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Singer Tony Bennett has died


marbel
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One of the great singers. This isn't tragic, as he was 96 years old, but still sad as it always is. My father was a big fan; I took him and my mom to see him in concert many years ago. He is most famous for "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" but my personal favorite was "I Wanna Be Around." 

When he was 85:

The icon released Duets II in 2011 and he followed up his starry 2006 effort with songs featuring Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Natalie Cole, Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, John Mayer, Josh Groban, Alejandro Sanz, Winehouse and Gaga. Duets II won Bennett two Grammy

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/tony-bennett-king-of-duets-lady-gaga-amy-winehouse-aretha-franklin-1235541140/

 

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He last performed in 2021 with Lady Gaga. I'm seeing people calling him "the last of the greats" and it's got me thinking: who are considered the great vocalists today?  

If George Michael was still here, I think he'd be one. I never much liked him when he was popular but have come to appreciate his voice recently.

 

Edited by marbel
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The Washington Post had a really nice article about Bennett’s service during WWII, racism and, later, his marching in Selma. I had no idea. My adult child is home today and we have been discussing how some people today talk about segregation like it is in our distant past, then someone like Bennett passes away and you realize that here was someone who experienced and saw racism first hand. 

from the article:

It was Thanksgiving Day, 1945, when two U.S. Army soldiers met unexpectedly in Mannheim, Germany. Part of the occupation force in a conquered city that had been leveled by Allied bombing during World War II, they had sung together only a few years earlier in a musical group back in high school in New York City. The young men decided to spend the rest of the day together, attending a church service and then having a turkey dinner. At least, that was the plan. Their impromptu reunion was cut short just before the meal. An Army officer blasted the two soldiers — one Black and the other White — with a hate-filled rant for being together in public. In the segregated military of the day, the two men were not allowed to socialize. Back then, the punishment for Black and White soldiers associating with one another was more severe than if they fraternized with civilians in occupied Germany.

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