Entertainment

Tony Bennett dies: ‘The best singer in the business’ – how words from his idol Frank Sinatra changed his career

Published

2 years ago

July 21, 2023

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“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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Entertainment

June Lockhart: Lassie and Lost In Space actress dies aged 100

Published

25 mins ago

October 26, 2025

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June Lockhart: Lassie and Lost In Space actress dies aged 100

June Lockhart, who starred in television shows such as Lassie and Lost In Space, has died at the age of 100.

The US actress died of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica, California, on Thursday, according to family spokesman Lyle Gregory.

He said: “She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times every day.

“It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.”

For more than 200 episodes between 1958 and 1964, she played the role of Ruth Martin, who raised the orphaned Timmy (Jon Provost) in Lassie – a show about the adventures of a brave and intelligent Rough Collie dog.

And from 1965 to 1968 spanning over 80 episodes, Lockhart was Maureen Robinson, a mother who was part of a marooned family that travelled on the spaceship Jupiter II in Lost In Space.

She was nominated for two Emmys, including best actress in a leading role in a dramatic series for her performance in Lassie in 1959.

She also received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion picture and one for television.

Born in New York City in 1925, she was the daughter of actor Gene Lockhart and actress Kathleen Lockhart.

Feature film debut

She made her feature film debut aged 13, starring alongside both of her parents in the 1938 production A Christmas Carol, where she played Belinda Cratchit, the daughter of Bob Cratchit.

After her breakout role, she appeared in films such as All This, and Heaven Too, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Yearling, and Sergeant York.

She was also in Son Of Lassie, the 1945 sequel to Lassie, Come Home, playing the grown-up version of the role created by Elizabeth Taylor.

Over almost eight decades on screen, Lockhart appeared in dozens of TV series and movies, including when she was well in her 80s.

Other roles

She had recurring roles on Petticoat Junction, General Hospital, and Beverly Hills 90210, and guest appearances on shows including The Beverly Hillbillies, The Colbys, Knots Landing and Happy Days, as well as Full House, Roseanne and Grey’s Anatomy.

Of her time on Lassie, Lockhart spoke frankly about her canine co-star.

She said: “I worked with four Lassies. There was only one main Lassie at a time. Then there was a dog that did the running, a dog that did the fighting, and a dog that was a stand-in, because only humans can work 14 hours a day without needing a nap.

“Lassie was not especially friendly with anybody. Lassie was wholly concentrated on the trainers.”

Even though she sometimes mocked the show, she conceded: “How wonderful that in a career there is one role for which you are known. Many actors work all their lives and never have one part that is really theirs.”

In Lost In Space, Lockhart was part of a family that left Earth on a five-year flight to a faraway planet.

After their mission was sabotaged by fellow passenger Dr Zachary Smith, the group went from planet to planet, encountering strange creatures and near-disasters where viewers needed to watch the following week to learn of the escape.

Speaking fondly about working on Lost in Space, Lockhart said: “It was like going to work at Disneyland every day.”

She was married and divorced twice: to John Maloney, a physician, father of her daughters Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth; and architect John C Lindsay.

Entertainment

Jon Bon Jovi on bonds, biopics and becoming a grandad

Published

2 hours ago

October 26, 2025

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Jon Bon Jovi on bonds, biopics and becoming a grandad

2026 will see Bon Jovi take centre stage once again when they return for their Forever Tour, four years after Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal cord surgery had the group’s future up in the air.

Speaking to Sky News, he says he’s “excited, humble and grateful” to be back to full health.

“The band and even the crew, they showed me a whole other level of brotherhood and commitment and love for three plus years when, you know, there’s no money coming in. And their families are waiting on that. And they never lost faith, which helped me to keep fighting,” he adds.

Starting their European leg of the tour at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on 28 August, the group will then play at Croke Park in Dublin on 30 August before concluding their tour at Wembley Stadium in London on 4 September.

It is one of many reasons for the Grammy winner to celebrate recently.

His son Jake and his wife, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, welcomed a baby girl via adoption earlier this year.

“It’s crazy, it’s a beautiful thing and you feel a responsibility for your kids’ kids, and it’s beautiful, and the holidays will be that much brighter this year, and we have a second one any day now. If I get the call, my wife is outta here now because the second one’s coming next week.”

On Bruce Springsteen

Hailing from New Jersey, the 63-year-old has long credited Bruce Springsteen‘s rise to fame as something that opened the door to other local artists getting record contracts, including him.

Now good friends for a few decades, this album marks the first time they blend their voices together on a track.

“We’ve sung together countless times over the years or had many [drinks], you know, but to actually call him up and have him on one of the records in an official capacity was wonderful. It was great.

“And it’s a testament to our friendship. It’s a testament to the song. And it’s good for the fans too. You know, they wanted to hear it, you know, and a song like that that I’m so proud of as the writer was the right kind of song for me.”

