Legendary entertainer Tony Bennett will be performing at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Friday, March 14, 2014 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 10 a.m.
Bennett has sold millions of records worldwide and is the recipient of 17 Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In the last ten years alone, he has sold ten million records. Tony Bennett became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2005, was named an NEA Jazz Master in January of 2006, a Citizen of the World award from the United Nations and a Billboard Magazine Century Award in honor of his outstanding contributions to music. Sony Legacy will release TONY BENNETT: THE CLASSICS on January 28.
As a teenager growing up in Astoria, Queens, Bennett sang while waiting on tables in a restaurant. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army and while in Europe performed with military bands. He later had vocal studies at the American Theatre Wing School and his first nightclub engagement was in 1946 when he sat in with trombonist Tyree Glenn at the Shangri-La in Astoria, Queens. Bennett’s big break came in 1949 when he came to comedian Bob Hope’s attention while he was working with Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village in New York City and invited him to perform at the famed Paramount Theatre.
His initial successes came via a string of Columbia singles in the early 1950’s, including such chart-toppers as “Because of You,” “Rags to Riches,” and a remake of Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart.” He has had 24 songs in the Top 40, including “I Wanna Be Around,” “The Good Life,” “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” and the aforementioned “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Among his many Grammy Awards is the 1995 Grammy for Album of the Year for his MTV Unplugged CD which introduced this American master to a whole new generation. His 2007 primetime special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic, won seven Emmy Awards.
Bennett has been singing duets since he and Rosemary Clooney co-starred on the CBS Radio/TV program Songs for Sale in the summer of 1950. In a number of live concerts throughout his career he has sung with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and other artists from the golden age of American popular song.
In 2006, the year of his 80th birthday, his Duets: An American Classic was released. The album—which included performances with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Bono and others—won three Grammy Awards and went on to be one of the best selling CDs of the year.
In celebration of his 85th birthday in 2011 the release of Bennett’s highly anticipated, Duets II, featured Bennett performing with a new roster of celebrated artists including, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, among others. Duets II debuted at #1 on the Billboard Album charts, making Bennett the only artist at the age of 85 to achieve this mark in the history of recorded music.
Tony Bennett is one of a handful of artists to have new albums charting in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and now in the first two decades of the 21stcentury. He has introduced a multitude of songs into the Great American Songbook that have since become standards for pop music. He has toured the world to sold out audiences with rave reviews whenever he performs. Bennett re-signed with Columbia Records in 1986 and released the critically acclaimed The Art of Excellence. Since his 1991 show-stopping performance at the Grammy Awards of “When Do The Bells Ring For Me,” from his Astoria album, he has received a string of Grammy Awards for releases including Stepping Out, Perfectly Frank and MTV Unplugged.
In the new millennium, Bennett’s artistry and popularity was higher than ever. In 2006, the year of his 80th birthday, his Duets: An American Classicwas released. The album—which included performances with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Bono and others—won three Grammy Awards and went on to be one of the best selling CDs of the year and Tony’s career. Bennett’s first Duets album also inspired the Rob Marshall-directed television special Tony Bennett: An American Classic which won seven Emmys making it the most honored program at the 2007 Emmy Awards. In celebration of his 85th birthday in 2011 the release of Bennett’s highly anticipated, Duets II, featured Tony performing with a new roster of celebrated artists including, the late Amy Winehouse (her last recording was their duet of “Body and Soul”) , Michael Buble, Aretha Franklin, JoshGroban, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, and many others. Duets II debuted at #1 on the Billboard Album charts, making Tony the only artist at the age of 85 to achieve this in the history of recorded music. Bennett won two Grammys for Duets II in the 2012 Grammy ceremony and this year marked the 50thAnniversary of the recording and release of his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” A documentary entitled, THE ZEN OF BENNETT, which was created and conceived by Danny Bennett, Tony’s son and manager, was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2012. At the end of 2012, Bennett also authored his fourth book, the New York Times bestseller, LIFE IS A GIFT, which highlights his personal philosophies learned throughout his life and career.
Tony Bennett is a dedicated painter whose interest in art began as a child. He continues to paint every day, even as he tours internationally. He has exhibited his work in galleries around the world. The United Nations has commissioned him for two paintings, including one for their 50th anniversary. His original painting, “Homage to Hockney,” is on permanent display at the Butler Institute of American Art and the landmark National Arts Club in New York is home to Tony’s painting “Boy on Sailboat, Sydney Bay.” Three of his paintings are part of the Smithsonian Museums permanent collections including his portrait of his friend Duke Ellington that became part of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection in 2009.
Throughout his career, Tony Bennett has always put his heart and time into humanitarian concerns. He has raised millions of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, which established a research fund in his name. His original paintings each year grace the cover of the American Cancer Society’s annual holiday greeting card, proceeds from which are earmarked for cancer research. He is active in environmental concerns and social justice. He marched with Dr. King in the historical Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights movement and the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta bestowed upon him their “Salute to Greatness Award” for his efforts in fighting racial discrimination.
In 1999, Tony Bennett, with his wife Susan Benedetto, a former public school teacher, founded Exploring the Arts (ETA) to strengthen the role of the arts in public high school education. ETA connects private funders, individual artists, and cultural institutions to Partner Schools to achieve greater equality of resources and opportunity for youth of all means and backgrounds. ETA programs are designed to help school principals and teachers sustain the arts in the face of budget cuts and better leverage the arts to strengthen student learning and engagement. ETA’s first endeavor was the establishment of Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (FSSA), a public high school founded in 2001 by Tony and Susan in partnership with the NYC Department of Education. FSSA is housed in a newly constructed building in Tony’s hometown of Astoria, Queens. Its state of the art facilities include visual art studios and a gallery, black box theatres and a stagecraft workshop, dance studios, choral and orchestral classrooms, an 800-seat concert hall, a multi-media technology lab, and a rooftop performance garden. All students major in Dance, Theatre, Film, Fine Art, Vocal or Instrumental Music. FSSA also offers a rigorous academic curriculum and holds one of the highest graduation and college enrollment rates for NYC public high schools. ETA continued beyond its commitment to FSSA to expand their support and o date, ETA currently partners with 17 public high schools — 14 in all five boroughs of New York City and 3 schools located in East Los Angeles.
Tickets cost $90, $80 and $70*; all seats are reserved and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets online at www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone: 1-800-745-3000. Doors open one-hour prior to show start time. *Additional fees may apply.