Tony Bennett’s son Danny has revealed his father’s last words after the jazz icon died on 21 July aged 96.
Danny is the eldest son of Tony and his former wife Patricia Beech, who were married from 1950 until 1970.
“His last words to me (were), ‘Thank you,’” Danny told TODAY’s Hoda Kotb in a joint 3 August interview with Bennett’s wife Susan Benedetto. “Can’t say it better than that.”
Bennett’s cause of death is unknown. In 2016, the crooner was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a fact his family shared in 2021.
Danny served as his father’s manager and helped guide through recent collaborations with Lady Gaga, which introduced him to a new generation of fans.
“He came into my office one time. And he said, ‘I was watching MTV.’ He goes, ‘I think I can do that.’ And then walked out. And I was like, all right,” Danny recalled.
“I put him on these shows that were, you know, 60,000 kids at RFK Stadium, between Nine Inch Nails and PJ Harvey,” he added. “And, you know, it was a little nerve-wracking.”
Tony Bennett and son Danny Bennett in 2010— (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Bennett sang until the end of his life, said Benedetto (whom the singer married in 2007), adding that the last tune he sang was “Because of You,” his very first hit.
“The music never left him,” she said.
Nine days after his death, Gaga paid tribute to Bennett with a photo of the pair embracing.
“I will miss my friend forever,” she wrote. “I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together. With Tony, I got to live my life in a time warp.
“Tony and I had this magical power. We transported ourselves to another era, modernised the music together, and gave it all new life as a singing duo. But it wasnt an act. Our relationship was very real.”
Throughout his lengthy career, Bennett released more than 70 albums and collaborated with the biggest singers of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney and Celine Dion.
Among his best-known hits were “Rags to Riches” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”, the latter of which became his signature song.
Bennett is survived by Benedetto and his four children: Danny and Dae (from his first marriage to Patricia Beech), and Joanna and Antonia (from his second marriage to Sandra Grant).
