Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96

Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist, whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced a decades-long career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died on Friday. He was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday.

The last of the great saloon singers of the mid-20th century, Bennett often said his lifelong ambition was to create “a hit catalog rather than hit records”. He released more than 70 albums, bringing him 19 competitive Grammys – all but two after he reached his 60s – and enjoyed deep and lasting affection from fans and fellow artists.

Bennett didn’t tell his own story when performing; he let the music speak instead – the Gershwins and Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern. Unlike his friend and mentor Sinatra, he would interpret a song rather than embody it. If his singing and public life lacked the high drama of Sinatra’s, Bennett appealed with an easy, courtly manner and an uncommonly rich and durable voice. “A tenor who sings like a baritone,” he called himself. — AP