One of the great interpreters of the American songbook, Tony Bennett died on 21 July at his home in Manhattan. He was 96.

Over a career spanning seven decades, Bennett cut more than 150 records, earned 20 Grammy Awards, sang hundreds of concerts and played countless club dates. He was performing live as recently as August 2021, when he appeared with longtime admirer and collaborator Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall ­– just a few blocks away from the Paramount Theatre in Times Square where he made his name in the early 1950s.

Tony Bennett. Photo Wikimedia Commons

Born in 1926 into an Italian migrant family, Bennett began singing at an early age, working as a singing waiter in local Italian restaurants. By competing in amateur night competitions across New York, he got his first gigs at the Paramus, a New Jersey nightclub.

After fighting in Europe in the US Army in the latter part of WWII, Bennett returned to New York and cut a few sides with small record companies. In 1949, Pearl Bailey asked him to open for her in Greenwich Village. Among the audience was the comedian Bob Hope, who liked what he heard and...