Connect with us

Published

on

“For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.”

Coming from Frank Sinatra himself, in an interview in 1965, there could be no higher compliment.

Sinatra was a huge influence on Bennett, who has died aged 96.

The pair had become firm friends and went on to perform together several times over the years.

Bennett was the younger singer – Sinatra died in May 1998 at the age of 82.

But as they both matured, Sinatra always continued to call Bennett “kid” – even into old age.

Bennett said his idol’s words in that 1965 article changed his career.

Two years earlier, a then 36-year-old Bennett had picked up his first Grammy for his signature song I Left My Heart In San Francisco.

In 2022, almost 60 years later, the pop and jazz singer was awarded his 20th, sharing the honour with his superstar collaborator Lady Gaga – at the tender age of 95.

Bennett performs with Lady Gaga
Image:
Bennett performs with Lady Gaga

During a career in entertainment spanning eight decades, Bennett was one of the last of America’s great crooners – one who achieved the rare feat of only seeming to grow in popularity in later life.

With more than 70 albums to his name, he is perhaps the only artist ever to have had new albums charting in the US in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s – and in 2014, he broke his own record as the oldest living artist to hit the top of the weekly Billboard 200 album chart.

Performing well into his 90s, even after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, Bennett was an entertainer beloved by all generations; Gaga was just one of the modern-day artists he collaborated with in later years.

Paul McCartney, John Legend, Christina Aguilera and Michael Buble, as well as Sinatra, all feature on the long list of others, and his 2011 duet with Amy Winehouse, Body And Soul, was the last song she recorded before her death.

“To me, life is a gift, and it’s a blessing to just be alive,” the singer once said.

It was a quote he became known for, the title of one of his memoirs, and one he used again when he went public about his illness in 2021.

“Life is a gift – even with Alzheimer’s,” was the message shared on his social media accounts in February 2021.

Later that year, he performed his final farewell shows.

Singer Tony Bennett performs during the Clinton Global Citizen award ceremony at the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York, September 27, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Grief, war and discovery

Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on 3 August 1926, in Queens in New York City, to parents John and Anna, the young Tony and his older brother and sister, John and Mary, were raised by their mother following his father’s death when he was aged just 10.

As a child, he loved to sing and paint, and his passions were nurtured at the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan.

As he grew older, he developed a love of music listening to artists such as Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and James ‘Jimmy’ Durante on the radio.

During his teenage years, Bennett sang while waiting tables, before enlisting in the army during the Second World War.

He served in the Battle of the Bulge – the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front, launched in 1944 through the forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg – and participated in the liberation of a concentration camp, according to his official website’s biography.

During his time in Europe, he performed with military bands and, following his return to America, he went on to have vocal studies at the American Theatre Wing School in New York.

The singer’s first nightclub performance came in 1946, alongside trombonist Tyree Glenn at the Shangri-La in Queens’ Astoria neighbourhood.

Three years later came his big break, when comedian Bob Hope noticed him working with actress and singer Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village.

At the time, he was performing under the stage name of Joe Bari.

Singer and artist Tony Bennett poses for a portrait before an opening of his art exhibition in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

‘We’ll call you Tony Bennett’

Hope liked Bennett’s singing so much that he met him in his dressing room afterwards to ask him to perform with him at the city’s famed Paramount Theatre.

There was just one condition.

“But first he told me he didn’t care for my stage name and asked me what my real name was,” Bennett recalled. “I told him, ‘My name is Anthony Dominick Benedetto’. And he said, ‘We’ll call you Tony Bennett’.

“And that’s how it happened. A new Americanised name – the start of a wonderful career and a glorious adventure.”

Bennett’s first singles came in the 1950s, including chart-toppers Because Of You, Rags To Riches, and a remake of Hank Williams’ Cold, Cold Heart.

Dozens more singles followed and his voice took him around the world, selling millions of records and performing to sold-out venues – as well as to numerous stars and presidents.

He went on to release dozens of albums throughout the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, but began to struggle with drug use as his style of music fell out of style.

Following a 10-year absence from the US album charts, he returned with The Art Of Excellence in 1986 and continued releasing music at pace in the 1990s, becoming an unlikely favourite of MTV.

Singer Tony Bennett is shown singing on June 23, 1960
Pic:AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Legendary duets add to his longevity

In 2001, well into his 70s, the singer was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys – but there was no sign of him slowing down.

