\u201cHe\u2019s not the old Tony anymore,\u201d his wife, Susan, said. \u201cBut when he sings, he\u2019s the old Tony.\u201d<\/b>
\nTony Bennett, the 94-year-old singer who has become a beloved interpreter of the American songbook, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, his wife, Susan, told AARP The Magazine this week. \u201cLife is a gift \u2014 even with Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d the singer tweeted on Monday morning. \u201cThank you to Susan and my family for their support.\u201d Susan Bennett, and Tony Bennett\u2019s eldest son, Danny, told the magazine that Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s \u2014 a degenerative brain disease that causes memory loss, among other things \u2014 in 2016. According to the magazine, Bennett began showing symptoms in 2015. \u201cEven his increasingly rare moments of clarity and awareness reveal the depths of his debility,\u201d the article states. But it said that he had not experienced the disorientation that prompts some patients to wander off, or episodes of terror, rage or depression. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Bennett had continued to perform extensively. But backstage, relatives told the magazine, he could seem \u201cmystified about his whereabouts.\u201d \u201cBut the moment he heard the announcer\u2019s voice boom \u2018Ladies and gentlemen \u2014 Tony Bennett!\u2019 he would transform himself into performance mode, stride out into the spotlight, smiling and acknowledging the audience\u2019s applause,\u201d the piece said. His wife, Susan, would watch nervously, worrying that he would forget a lyric. \u201cI was a nervous frigging wreck,\u201d she told the magazine. \u201cYet he always delivered!\u201d The early signs came in 2015, she told the magazine, when he began forgetting musicians\u2019 names onstage, and began stashing a list on the piano, she said. But he knew something was wrong and wanted to see a doctor, she said, and he learned he had Alzheimer\u2019s in 2016. Susan Bennett said that he can still recognize family members, but the magazine reported that \u201cmundane objects as familiar as a fork or a set of house keys can be utterly mysterious to him.\u201d Bennett, who has had a seven-decade-long career, scored his first big hit in 1951, \u201cBecause of You.\u201d In 1962 he recorded \u201cI Left My Heart in San Francisco,\u201d which became his signature song. Long after other crooners had died or faded from the airwaves, Bennett experienced a resurgence in popularity: He won a Grammy for his 1994 album, \u201cTony Bennett: MTV Unplugged.\u201d Since then, he has recorded duets with a string of notables including James Taylor, Sting and Amy Winehouse. He recorded an album with Lady Gaga in 2014, \u201cTony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek,\u201d which debuted at No.1 on the Billboard\u2019s Top 200 pop and rock chart. According to the AARP article, a follow-up album with Lady Gaga, which was recorded between 2018 and early 2020, will be released this spring. Lady Gaga was aware of Bennett\u2019s condition when they were recording their most recent collaboration, the article said. In documentary footage of the sessions, Bennett rarely speaks, and offers one-word responses like \u201cThanks\u201d or \u201cYeah.\u201d But his appetite for all things musical remains robust. According to the magazine, he continues to rehearse a 90-minute set twice a week with his longtime pianist, Lee Musiker \u2014 and does so without any of the haltingness that can characterize his speech. More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer\u2019s, according to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, including one in 10 people age 65 or older. Symptoms may initially include repeating questions, getting lost in a familiar place or misplacing things, and may eventually progress to hallucinations, angry outbursts, and the inability to recognize family and friends or communicate at all. Alzheimer\u2019s has no cure. Susan Bennett is serving as her husband\u2019s caregiver. \u201cI have my moments and it gets very difficult,\u201d she told the magazine. \u201cIt\u2019s no fun arguing with someone who doesn\u2019t understand you.\u201d But she added that they felt more fortunate than many other people living with Alzheimer\u2019s. Bennett\u2019s last public performance was in March at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, N.J. Before the coronavirus shut down live performances, he was touring often, singing a 90-minute set without cluing in audiences or critics that anything was amiss. \u201cHe\u2019s not the old Tony anymore,\u201d Susan Bennett told the magazine. \u201cBut when he sings, he\u2019s the old Tony.\u201d<\/p>\n