Legendary Singer Behind 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' Would Have Turned 100

On Aug. 3, 1926, legendary singer Tony Bennett was born in Long Island City, N.Y., and his lasting impact on music is greatly remembered by many.

“I come from a wonderful Italian-American family. My father died when I was 10 and my family would make a circle around us to help my mom out,” the musician, born Anthony Dominick Benedetto, previously recalled to Parade of his upbringing. Every Sunday, Bennett’s family would visit, when Bennett and his siblings would entertain his relatives. “They would encourage us and they would say, ‘Look at how Tony is singing’ and ‘Look at how he paints,’ and it really created a passion in me for the rest of my life. I remember very clearly as a young boy saying, ‘This is who I am. My family is telling me that I sing well and I paint well, so I’m going to keep doing that.’ To this day, I still have a strong desire to get better and better as I get older.”

Bennett would sing while waiting tables as a teenager and with military bands when he was enlisted in the army during World War II. One of his earliest recordings, “St. James Infirmary Blues,” was recorded in Germany just after the war ended, and it held a special place in the singer’s heart. He told Parade in 2013, “I loved it. Even today, I consider it one of my favorite records that I ever made.”

Upon returning home to the United States in 1949, Bennett went on to study music at the American Theatre Wing. The same year, TV entertainer Bob Hope saw the singer performing at a nightclub in Greenwich Village. Impressed with Bennett’s talent — “We’ll call you Tony,” he said, — Hope asked him to join him on his national tour.

In 1950, Bennett signed to Columbia Records after sharing a demo of his now hit single, “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” which was released on May 22 of the same year. His career took off following the release of his cover of Larry Clinton & His Orchestra’s “Because of You” in 1951.

Just over a decade later, Bennett won his first two Grammy Awards for “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Over the course of his celebrated career, the hitmaker won 20 Grammys, along with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

In addition to singing, the musician had a deep love for painting, something that he did “every day”. He owned his own art studio in Manhattan, located just a few blocks from Central Park, which was one of Bennett’s favorite places to go to sketch and paint.

Bennett died on July 21, 2023, at age 96. Two years before his death, he revealed that he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease for several years. Today, Aug. 3, 2026, the legendary singer and artist would have turned 100, but his memory lives on through his beloved music and his admiration from millions.

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