Tony Bennett Cancels Remaining Tour Dates, Retires From Performing
Tony Bennett has officially retired from performing live. Last week, for his 95th birthday, the legendary crooner did two shows at Radio City Music Hall with Lady Gaga, billed “One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett And Lady Gaga.” And now his son Danny Bennett has confirmed to Variety that those will be the last shows that Bennett performs, after revealing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis earlier this year.
Bennett was originally supposed to play a string of concerts this fall, which were rescheduled dates from before the pandemic, but those were formally cancelled earlier today. His son told Variety: “There won’t be any additional concerts. 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 continued. “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. The decision is being made that doing concerts now is just too much for him.”
Tony Bennett does have a new album on the way in the fall, his second collaboration with Lady Gaga. It’s called Love For Sale and the two of them pay tribute to the songbook of Cole Porter. That’s out on 10/1.