Whether he’ll follow in his friend’s footsteps and agree to a biopic about his own life is another story.

“No, I have no idea about that. You know, I mean the story of me is still being written,” he said, adding that he sat side by side with pride watching Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

“It’s really good. It’s at a time in 1982 when I was very much alive and I wrote Runaway that year. I was playing two blocks over from where he was playing with that cover band every Sunday night. In fact, it competed with my playing it, so we would literally close our bar and go because we knew he’d be playing here on Sunday night.

“I mean, it was, I lived it and watching the movie sitting next to him in the movie theatre, kept punching him. We said it’s like a time machine. It’s a time machine. Because, you know, there was a part of all of our lives growing up in New Jersey and what he meant to or means to all of us.”

Evolving as an artist

Best known for his big hits like Livin’ On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name and It’s My Life, the artist has also written a number of songs reflecting on life in America and pivotal moments in the country like the death of George Floyd, the January 6 Capitol riots, 9/11 and the multiple news stories on gun violence.

He says evolving as a songwriter and musician is his top priority for his career.

“I’m a grown man. I’m not chasing pop stardom. I’ve been doing this for 43 years and the opportunity to write for me is also kind of a way for me to think through a situation. It’s soothing sometimes, you know, to work through it. And with an album like 2020, which I became, you know, a narrator while we were all locked down in COVID and no one could play in an arena like [Wembley], you put on your fedora and you become the reporter, and you’re writing that story.

“But I loved it as a writer and if I didn’t evolve, if I came to you now and say, Hey baby rockin’ out we’re playing, I would expect you to punch me in the nose. You know, if I didn’t evolve.

“You know, people have been on this train with us for these 43 years. Some got off along the way to go and have a life. Others got on at that point and took it to the next destination, and they got off and they went and had a life. So this evolution is a part of my life. And where you get on the train and get off the train is all understood. But you know, the train kept going.”

One artist he had hoped to collaborate with on the updated “Legends Edition” of the Forever record was Ed Sheeran, after writing Living In Paradise together.

On Ed Sheeran

“I wanted him very much on this and that would have been perfect. But Ed and I discussed it immediately and he said, I’ve done too many things. I need to put my record out before I can do anything else. And I said, ‘alright, you little brat, it’s fine’. But no, I love him.”

Regarding whether we may see Sheeran or another one of his collaborators show up at one of his upcoming concerts, he says, smiling: “Who knows? Who knows who’s in town on the day?”

Tickets for the Forever tour dates in Dublin, Edinburgh and London go on sale on Friday, 31 October.

Entertainment

British Airways pulls Louis Theroux podcast funding over Bob Vylan interview

Published

6 hours ago

October 25, 2025

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British Airways pulls Louis Theroux podcast funding over Bob Vylan interview

British Airways (BA) has paused its sponsorship of The Louis Theroux Podcast following an interview with Bob Vylan’s frontman.

Pascal Robinson-Foster, one half of the controversial punk duo, told Theroux in an episode which aired earlier this week that he was “not regretful” of chanting “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]” at this year’s Glastonbury.

He added that he would “do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays”.

British Airways said on Saturday that the content “breaches” its sponsorship policy and has since paused its advertising on the podcast, the Jewish News first reported.

An airline spokesperson said: “Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed.

“We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters.

“We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur and we’re investigating how this happened.”

Following Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, the band were dropped by a number of festivals and performances including Radar festival, a show at a German music venue and their US tour after their visas were revoked.

The comments were condemned by the US as a “hateful tirade” and “appalling hate speech” by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit has since found the broadcast of Bob Vylan’s set breached editorial standards related to harm and offence.

The band have also had to reschedule dates of its upcoming We Won’t Go Quietly UK tour in Manchester and Leeds after Jewish leaders and politicians called for the show to be postponed.

In a statement on Facebook, the group said: “Due to political pressure from the likes of Bridget Phillipson and groups in the Northwest of England we have had to reschedule our Leeds and Manchester shows.

“All tickets remain valid and all other shows are continuing as planned.”

When asked by Theroux, Vylan said he was taken aback by the uproar the chant has caused, saying: “It wasn’t like we came off stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It’s just normal.”

He added that he wanted an end to “the oppression that Palestinian people are facing”.

Read more: Who are Bob Vylan?

Despite the criticism, the group have seen support from fans, with their album Humble As The Sun re-entering the charts and climbing to number one in the UK Hip Hop and R&B album category.

A spokesperson at Mindhouse Productions – which was founded by Theroux and produces The Louis Theroux Podcast – has not commented on the BA sponsorship, but told Sky News: “Louis is a journalist with a long history of speaking to controversial figures who may divide opinion.

“We would suggest people watch or listen to the interview in its entirety to get the full context of the conversation.”