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

[BeyondGeography]

13. "For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer I've ever heard." - Frank Sinatra

And here’s what Tony took from Frank:

Sinatra "taught me, the audience are your friends, they come to see you," Bennett said on "The Tonight Show" (via Rolling Stone). "And he changed my whole psychology about that, there's no such thing as a bad audience. There's a bad performance, but there's not a bad audience."

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/167380/the-untold-truth-of-tony-bennett/

Also in that article:

In 2019, stars aren't shy about utilizing their voices and visibility to advance a cause, but in the '60s, it just wasn't done that way. Only a handful of famous people back then were willing to risk alienating a segment of their fanbase to stand up for what is right, Tony Bennett among them. 

In the 1960s, Bennett advocated for the Civil Rights Movement, participating in the Selma March of 1965 organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While he was a worldwide star, Bennett refused to perform concerts in South Africa due to the country's separatist apartheid laws. His reasons for doing so are wonderfully simple. "We are all human and we are all on this planet together," Bennett told PBS. "So what better reason do you need to not tolerate any form of violence against another human being?" Bennett did so much work in the name of justice that he was honored by the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame and was awarded the Martin Luther King Center's Salute to Greatness Award.

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/167380/the-untold-truth-of-tony-bennett/

He really was great and good.