Truly a man for all seasons and for all mankind, Tony Bennett carved out a remarkable life for himself on many different levels. All his accomplishments had these things in common: humanity, artistic value, and a consistent gentlemanly quality some call “class.”

Born nearly a century ago, Anthony Benedetto served in the Army in WWII, and his service both exemplified the man himself and shaped his future philosophies. After experiencing the horror of combat in the Battle of the Bulge, Benedetto went on to see man’s inhumanity when he helped liberate a concentration camp in Germany. Later, he was busted from corporal to private for having dinner with a Black friend during the segregated, post-war European occupation. Tony Bennett became a pacifist and a Civil Rights supporter, joining the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. In his autobiography, Bennett wrote, “Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn’t gone through one.”

Bennett loved people and they loved him right back. He duetted with many leading artists, among them John Legend, Michael Bublé, The Chicks, Tim McGraw,  Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Bono, Celine Dion, George Michael, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Sting, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Natalie Cole, Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, John Mayer, Josh Groban, Alejandro Sanz, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Cole, Sheryl Crow, k.d. lang, Kay Starr, Lady Gaga and a long list of Latin artists (including Gloria Estefan, Juan Luis Guerra, Marc Anthony, Christina Aguilera and Romeo Santos) whom Bennett admired because, he explained, they “sing from the heart.”

Regardless of his diverse collaborations, Bennett always performed as the classic Tony Bennett he fashioned, from his early beginnings as a singing waiter to his performances for Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth II, and at the White House and many world-class venues—even to the closing of Shea Stadium in his home borough of Queens, NY. (Tony was the first of his family to be born in a hospital.) Wherever he went, whomever the collaborators or audience, Tony Bennett was the touchstone.

Bennett’s own touchstones were the Bel Canto tradition of Italy and the Great American Songbook—although it might be argued that some of his recordings entered certain songs into that Songbook—and his fidelity paid off. He won 20 Grammies and countless honors, some from institutions like the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress, and others less formal, like Frank Sinatra’s describing Bennett as “the best singer in the business.”

In addition to his career, friends, causes and family, Bennett was an accomplished painter, exhibiting in many museums and galleries. (See “Signature Piece” in Elmore, June 2014 http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2014/06/features/signature-piece-performers-art-on-paper)

Corny as it is, a few Tony Bennett classics come to mind today: Put on a Happy Face, Rags to Riches, The Good Life and, of course, The Best is Yet to Come. The angels have a great frontman for their harps.

—Suzanne Cadgène