Legendary pop singer, Tony Bennett who was admired across the generation from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday. He was 96, and just two weeks away from his birthday.
Although there has been no official cause of death announced is is known that Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. He died in his hometown of New York. His publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death to The Associated Press.
Bennett was married thrice in his lifetime. He married Susan Benedetto (née Crow) in 2007. Before that, he was married to Patricia Beech. They called quits on their relationship in 1965 and their divorce was finalized in 1971. They shared two children, D’Andrea “Danny” Bennett and Daegal “Dae” Bennett.
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Bennett had two other kids with Sandra Grant, Antonia Bennett and Joanna Bennett, whom he married in 1971. The couple separated in 1979 but did not formally divorce until 2007.
In a Forces interview in 2016, Bennett opened up about being a father. “Personally, my four children and seven grandchildren are what make me proud,” he said of his greatest accomplishments. Danny and Dae have worked closely with their father and the former even announced Bennett’s retirement in 2021. “They do a beautiful job. They just want me to sing and paint, and they take care of all of the details,” Tony told the Washington Post in 1985. “They work hard to make sure nothing rubs my dignity or pierces the vanity.”
Here is everything to know about Tony Bennett’s children:
D’Andrea “Danny” Bennett
Danny was born on February 3, 1954. Danny served as the singer’s manager from 1979 until his retirement in 2021. He was credited with reviving his father’s career following a series of financial and substance abuse struggles in the late ’70s. “I don’t just handle a career, I manage a legacy,” Danny told Billboard in 2011.
“I realize how fortunate I am to have someone, in Danny, that is truly looking out for my best interests and not just in it for the money,” Tony told the New York Times in 1999.
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Daegal “Dae” Bennett, 68
Daegal “Dae” Bennett was born in 1955 in the Bronx, New York.
At the age of nine, Dae learned to play the drums at age 9. As a teenager, he joined the band Quacky Duck and His Barnyard Friends with his brother Danny.
According to his website, in his late 20s, Dae built his first music studio, Hillside Sound. For the next 20 years, he worked there alongside plenty of legendary artists such as Naughty by Nature and Salt-N-Pepa. In the late 90s, he began working on his father’s music.
Joanna Bennett
Joanna Bennett, was born in 1969 and was named after the musician’s 1964 hit ‘When Joanna Loved Me.’ Joanna was raised in Beverly Hills, California.
Joanna has lived most of her life out of the public eye. In 2019, her sister Antonia revealed in an interview with the Twin Cities Arts Reader that when she got older, she and Joanna moved to the east coast. As kids, the Bennett daughters joined their father on tour during the summers, according to Page Six. The People magazine reported that Joanna was an actress in 1998.
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Antonia Bennett
Antonia Bennett was born on April 7, 1974, and grew up in Los Angeles before moving to the New York City.
Early on in her life, she displayed a keen aptitude for music. Starting at the age of 4, she started singing with her father according to JazzTimes magazine. She learned from the best of her father’s contemporaries, including Count Basie, Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra. “I have been singing my whole life,” Antonia told the Times of Israel in 2015. “My parents always exposed me to music as well as all the arts. I was surrounded by musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors at a very young age.”
She is married to Ronen Helmann. Her father walked her down the aisle. “Congratulations to my beautiful daughter, Antonia,” he tweeted at the time.
