Tony Bennett Dead at 96

Tony Bennett, the legendary singer and songwriter of numerous classic American standards is dead ... according to his publicist

Sylvia Weiner confirmed to the Associated Press that Tony died Friday at his home in New York City. While no cause of death was revealed, Tony had battled Alzheimer's disease ... he first announced his diagnosis in 2016.

Tony set a standard for American crooners with timeless hits like his 1962 classic, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco," and, in the process, earned generations of fans and admirers within the music industry ... from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

He released more than 70 albums over a career that spanned 7 decades and earned him 19 Grammys. Most recently, he recorded, performed and toured with Lady Gaga ... who had a deep admiration for him, personally and professionally.

In fact, his last public appearance came with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in August 2021, two months before his last release, the Bennett-Gaga set “Love For Sale,” the sequel to their chart-topping 2014 collaboration “Cheek to Cheek.”

That album enabled him to break his own record as the oldest living performer with a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. He was 88 at the time.

- Three years earlier, he topped the charts with “Duets II,” featuring such contemporary stars as Gaga, Carrie Underwood and Amy Winehouse, in her last studio recording

His rapport with Winehouse was captured in the Oscar-nominated documentary “Amy,” which showed Bennett patiently encouraging the insecure young singer through a performance of “Body and Soul.”

Despite his medical challenges, Tony continued performing and recording until 2021.

Tony was 96.