Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett (born August 3, 1926) is an American popular music, standards, and jazz singer who is widely considered to be one of the best interpretative singers in these genres.

Turnaround

After a near-death cocaine overdose in 1979, Bennett called his sons Danny and Dae for help. "Look, I'm lost here," he told them. "It seems like people don't want to hear the music I make."

Related Topics:
Cocaine - Overdose - 1979

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Danny Bennett, an aspiring musician himself, also came to a realization. The band Danny and his brother had started, Quacky Duck and His Barnyard Friends, had foundered and Danny's musical abilities were limited. However he had discovered during this time, that he did have a head for business. His father, on the other hand, had tremenedous musical talent but was having trouble sustaining a career from it. Danny signed on as his father's manager.

Related Topics:
Quacky Duck and His Barnyard Friends - Business

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Danny got his father's expenses under control, moved him back to New York, and began booking him in colleges and small theatres to get him away from a "Vegas" image. Also in 1979, Tony Bennett reunited with Ralph Sharon as his pianist and musical director.

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By 1986, Tony Bennett was re-signed to Columbia Records, this time with creative control, and released The Art of Excellence. This became his first album to reach the charts since 1972.

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