He became known for his collaborations and his first modern-day duets album, Duets: An American Classic, was released in 2006, featuring performances with artists including McCartney, Elton John, Barbra Streisand and Bono.

After more than 50 years in the business, it was one of the bestselling records of his career.

Ella Fitzgerald sings a duet with Tony Bennett in 1990
Pic:AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Duets II came in 2011, featuring artists including Aretha Franklin and John Mayer, as well as Gaga and Winehouse.

Debuting at the top of the Billboard charts, it went on to win two Grammys, and his friendship with Gaga led to the release of their first collaborative album, Cheek To Cheek, in 2014.

Their second, Love For Sale, Bennett’s final album, came in 2021.

As well as his music, Bennett was also known for his painting, and had his work exhibited at galleries around the world.

He was even commissioned by the United Nations, painting one piece for the organisation’s 50th anniversary.

He was also the author of five books, including the New York Times bestseller Life Is A Gift: The Zen Of Bennett, published in 2012, and Just Getting Started, released in 2016.

Ray Charles, left, and Tony Bennett are shown at the Larabee Studios in Los Angeles Jan. 4, 1986
Pic:AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Family and charitable legacy

A father of four, Bennett was married three times.

At his wedding to first wife Patricia Beech in 1952, some 2,000 female fans reportedly gathered outside the ceremony – dressed in black in mock mourning. The couple went on to have two sons, Danny and Dae, before they separated.

Bennett went on to marry actress Sandra Grant, with whom he had daughters Joanna and Antonia, and in 2007 married long-term partner Susan Crow, now Susan Benedetto.

In 1999, he founded Exploring the Arts with Susan, to help strengthen the role of the arts in public high school education in the US.

One of the organisation’s first projects was the establishment of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a public high school set up in 2001 in Bennett’s hometown of Astoria, Queens.

Tony Bennett is joined by Stevie Wonder as he accepts the century award at the Billboard Music Awards in 2006

The singer’s other charitable endeavours included helping to raise millions of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, which established a research fund in his name, and lending his artwork to the American Cancer Society’s annual holiday greeting cards to raise funds.

Along with his many gongs for his music, Bennett was also honoured with the Martin Luther King Center’s “salute to greatness” award for his efforts in fighting racial discrimination, after joining the activist in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march in 1965.

Singer Tony Bennett poses for photographers with his Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for "Playin' With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues," at the 45th annual Grammy Awards at New York's Madison Square Garden, February 23, 2003. REUTERS/Peter Morgan MS/HB

The singer’s retirement from performing was announced in 2021, with his son Danny, also his manager, saying it was down to doctor’s orders due to the strain of travelling.

Performing a medley tribute to the man she described as “an incredible mentor, and friend, and father figure” at the Grammys in 2022, Gaga appeared emotional as she finished on stage. “I love you, Tony. We miss you.”

Following the singer’s death, the music industry mourns one of the last great performers of his generation.

For Bennett, life was a gift – and for millions of fans over the decades, it was a gift he gave right back.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Sarah Harding breast cancer research project is successfully identifying at-risk young women

Published

on

By

Sarah Harding breast cancer research project is successfully identifying at-risk young women

A groundbreaking breast cancer research project launched in memory of the late Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding is already successfully identifying young women at increased risk of getting the disease.

The BCAN-RAY (Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Young Women) was launched a year ago in the singer’s name after she died from the disease in 2021 at the age of 39.

While she was having treatment, the star said she was “really keen” for more research into why young women are being diagnosed without a family history of the disease.

One of the singer’s final hopes was to find ways of spotting the disease early when it’s easier to treat.

The BCAN-RAY is one of the only projects in the world trying to identify which women in their 30s are most at risk.

About 2,300 women under 40 are diagnosed with the disease each year in the UK, according to Breast Cancer Now.

The two-year study is using money from Cancer Research UK, the Christie Charity, and the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal – backed by her family and former bandmates.

More on Cancer

It looks at risk factors most commonly found in young women with the disease and will form a model to identify them in future.

Read more:
Proteins in blood could warn of cancer seven years before diagnosis
New cancer treatment gives hope as diagnoses rise
Girls Aloud kick off reunion tour dedicated to Sarah Harding

Anna Housley, 39, from Hale, Greater Manchester, is one of the women taking part in the trial. After being tested last year the mother of two was surprised to find she’s at increased risk.

With no history of the disease in her family, she told Sky News: “I’m really grateful that I have been found because now I know that I’m going to be looked after and I can be screened.”

