Today we’ll continue the story of Tony Bennett, the legendary singer
Lesson summary
Hi there everyone, I’m Jeff and this is Plain English, where JR and I help you upgrade your English with current events and trending topics. This is Plain English lesson number 598, so that means you can read the transcript at PlainEnglish.com/598.
Today’s story picks up where we left off on Thursday. Tony Bennett was a famous American singer—he died in late July . On Thursday, I told you about the kind of music he sings and how he rose to fame. Today, we’ll talk about his career slump, and how he revived his career and played music well into his nineties.
In the second half of the lesson, I’ll show you what it means to “fall apart.” And we have a quote of the week. Let’s get going.
Tony Bennett’s second act
When we left off this story on Thursday, Tony Bennett’s career was at a high point. He was attracting huge crowds to his concerts. Critics loved him. He had just won two Grammy Awards for his hit song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Tony Bennett sang a type of music called the “Great American Songbook.” They were songs featured in musical theater, early Hollywood musicals, and jazz clubs, and they were written in in the first half of the Twentieth Century. But times were changing, and those old classics, popular for so long, started to give way to rock-and-roll.
The writing was on the wall : these old classics were not the way of the future.
Bennett’s managers at his record label, Columbia Records, convinced him to try his own move into pop music of the day. He should try to act more like the Beatles. Why not? If the world is changing, why not change with it?
So he agreed—and regretted it for the rest of his career. The cover art on his first pop album showed him in a psychedelic tie, the opposite of his traditional look; he covered a Beatles song. He found the experience so unpleasant that he threw up during the recording. He split with Columbia Records and started working with smaller music labels. He co-founded his own music label, Improv Records. During this time, Bennett was still producing good music, but he was no longer the star he once was. His concerts were mostly limited to Las Vegas. It seemed like Tony Bennett’s moment had passed.
Soon, Bennett hit a personal crisis, too. Improv Records declared bankruptcy. His marriage fell apart , he found himself in debt, and he was using drugs. In 1979, he overdosed on cocaine and tax authorities threatened to seize his home in Los Angeles.
But he worked with his older son, Danny, to engineer a career turnaround. He abandoned the failed pop-music makeover and embraced singing the songs he loved.
That’s when Tony Bennett’s second act began. He always remained faithful to the Great American Songbook, the style he loved to sing. And for the rest of his career, he worked to bring that style to as many music fans as possible, no matter their age, no matter where they got their music. Instead of changing his style to match the moment, he remained authentic.
He went back to Columbia Records and started recording new material of his style of song. He promoted it on “The Late Show with David Letterman.” He recorded tribute albums, first covering Frank Sinatra songs, then doing the same with Fred Astaire songs—boldly re-recording classic songs that had been popular decades before. It didn’t matter: Tony Bennett decided that he stood for the timelessness of the music he loved. And that authenticity struck a chord across pop culture.
This was Tony Bennett’s second act. He had become popular in the eyes of a new generation. He was the first celebrity to be written into an episode of “The Simpsons”—and he voiced himself.
He played alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers to present MTV’s Video Music Awards in 1993. He played himself in cameos in movies like “Analyze This” with Robert De Nero and “Bruce Almighty” with Jim Carrey. And throughout his career, he performed live. He played 200 live shows a year well into his eighties.
And he collaborated with musicians of every stripe. To celebrate his eightieth birthday, Bennett released an album called “Duets” in which he performed with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Barbara Streisand, and Bono. He formed a remarkable late-in-life artistic partnership with Lady Gaga, almost sixty years his junior. The two performed together at the Grammy Awards in 2015 and released an album together in 2021.
Tony Bennett became the connection between modern artists and the musical hits of Broadway shows and early movies. He exposed music fans in the 21st century to the hits of their grandparents’ generation—and he did it in an approachable, modern way.
Tony Bennett never wore leather pants, he never ripped off his shirt. He sang in a tuxedo or a well-tailored suit, his hair always perfect. Ever the gentleman, he was gracious with fans and other singers alike . He spent most of his life in the spotlight, in New York City, the media capital of the world, a city hungry for gossip, a city full of temptation—but he always managed to preserve his reputation as a gentleman. He did have his ups and downs in life, but it seems that nobody had a bad word to say about Tony Bennett.
Bennett’s first album came out in 1950; his last in 2021. He won 19 competitive Grammy Awards, plus a lifetime achievement award in 2001—little did they realize when they gave him that lifetime achievement award, he still had twenty years of performing left in him. He won his last Grammy at age 95, the second-oldest award winner.
In 2021, Bennett’s wife Susan revealed that the legendary singer had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease since 2016. Even after his diagnosis, he made public performances, and he never missed a line. His last performance was in 2021, with Lady Gaga; it was called “One Last Time.” He died on July 21 this year, 2023, in his apartment in Manhattan, overlooking Central Park—the same apartment he lived in for most of his adult life. He was 96.
Tony Bennett’s voice is hard to describe. It wasn’t smooth like Frank Sinatra’s, nor was it gravelly like Louis Armstrong’s. It seemed to split the difference between the two—call it, slightly hoarse. Bennett had a good singing voice, but he also performed the songs with enthusiasm and passion and respect for the audience. He could play for an audience of 10,000 and make everyone feel he was singing right to them.
Quote of the Week
Today’s quote of the week is from Tony Bennett. He said, “Fame comes and goes. Longevity is the thing to aim for.”
Good quote from someone who experienced both—both fame and longevity. He was a big star early in his career, but then pivoted to make a long career being his authentic self. “Fame comes and goes. Longevity is the thing to aim for.”
Next up: I can’t believe we haven’t done this expression yet in almost 600 lessons! It’s “fall apart” and it’s extremely common in English. You need to know how to use this expression, so let’s do it.
Great stories make learning English fun
