Huffington blog DARE TO BE 100
July 18, 2017
TONY BENNETT
Last night I was among the adoring crowd at the San Francisco Symphony Hall to hear Tony Bennett sing. He was resplendent on his current “Tony at 90 Tour”. This has taken him last month to cheering mobs in Great Britain, and more recently at Hollywood Bowl with the L A Symphony. Glorious reviews follow each concert, “pure joy”.”intimate”, “rollicking”, “tour down memory lane”,”romance at its most compelling”,”sparkling .” Backed by his superb quartet of musicians, he has sung in palaces, The White House, inaugurals and convocations of every sort. He has protested at Selma, thrown opening pitches at ball parks , opened bridges, swung at Carnegie Hall, political conventions. Every celebrity has hugged him. He hates bigotry, inequality, injustice, lobbied against drug use worldwide.
His work ethic is legendary having given a hundred concerts a year at one point. His records have sold tens of millions of copies, won every conceivable plaudit.
Tony has been singing for 80 years starting when he was 10. Antonio Dominick Benedetto was born to an immigrant family in Queens, August 3, 1906. He was drafted into the army and fought in the front lines of the Second World War in Germany, leading to his conversion to pacifism.
His vocal career began as a singing waiter then into nightclubs, stage, radio, TV, and movies. He moved easily within the top echelon of the entertainment world . His career has transcended the fashion rushes of the Beatles and rock and rap. Bing, and Frank, and Perry and the rest have passed on. Tony endures. His music has fulfilled his destiny as perhaps the world’s greatest ballad singer, ever. He has won every conceivable music award with great distinction.
Last night’s concluding rendition of “I left my heart in San Francisco” was nearly religious in its overtones. We were all on our feet in rapturous applause, a huge collective hug.
In his final curtain call he held a delectable grand daughter. What a lullaby to sleep on!
I am fully committed to being in the audience, nine years from now, when “Just in Time” will celebrate Tony at 100.
What a DARE!