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Speaking about the work of Harding, she said: “All I can say really is thanks to her for being such a brave advocate to young women.”

The new information means she’s now eligible for annual mammograms and medication should she want it.

It’s hoped all women will eventually be able to have a risk assessment when they reach 30.

Pic: David Fisher/Shutterstock
Image:
Girls Aloud kicked off a reunion tour on Saturday dedicated to the late bandmate. Pic: David Fisher/Shutterstock

A thousand women in the Greater Manchester area will take part, including 250 with breast cancer who don’t have a family history of the disease.

Saliva samples will hopefully help experts identify certain types and patterns of genes that could raise a woman’s risk.

These will be considered with factors such as period timing, breast tissue density, alcohol consumption and use of the pill.

Harding’s consultant Dr Sacha Howell from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, who is leading the study, said of the singer: “I think she’d be absolutely thrilled that she was part of this and her legacy is that we will be helping more and more young women like her.

“But what we’re all hoping is that by detecting those cancers earlier, they won’t unfortunately have that end result that Sarah did, which was to pass away with the disease.”

Harding’s legacy won’t just be her successful music career, it will also be her work in raising awareness around breast cancer and potentially giving many more women in their 30s a future.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Is buying vinyl bad for the planet – and what can be done about it?

Published

on

By

Is buying vinyl bad for the planet - and what can be done about it?

Taylor Swift’s new album helped fuel the highest weekly vinyl sales in 30 years – but is our rediscovered love of owning records environmentally reckless?

PVC (poly vinyl chloride), the plastic from which records have traditionally been made, isn’t great for the planet, and concerns have also been raised over packaging as vinyl sales have risedn in recent years.

Rou Reynolds, frontman of chart-topping rock band Enter Shikari, believes leading artists need to shoulder some responsibility to “push forward” change.

“The bigger you are as an artist, the more influence you have, the more you can push things forward and accelerate progression,” he says.

Pic: Beth Garrabrant
Image:
Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Society is leading the vinyl boom. Pic: Beth Garrabrant

In an interview with Billboard in March, Billie Eilish criticised how “wasteful it is” when “some of the biggest artists in the world” make “40 different vinyl packages”, each with “a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more”.

“Its reasonable criticism,” says Reynolds, “but I think it’ll basically dissipate as soon as it becomes the standard to use BioVinyl, for instance – that will really take away the possibility of criticism”.

Rather than make records out of regular PVC pellets, over the last few years it has become possible to use renewable sources such as cooking oil or wood pulp.

Enter Shikari at Slam Dunk Festival North in Leeds in 2023. Pic: Graham Finney/Cover Images via AP
Image:
Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds, pictured on stage in 2023, says artists need to lead the way. Pic: Graham Finney/Cover Images via AP

“Traditional vinyl is an oil-based product,” Reynolds explains. “No one really wants to support the extraction of any more fossil fuels.”

Enter Shikari now insist all their records are made using BioVinyl, and Reynolds is optimistic that if more artists make demands about what their records are made from, it would become the new norm.

“A lot of independent artists, like myself, we can light these fires, then it spreads and before you know it, it will become the industry standard.”

‘The advances are incredible’

Karen Emmanuel, Key Production Group
Image:
Karen Emanuel, chief executive of Key Production Group, has worked in the industry for 35 years

Leading voices within vinyl production want the music industry to listen.

“Along with the Vinyl Alliance and the Vinyl Records Manufacturers Association, we’re looking at the whole manufacturing chain,” says Karen Emanuel, chief executive of Key Production, the UK’s largest broker for physical music production.

“I’ve been in the business probably about 35 years and the advances that have been made, it’s incredible. A lot of the big plastics companies, for PVC they’ve found a way replacing the fossil fuel elements [which] could mean as much as a 90% reduction in the carbon footprint of the vinyl.”

The catch, at the moment, is the cost.

“It’s a bit more expensive to manufacture but if enough people manufacture with it then the price point will come down… it’s something that we’re really trying to push people towards.”

Would fans be happy to pay more for a greener product?

Lee Jeffries, from Sonic Wax, in Leicestershire
Image:
Lee Jeffries, from Sonic Wax, in Leicestershire, owns the world’s most expensive Motown record. Pic: Sonic Wax

Lee Jefferies, the owner of Leicestershire-based vinyl pressing plant Sonic Wax Pressing, is such a big vinyl lover, he spent £100,000 buying the world’s most valuable Motown record.

