On Thursday, August 3 — which would have been the late Tony Bennett‘s 97th birthday — his wife Susan Benedetto and son Danny Bennett revealed details of the legendary crooner’s final days on NBC’s Today show. Bennett died on July 21 at the age of 96 following a yearslong battle with Alzheimer’s.
Danny told Hoda Kotb that his father’s last words to him were, “Thank you,” while Susan said the last thing Tony said to her was that he loved her.
“He would wake up every day and still say that,” she continued. “He woke up happy every day, even if he had had a bad day or night, he didn’t remember it, that was the only blessing. And yeah, he woke up happy and he’s just like, ‘Susan, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.’ And he would say that all the time.”
Susan also shared that Bennett would often ask, “Am I working tonight?” or “Am I in a good theater tonight?” When he noticed her showing one of his aides YouTube videos of him, Susan says he asked, “Was I always popular?” “Yes sweetheart,” she replied. “You’ve been popular for over 70 years.”
“That’s because I stayed with quality,” he declared.
“He just really wanted to be remembered as a nice person,” Susan said. “And I think all the outpouring of love…has proven that. People feel like they lost a family friend, even if they never met him.”
“I’ve lost my North Star,” she added. “No reason to feel bad for me, though, because my life has been wonderful and I’ll find a way to make sure it stays that way. It’ll just be different, forever.”
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.