Tony Bennett’s wife Susan Benedetto breaks her silence on his death aged 96 after a seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s

Tony Bennett’s wife Susan Benedetto broke her silence on the legendary artist’s death just two weeks before his 97th birthday.

On Friday night, she and his son Danny, from his first marriage to Patricia Beech, posted a statement on Instagram that read, “Thank you to all of Tony’s fans, friends and colleagues for celebrating his life and humanity and sharing your love for him and his musical legacy.”

“From his first performances as a singing waiter in Queens to his final performances in 2021 at Radio City Music Hall, Tony took joy in performing the songs he loved and making people happy.” And as sad as today was for all of us, we can forever enjoy Tony’s legacy,” they continued.

Within an hour, the post garnered more than 29,335 likes and thousands of comments from fans, who took to social media to describe the 19-time Grammy winner as an “icon” and a “class performer.”

Born in 1926 in Long Island City, Queens, the eminent musician has enjoyed a decade-long career collaborating with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

His publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed that he died in his hometown of New York.

His biggest fan: Tony Bennett’s wife, Susan Benedetto, broke her silence on the legendary artist’s death just two weeks before his 97th birthday (seen in 2019).

Benedetto was Tony Bennett’s third and last wife before he sadly passed away in July 2023.

She was born Susan Crow in San Francisco in the 1960s; The name Benedetto comes from Tony, his real last name, with Bennet as the stage alias.

Susan taught social studies at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts in New York after graduating from Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Before working in education, she ran Creative Artists Management in Manhattan, which advised artists on how to shape their careers.

After meeting Tony, she continued her work in the performing arts in 1999 when the couple formed the non-profit organization Exploring the Arts to promote and support arts education in New York and Los Angeles.

In a 2013 Huffington Post article, she wrote, “I happen to be one of those lucky people who can honestly say that dreams do come true.”

“Being able to work with my husband Tony Bennett has been such a dream.”

They also founded a high school together – the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts – in Tony’s hometown of Queens, New York, in 2001.

There Susan worked first as a social studies teacher and then as the assistant principal of the school.

A legend: On Friday night, she and his son Danny, from his first marriage to Patricia Beech, released a statement on Instagram that read, “Thank you to all of Tony’s fans, friends and colleagues for celebrating his life and humanity and sharing your love for him and his musical legacy.”

Family first: Tony’s music producer son Danny Bennett (pictured right) was seen leaving his late father’s home with his wife Hadley Spanier

Tragedy: Danny seemed sad as they walked the streets of the Big Apple

The father of four began dating Susan in the late 1980s after divorcing his second wife, Susan Grant, in 1983.

There was a 40-year age difference between the two. They met at a concert when she was in her twenties and he was in his sixties.

The San Francisco-born fan ran a local section of his fan club as a teenager in the 1970s, according to the AARP article.

However, years before, before Susan was even born, they had some sort of encounter.

Tony met Susan’s mother when she was pregnant with the singer’s wife-to-be, as revealed in his 2016 memoir Just Getting Started.

Marion and Dayl Crow, Susan’s parents, were fans of the singer and attended one of his shows in New York City in 1966 and were able to pose for a photo with him backstage.

“As fate would have it, Marion was pregnant with…Susan at the time!” Tony wrote.

“It’s a photo that makes us all laugh, conscious of the incredible turn of events that followed.”

They finally tied the knot on June 21, 2007 in New York City.

Unusual love story: Susan met Tony at a concert when she was in her 20s and he was in his 60s (pictured in an interview with CBS 2021)

Common Interests: Tony and Susan worked together on a number of projects centered on performing arts education

Susan and Tony had no children together, but Tony had four children from his first two marriages.

The last of them, Antonia, was born in 1974, a few years before Tony and Susan got married.

Susan worked closely with Tony’s eldest son D’Andrea or Danny when he was the singers’ manager, particularly after Tony was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Statement: In 2021, the then 94-year-old legendary American singer announced that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016

In February 2021, Susan confirmed this AARP that the singer had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s five years previously.

She described how Tony “wasn’t always sure where he was or what was going on around him” and that “objects as mundane as familiar, like a fork or a set of house keys, can be utterly enigmatic to him.”

“It’s no fun arguing with someone who doesn’t understand you,” she added.

“But I’m sorry to talk about it because we’re so much luckier than so many people with this diagnosis.”

“We have such a good team. Danny handles Tony’s business affairs. “We have great doctors.”

Susan also spoke again about her husband’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in an October 2021 interview with CBS.

“He recognizes me, thank God, his children, you know, we’re blessed in many ways,” she said.