Tony Bennett Honored With Celebratory Day In NY, Gov. Declares

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Aug. 3 is no longer a regular day in New York State, it is now ‘Tony Bennett Day,” Governor Andrew Cuomo announced.

This proclamation comes on Bennett’s 95th birthday, as he prepared to take to the Radio City Stage in the first of his two final public performances in New York City.

“You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has made more of a contribution in [the city’s art and music] space than Tony Bennett," Cuomo said.

Before he was a Grammy-Award-winning singer, Bennett — born Anthony Dominick Benedetto — was a child growing up in Astoria, Queens.

His family members, most of whom were Italian immigrants, were known for making music, especially the men.

“In Podargoni, Calabria, Italy, the legend in my family was that [my father] used to stand at the top of a mountain and the whole valley would hear him sing,” Bennett told Today of his father, who died when he was ten-years-old.

“When I heard that, it became as clear to me as I’m speaking to you right now — that is the reason I’m singing. We’re put here to sing; this family was put here to sing,” he told Today.

Bennett began performing as a teenager — notably singing beside Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at the opening of the Triborough Bridge in 1936 — and after a two-year stint serving in World War II, he returned to New York to pursue music full-time.

In 1949, Bennett was discovered by performer Bob Hope, who took him on tour, suggested his name change to ‘Tony Bennett,’ and catapulted him to national recognition. The following year Bennett signed a record label with Columbia Records, and his career took off.

In the 70-plus years since then, Bennett has won a staggering number of accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and dozens of other special recognitions, like New York City’s Bronze Medallion.

This February, Bennett and his family revealed in an AARP article that the singer was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016.

After his diagnosis, Bennett continued to tour and perform. “It kept him on his toes and also stimulated his brain in a significant way,” Dr. Gayatri Devi told AARP.

Despite a slow progression, Bennett began showing symptoms of the disease in 2018, but even then he continued to perform.

Both his wife and son told AARP that behind stage Bennett would seem “utterly mystified about his whereabouts,” but when the announcer would utter the words “Ladies and gentlemen — Tony Bennett!” he would transform into the performer that many know and love.

Throughout this time, and in the years leading up to his diagnosis, Bennett was collaborating with Lady Gaga, who he is sharing the stage with at his last performances this week — leading up to a collaboration album that’s expected to drop this year.

Lady Gaga, who said she is “honored and excited” to share the stage with Bennett at this final performance series, also supported his family’s decision to reveal his Alzheimer's diagnosis, a disease that carries stigma and fear.

“It's just another gift that he can give to the world,” she reportedly said.