Hall
Image Credit: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images Tony Bennett performs onstage at Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York, May 10, 1986.
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Tony Bennett with Cheryl James & DJ Spinderella
Image Credit: ©MTV/Courtesy Everett Collectio Cheryl James (aka Salt), Tony Bennett and Deidra Muriel Roper, (aka DJ Spinderella) photographed backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 8, 1994.
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Tony Bennett at the Grammy Awards
Image Credit: Barry King/WireImage Tony Bennett during The 35th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on February 24, 1993.
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Tony Bennett & Liza Minnelli
Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection Tony Bennett and Liza Minnelli at the Tony Bennett: Here’s To The Ladies, A Concert of Hope on December 1, 1995.
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Tony Bennett & Brandy Norwood
Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection Tony Bennett and Brandy Norwood peform on”Tony Bennett: Here’s to the Ladies: A Concert of Hope” in 1995.
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Tony Bennett & Patti LaBelle
Image Credit: Monty Brinton / ©CBS / courtesy Everett Collection Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle at the Tony Bennett: Here’s To The Ladies, A Concert of Hope on December 1, 1995.
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Tony Bennett & k.d. lang
Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/MTV/Courtesy Everett Collection Tony Bennett and k.d. lang perform on ‘MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett’ on June 1, 1994.
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Elton John & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Scott Gries/ImageDirect/Getty Images Elton John and Tony Bennett at the Rainforest Foundation Benefit at Carnegie Hall in New York City, NY on April 17, 1999.
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Tony Bennett & Billy Joel
Image Credit: Frank Micelotta Archive/Getty Images Tony Bennett and Billy Joel at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 23, 2000.
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The Chicks & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage The Chicks with Tony Bennett during The 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards – Sony After-Party at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on February 23, 2003.
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Tony Bennett & Sir Paul McCartney
Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images Tony Bennett and Sir Paul McCartney perform at the 18th Annual Bridge School Benefit event held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 23, 2004 in Mountain View, Calif.
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Tony Bennett, Tina Turner, Robert Redford, Julie Harris & Suzanne Farrell
Image Credit: Scott Suchman/WireImage Tony Bennett, Tina Turner, Robert Redford, Julie Harris and Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center Honorees State Department Dinner on December 4, 2005 in Washington, DC.
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Tony Bennett & James Taylor
Image Credit: Patrick McMullan/Getty Images Tony Bennett and James Taylor attend Entertainment Industry Foundation’s NCCRA Colon Cancer Benefit at Waldorf Astoria NYC USA on March 15, 2006.
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Michael Bublé & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection Michael Bublé and Tony Bennett photographed in 2006 during ‘Tony Bennett: An American Classic.’
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Tony Bennett at the Emmy Awards
Image Credit: Chris Polk/FilmMagic c behind the scenes at the 59th Primetime EMMY Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on September 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.
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Tony Bennett at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts
Image Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage Tony Bennett performs during the 2009 Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Graduation ceremony on June 26, 2009 in New York City.
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Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse
Image Credit: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse attend the after show party for Tony Bennett’s concert at Royal Albert Hall on July 1, 2010 in London, England.
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Juanes & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images Juanes and Tony Bennett attend the 2010 AFTRA AMEE Awards at The Grand Ballroom at The Plaza Hotel on February 22, 2010 in New York City.
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Elvis Costello, Diana Krall & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Lester Cohen/WireImage Elvis Costello, Diana Krall and Tony Bennett attend 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute to Barbra Streisand at Los Angeles Convention Center on February 11, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
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Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga perform onstage during The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the STAPLES Center on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
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Celine Dion & Tony Bennett
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage Celine Dion and Tony Bennett pose backstage during “Sinatra 100: An All-Star GRAMMY Concert” celebrating the late Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on December 2, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Tony Bennett & John Legend
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Tony Bennett and John Legend speak onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City.
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Tony Bennett
Image Credit: George Pimentel/WireImage Tony Bennett photographed on October 6, 2004 at Fours Seasons Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
