Tony Bennett Net Worth

Tony Bennett's Quotes

• I only met Bing Crosby once. He called me the best singer he'd ever heard.
• It's an interesting thing. When Coretta Scott King passed away recently they had a memorial where they refreshed people's minds about Martin Luther King, and the idea of non-violence. And now in America you're suddenly seeing war movies again on TV--they never showed war movies until recently--and how great it is to be patriotic. It's wrong. The day and age we live in now, it's all full of fear and frightening feelings. It's the opposite of [Franklin D. Roosevelt] saying, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Now we're saying, "Look out, this is going to happen". We're being told, "Get frightened". This business of machoism is ridiculous. I'm not interested in that. I search for truth and beauty in what I do.
• [about his military service during World War II] It gave me a social conscience. And the war itself made me a pacifist; I just know that every gun in the world should melt somehow and as soon as possible. But that looks impossible now.
• When you're young you think, "What shall I do--the movies, a sitcom?" But that went away. I did Hollywood for a while and had the great pleasure of taking advice from Fred Astaire and Cary Grant--two of the classiest guys that ever lived--and they both told me how to play so you don't get overexposed. Cary Grant told me, "Just do cameos in films, it's the most boring business in the world". He said, "Just go and become a performer in front of audiences--you're alive, they're cheering you". I liked it when they asked [him], "Why did you retire?" and he said, "I got tired of walking on cables".
• But what's interesting to me is knowing the past masters that I knew--Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, and I'm really name-dropping here--when they were my age, even before that, in their early 70s, they were very prestigious, but it was very difficult for them to get a film or make a recording. My son acquired about six months ago a huge contract with Columbia/Sony which goes into millions of dollars for two albums over a four-year period, and then if I do two more after that they'll give me an extra half a million for each album. That's unheard of for someone of my age! He's got it turned around to a point where I've never been more exposed and out there. Last year was the most successful year in my life in show business, and it was also the most tragic, because my sister and brother died. It's just life. [William Shakespeare] said that. It's the yin and yang of life. No matter how successful it is, there's always something that says, "Whoops!".

Interesting Facts about Tony Bennett

1. Well known for hit ballads like "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" (a come back hit released in 1962), and "Rags to Riches" (released in 1954).
2. Was a close friend of Frank Sinatra.
3. Bob Hope suggested Tony change his stage name from "Joe Bari" to "Tony Bennett."
4. On May 20, 2002, he received the Pied Piper lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
5. In 2001 he founded The Frank Sinatra High School of Performing Arts in Queens, NY, named after his long-time friend Frank Sinatra.
6. Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997.
7. He is an accomplished painter with an art studio in New York City, USA.
8. Recipient of the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients were Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Suzanne Farrell, and Julie Harris.
9. Despite his hit ballad song, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," he was actually born in New York.
10. His daughter Antonia Bennett has sung alongside her father since the age of four.
11. Co-founder, with his wife Susan Benedetto (nee Susan Crow), the charitable organization, "Exploring the Arts".
12. Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and his wife, Matilda Cuomo, were witnesses to the civil ceremony between Tony & Susan Benedetto (nee Susan Crow).
13. On Jan. 4, 2007, he sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" at the celebrations for the inauguration of Nancy Pelosi as first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.
14. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1560 Vine St.
15. He was inducted into the 2011 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Arts and Entertainment Industry.
16. His chance to perform at the Triborough Bridge opening in 1936 was arranged by his uncle Frank, the Queens Borough library commissioner. There he stood next to and received pats on the head from legendary Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.
17. When 85-year-old Bennett's album "Duets II" topped the Billboard 200 chart in September of 2011 he became the oldest living artist in history to capture the peak position. The record had previously been held by Bob Dylan, whose "Together Through Life" (2009) debuted at #1 when Dylan was 67. In September 2014 Bennett broke his own record at age 88 when his duet album "Cheek to Cheek" with Lady Gaga also debuted at #1.
18. Signs his paintings/portraits simply "Benedetto", his birth name.
19. In 2011 his Belvedere (CA) mansion--9500 sq.ft / 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 7-car parking) went on sale with an asking price of $27.5 million.
20. With his 15th and 16th wins at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards--Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (with Amy Winehouse) for "Body and Soul" and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for "Duets II"--Bennett captured the record for the longest Grammy participation span of 49 years between wins.