“Ultimately everything works from retail back,” he says “And with retail prices already being quite high on vinyl it’s very hard for people to have the extra money to buy biodegradable vinyl.”

But a recent survey conducted by Key Production found more than two thirds (69%) of vinyl buyers indicated they would be encouraged to buy more if the records were made with a reduced environmental impact.

The findings also revealed that the vast majority, 77%, of regular vinyl customers are willing to pay a premium for reduced impact products, signalling a significant market demand for eco-friendly alternatives.

Is there a bigger problem?

Ultimately, either the consumer, artists or labels will have to shoulder the cost if vinyl is to be made more sustainably.

But while a big old hunk of PVC might feel like the least green option, are we getting ourselves in a spin when we should also be looking in another direction?

Figures from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) put global vinyl sales for last year at about 80 million – using the IMPALA indepdent music companies association’s music emissions calculator, that works out at producing around 156k tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Read more:
UK vinyl sales at highest level since 1990
Vinyl added to typical shopping basket used in inflation calculation

If you compare that to streaming, with Spotify alone – responsible for about a third of the market – its own estimates for its global carbon emissions were 280k tonnes last year, with vast amounts of electricity being used to power its data storage servers.

For Enter Shikari’s Reynolds, the potential to make vinyl greener is exciting.

“It has the same quality, the same appearance, you really wouldn’t notice the difference, which is incredible,” he says. “I think it speaks to, you know, a lot of the time people think that the transition society is about to go through, we think we’re going to lose luxuries… but I think this is just an example of why that’s not the case.

“You know, all it takes is some thought and some adaptation, and then some adoption… it’s super exciting.”

Perhaps now it’s time for the music industry to take note.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Dabney Coleman, actor who starred in Boardwalk Empire and 9 to 5, dies

Published

on

By

Dabney Coleman, actor who starred in Boardwalk Empire and 9 to 5, dies

Lily Tomlin, Morgan Fairchild and Ben Stiller have led tributes to “one-of-a-kind” actor Dabney Coleman following his death aged 92.

Coleman made his career playing comedic villains, mean-spirited bosses and villains in films including 9 to 5 and Tootsie, as well as playing Commodore Louis Kaestner in Boardwalk Empire.

Lily Tomlin, who starred alongside him in 9 To 5 with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton, said: “We just loved him.”

In her post to X, the actress shared a photo of her character Violet Newstead dressed in a Snow White costume beside a tense-looking Coleman as her egotistical boss Franklin Hart Jr.

Morgan Fairchild, who starred in Falcon Crest and Friends, described Coleman as a “great one”.

“So very sorry to hear of the death of the wonderful #DabneyColeman”, she wrote on X alongside a black and white photo of them together.

“We went out for a bit in the ’80s and I adored him. This town has lost one of a kind!”

Coleman “took his last earthly breath peacefully and exquisitely” in his Santa Monica home on Thursday, his daughter said in a statement on Friday on behalf of the family.

“My father crafted his time here on Earth with a curious mind, a generous heart and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humour that tickled the funny bone of humanity”, she said.

“As he lived, he moved through this final act of his life with elegance, excellence and mastery.”

Actor Dabney Coleman in Los Angeles in 1989. Pic: AP
Image:
Coleman in 1989. Pic: AP

Ben Stiller, Zoolander and Meet The Parents actor, praised Coleman for paving the way for character actors.

“The great Dabney Coleman literally created, or defined, really – in a uniquely singular way – an archetype as a character actor.

“He was so good at what he did it’s hard to imagine movies and television of the last 40 years without him.”

Dabney Coleman with Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in 1980 Credit: Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch/IPX
Image:
Coleman with Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in 1980 Credit: Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch/IPX

Read more from Sky News:
Presenter says she was assaulted by Rolf Harris on Blue Peter
Girls Aloud kick off reunion tour dedicated to late bandmate

Coleman starred in a number of films and TV series in the 1960s, then made his breakthrough as a corrupt mayor in the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, in 1976.

His film credits include a computer scientist in WarGames, Tom Hanks’ father in You’ve Got Mail and a chief firefighter in The Towering Inferno.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

He won a best actor Golden Globe for The Slap Maxwell Story and an Emmy for best supporting actor in Peter Levin’s 1987 legal drama Sworn To Silence.

Coleman also won two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the cast of crime drama Boardwalk Empire and received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his starring role in the NBC sitcom Buffalo Bill.

Continue Reading

Trending