Singer Tony Bennett, who earned numerous Guinness World Records titles during his illustrious career, has died at the age of 96.
The star was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 and had gone public with his illness a few years later.
He said at the time on social media: “Life is a gift – even with Alzheimer’s.”
His death was confirmed by his publicist, Sylvia Weiner, who said he passed away in his hometown of New York, USA.
The American crooner started singing at the age of 10 and enjoyed much success throughout his career that spanned a whopping seven decades.
He announced his retirement from the industry at the age of 95 in 2021.
Tony released one final album, Love For Sale, in September of that year, a collaborative album with Lady Gaga.
The showbiz legend’s son Danny Bennett said as he announced his father’s retirement concerts that while Tony was still a capable singer, he was becoming physically frail and risked suffering a major fall if he continued touring.
He performed his final live shows on 3 and 5 August 2021 alongside Gaga at Radio City Music Hall, in New York.
Despite his retirement, he continued to enjoy singing and would rehearse with his music director a few times a week.
He won many awards during his career, including 20 Grammys, and the “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” hitmaker also earned a string of Guinness World Records titles.
His Love For Sale album with Gaga saw him bag the record for oldest person to release an album of new material.
He was 95 years 58 days old when it went on sale.
Tony also holds the record for most Grammy awards won for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album with 14 of the gongs making it home with him.
Another album he made with Gaga, Cheek To Cheek, saw him named the oldest person to reach No.1 on the US album chart with a newly recorded album, when he was 88 years 68 days old.
Interestingly, he broke his own record that he’d set in 2011 at age 85 years 66 days with his album Duets II, which featured collaborations with contemporary artists including Gaga, Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey.
In 2006, Tony earned the record for longest time between UK top 20 albums, after his album Duets: An American Classic reached the chart 39 years after his last entry.
That same album also earned him the record for oldest person to enter the UK top 20 album chart.
In 2018, Tony was named as the record holder for longest time between the release of an original recording and a re-recording of the same single by the same artist.
He had first released song “Fascinating Rhythm” in 1949 under the stage name Joe Bari, and released a new recording of it with singer Diana Krall 68 years 342 days later.
Tony will always be a Guinness World Records legend.
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