Remembering 2023’s Music Losses: Tony Bennett / myLot

United States

January 6, 2024 11:09am CST

While it’s overcast and cold, we dodged the “S” word this time around. I’ll keep sipping tea for my throat (thank God the sinuses are not hurting anymore) and sing along with another music great that we said goodbye to in 2023. Talk about a legend?! Tony Bennett Think about this: my grandparents listened to him. Their great-great grandchildren listened to him…all during his lifetime! Let’s start with his greatness: as a soldier in the Army during World War II. He was at the Battle of the Bulge (“a front-row seat in hell,” he described it) and received a Bronze Star. Even better, his division (the 63rd Infantry Division) participated in the liberation of Dachau. One more thing about Bennett’s army career: he was busted from corporal to private after the War. Why? A superior saw him having dinner with a black soldier.

Is it any wonder that, after that, he’d be honored at the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame? I don’t think I need to explain Tony Bennett to anyone. Nineteen Grammy awards (plus a Lifetime Achievement Grammy) and an enduring popularity so immense that he was featured on MTV and performed with the likes of Billy Joel, k.d. lang, and Lady Gaga speaks volumes. But I will celebrate a local connection with him: Bennett was also an accomplished painter, and in 2001 he was selected as the “official artist” of the Kentucky Derby. You can see his painting of Derby winner Monarchos online. Bennett developed Alzheimer’s, but continued to perform until 2021. The disease took his life on July 21, 2023. What a talent. Tony Bennett Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto August 3, 1926 - July 21, 2023 (age 96) HALL OF FAME: Big Band/Jazz (1997) You can leave your heart in San Francisco, but I’ll go from “Rags to Riches” for my Tony Bennett selection:

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12 people like this

10 responses

NJ Chicaa

@NJChicaa (127161)

• United States

6 Jan 24

yup

3 people like this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

6 Jan 24

You’d BETTER know him or I’ll take your Italian card away from you and make you eat at Olive Garden!

3 people like this

NJ Chicaa

@NJChicaa (127161)

• United States

6 Jan 24

@FourWalls ugh gross

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

6 Jan 24

@NJChicaa — I’d never do that to you.

1 person likes this

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The Horse

@TheHorse (238330)

• Walnut Creek, California

10 Jan 24

I think they play "I Left my Heart in San Francisco" after Giants wins at the ball park.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

10 Jan 24

Unlike “Go Cubs Go,” which they didn’t get to play enough last year for the Cubbies. Maybe one day you can take a picture of the Tony Bennett statue outside of the Fairmont Hotel.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

10 Jan 24

@TheHorse —

Might want to put a rush on getting that picture, just in case that does happen….

1 person likes this

The Horse

@TheHorse (238330)

• Walnut Creek, California

10 Jan 24

@FourWalls It hasn't been torn down and replaced by one of a local criminal?

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The Horse

@TheHorse (238330)

• Walnut Creek, California

9 Jan 24

I hadn't realized he was a WWII veteran. Heck, I'm glad I don't get demoted every time I have lunch or dinner with a black friend or colleague.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

9 Jan 24

Remember the times. Segregated units back then. The notion that it was a crime (or a violation of the UCMJ) to eat with a black soldier, however…

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

10 Jan 24

@TheHorse — you never know. Bill Anderson (the country singer) said that he got TWO nasty letters when he had Charley Pride on his syndicated TV show in the late 60s: one from Wisconsin, and one from Minnesota.

1 person likes this

The Horse

@TheHorse (238330)

• Walnut Creek, California

9 Jan 24

@FourWalls Pretty odd. What's funny, though, is that I have been given dirty looks, even in my lifetime, for hanging out with a black person. The two cities involved? Des Moines IA and Oakland CA. In Chicago, even in the 1970s, it wasn't a big thing.

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Judy Evans

@JudyEv (382312)

• Rockingham, Australia

7 Jan 24

This is why I love your posts so much. I didn't know he was an artist and that bit about him being demoted - well, what can one say.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

7 Jan 24

It’s a sad thing, isn’t it. Last year I went to the Tuskegee Airmen National Monument, where the famed WW2 airmen trained….separated from the white soldiers.

Bennett said in his book that he never thought the African-American soldiers got enough credit for their work.

2 people like this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (382312)

• Rockingham, Australia

7 Jan 24

@FourWalls We watched Men of Honor the other night and the black Navy diver in that had a really hard time of it. It was based on the true story of Carl Brashear.

1 person likes this

LindaOH

@LindaOHio (222587)

• United States

7 Jan 24

Who doesn't know Tony Bennett? lol Glad to hear you're feeling better. Have a good day.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

8 Jan 24

I’m sure there’s a newborn baby who hasn’t heard him….yet.

My back is hurting, which I’m discovering now that I’m not taking so much Tylenol for my sinuses.

If it’s not one thing….

2 people like this

LindaOH

@LindaOHio (222587)

• United States

8 Jan 24

@FourWalls It's called getting old. Unfortunately it doesn't get any better. Take care.

2 people like this

@dgobucks226 (37621)

•

20 Jan 24

Frank Sinatra's favorite performer. Now that's high praise for sure! Tony Bennett and San Francisco were a perfect match when he recorded that tune. Fun fact: Bob Hope was the one who gave Anthony Dominck Benedetto his stage name.

1 person likes this

Amber

@AmbiePam (120913)

• United States

6 Jan 24

I sure did love Tony Bennett.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

6 Jan 24

And what isn’t to love? What a great voice he had.

1 person likes this

Go Crossbones

@crossbones27 (52955)

• Mojave, California

6 Jan 24

I heard he played in Vegas one time. Why do not more musicians play there. I heard it makes them famous. 29,000 punk bands will be in Vegas trying to get famous or at least paid.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (86765)

• United States

7 Jan 24

They’re all trying to be like Johnny Fontaine in The Godfather.

1 person likes this