Tony Bennett has reportedly taken his final bow: the legendary crooner is hanging it up after his two 95th birthday concerts at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall with Lady Gaga last week. According to his son and manager Danny Bennett, the singer has canceled the remainder of his 2021 tour dates and will instead retire from performing per “doctors’ orders.”
Earlier this year, Bennett’s family revealed that the 95-year-old has been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease since 2016, though to this point, the disease has not impacted his ability to perform. Still, given the fact that he’s pushing 100 and living with a degenerative disease, it makes sense that going on tour while the Delta variant continues to spread is unwise.
“There won’t be any additional concerts,” Danny Bennett said. “This was a hard decision for us to make, as he is a capable performer. This is, however, doctors’ orders. His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors — when Tony’s wife, Susan heard them — she said, ‘Absolutely not.’”
“He’ll be doing other things, but not those upcoming shows. It’s not the singing aspect but, rather, the traveling. Look, he gets tired,” he continued. “The decision is being made that doing concerts now is just too much for him. We don’t want him to fall on stage, for instance — something as simple as that. We’re not worried about him being able to sing. We are worried, from a physical standpoint … about human nature. Tony’s 95.”
Ultimately, it’s remarkable that Bennett performed as long as he did. How many other 95-year-olds do you know who are still working? (And how many 95-year-olds do you know in general?) We’ve got to tip our caps to Bennett for his resilience — and of course, for his unmatched career.
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