A Look At Tony Bennett's Seven-Decade-Long Career And The Secret To His Success
American singer, performer, and international icon Tony Bennett is undeniably one of the most recognizable names and voices in the music scene. With over seven decades of him crooning some of the most beloved jazz favorites such as I Left My Heart In San Francisco, The Good Life and I Wanna Be Around, he has impressively amassed a net worth of $200 million. Throughout his career, he has received numerous recognition and awards to celebrate his impressive music career. He has won 20 Grammys to date and was given honorary awards such as the Grammy Lifetime Award, Kennedy Center Honoree, United Nations Citizen of the World, Lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, etc.
After seven decades, the American singer is still thriving and one may wonder what makes him still a successful singer and performer to this day. He has maintained a distinguished career for the entirety of his career and it is not something a lot of singers can do. He has sold over 50 million records across the world. With his contribution to the American music industry, Grammy honored him with Lady Gaga’s tribute in the recently concluded 2022 Grammy where he won his 20th award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for the song Love For Sale with Lady Gaga.
Tony Bennett’s real name is Anthony Dominick Benedetto and was born on August 3, 1926 in Long Island City, Queens. His father is a grocer and his mother is a seamstress. He was the first member of the family who was born in a hospital when he was born at the St. John's Hospital. His parents are originally from Calabria region and only emigrated to the U.S. in 1899. He has two older siblings and with their ailing father unable to work, they grew up in poverty. Having spent so much time with their father, their father was able to instill to Tony Bennett the love for art and literature as well as the compassion for human suffering. His father died when he was only ten years old and has to grow up experiencing the Great Depression.
Bennett grew up listening to jazz artists such as Jack Teagarden, Louis Armstrong and Joe Venuti. At the age of ten years old, he has already performed and sang at the opening of Triborough Bridge with the mayor standing next to him. At the age of 13, he began singing for money and performed as a singing waiting at numerous Italian restaurants around Queens. To further hone his musical skills, he attended Italian restaurants where he pursued arts and music. However he had to drop out when he turned 16 to help support his family.
When he turned 18, he was drafted into the United States Army during the final stages of the World War II in November 1944. He was only trained at the most basic drill at the Fort Dix and Fort Robinson to become an infantry rifleman. However just a few months after he joined the military, he was able to join the front line which he described as front-row seat in hell for all the hardships he had to endure.
He was discharged from the Army in 1946 and decided to study at the American Theatre Wing on the GI Bill. He continued performing every chance he gets and also waits tables to earn money. It was in 1949 when he met Pearl Bailey who saw his potential as a singer and took him to Bob Hope. Hope decided to take him on the road on Bailey’s tour and gave him the screen name Tony Bennett. The following year, Bennett cut a demo of the song Boulevard of Broken Dreams and immediately signed with the Columbia Records label by Mitch Miller in 1950.
Miller has informed Bennett not to try imitating Frank Sinatra since he just left Columbia Records at the time, so Bennett began his career as a crooner with the use of some commercial pop tunes. He got his first hit Because of You which was a balled produced by Columbia Records. It soon started gaining popularity on jukeboxes and then eventually reaching the pop charts. With the success of his first hit, he eventually ended up releasing few more songs over the years such as Blue Velvet, Rags to Riches and many more.
Bennett experienced his first career set back when he did not succeed at trying to record some contemporary rock songs. He was initially very reluctant to record such type of songs but with the great pressure from his competitors at the time, he decided to do it. However the record did not please anyone and Bennett became physically ill at the mere thought of recording again. He was dismayed at being asked to do some contemporary music. He then decided to change record label, he departed with Columbia Records and signed with MGM Records. With the new label, they have tried a new kind of approach to his music which included some Beatles material however there is no renewed commercial success for his music. After two years, he was released from the MGM records.
With no recording contract, Bennett decided to take matters into his own hands and started his own record company called Improv. He then recorded some songs and later became among the crowd favorites. Among these songs is What is This Thing Called Love. He then released the album called Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album with jazz pianist Bill Evans. However with the lack of distribution arrangement that huge record labels have, he was out of business just after two years. At this time, he had no recording contract, no performances scheduled outside of Las Vegas, no manager and crew. During this time, he developed addiction to drugs and lived beyond his means; soon, the Internal Revenue Service came after his Los Angeles home
With his drug addiction, he experienced a fatal cocaine overdose which he luckily survived and decided to talk to his sons about his lack of career and problems of being lost. One of his sons is an aspiring musician as well but does not have luck either but he knows that he has a head for business. He decided to sign on as his father’s manager. His son got control of his finances and moved him back to New York to begin looking for small theatres to perform outside Vegas. They succeeded in making Tony Bennett’s career rise again and soon, he was signed with the Columbia Records again but this time around, he has creative control. When they released the album The Art of Excellence, it reached the charts again which is a first time in nearly a decade.
Through the years, he has been releasing songs and still reaching the charts. Since he had a comeback, his career and wealth has prospered and never experienced a decline again. Around 1999, his assets were already worth $20 million, which he eventually grew to $200 million to this day. With numerous hits on his career, it can be said that he already has a staying power in the industry. When asked how he did it, he said that his only premise has always been to create a hit catalog as soon as he signed with Columbia in 1950. He does not chase after some novelty songs which only lasts for a few weeks and then forgotten by the people. He said that he values quality in his work and it is not only about money. He added that every song that he creates, he takes it to his heart and strived to only record the best popular music.
Sources: Haute Living, Celebrity Net Worth, Wealthy Gorilla,
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