Born and raised in the Queens area of New York to an Italian-American family, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, better known professionally as “Tony Bennett” truly has nothing left to prove. He’s now 95 years old, fighting Alzheimer’s, but not allowing this disease to keep him from living.
Bennett started singing at a very young age. By age 10 he was already singing and performed at the opening of the Triborough Bridge in July 1936. He began getting paid for singing at age 13, performing as a singing waiter in several Italian restaurants around his native Queens. He also developed an aptitude for drawing, creating caricatures for his class at PS 141. He attended New York’s School of Industrial Art where he studied painting and music but had to drop out at age 16 to help support his family. He set his sights on a professional singing career, performing as a singing waiter, playing, and winning amateur nights all around the city, and finding local success at a Paramus, New Jersey...