Susan Benedetto, the wife of Tony Bennett, has shared some of her cherished memories after the singer’s death last week.
Bennett, a legendary figure in American music, died on Friday (21 July) in his hometown of New York City. He was 96.
He had been married to Benedetto for 16 years, but they’d been in a relationship for more than 20 years before their 2007 nuptials.
Benedetto shared one of her “favourite personal photos of Tony” with People on Sunday (23 July) taken during their Italian honeymoon in Villa San Michele, Florence. Bennett, dressed in a blue suit adorned with a white flower on the lapel, is seen looking out of a window.
“Tony, naturally, loved visiting his ancestral homeland, and we spent many summers in Italy over the years, and it was always a special time for us to be together, just the two of us.”
“Tony would paint all day, and then we would eat pasta, which was his favourite meal,” she continued.
“I love how this photo captured his thoughtful demeanour… everyone knows Tony had heart, but he also was a wonderful soul.”
Benedetto, a former teacher, took Bennett’s family name, rather than his stage name, after their marriage.
Susan Benedetto and Tony Bennett— (Getty Images for NARAS)
She added: “Benedetto, his family name, which I made my own when we married, means ‘the blessed one’, and I was most certainly blessed to have Tony in my life.”
Benedetto had been a fan of Bennett’s music before they were a couple. They met for the first time at one of his shows when she was 19 – 40 years his junior.
In his 2016 memoir Just Getting Started, Bennett recalled their strange interaction before Benedetto was even born – the “Cheek to Cheek” crooner met her parents at his concert while her mother, Marion, was pregnant with her.
“As fate would have it, Marion was pregnant at the time with… Susan!” Bennett wrote alongside the 1966 picture. “It’s a photo we all laugh about, knowing the incredible turn of events that followed.”
Benedetto previously released a statement with Bennett’s son, Danny, thanking “all the fans, friends and colleagues of Tony’s who celebrated his life and humanity and shared their love of him and his musical legacy”.
The message continued: “From his first performances as a singing waiter in Queens to his last performances in 2021 at Radio City Music Hall, Tony delighted in performing the songs he loved and making people happy... And as sad as today has been for all of us we can find joy in Tony’s legacy forever.”
