A year ago today, I woke up and tuned into NPR on the radio. In just a few seconds, I heard that Tony Bennett had died. While not unexpected, the news cut me to the core. I had loved Tony Bennett and his music for many years, resulting in my starting this blog and creating the sister discography site.

In this journey, as I learned more about Tony Bennett, I not only grew to love his music more but became aware of what an extraordinary man he was. He deeply cared about people and justice. His pacifism and his strong stance as an anti-racist demonstrated his love for peace, truth, and beauty. The school of the arts he built with his wife Susan Benedetto demonstrated his love and caring for subsequent generations of artists and performers.

I was fortunate to meet him backstage a few times, and he was kind and gracious to me as well as all of the fans who met him.

So, today, I’m thinking about him a lot. I miss him everyday and I always wished there had been one more time to see him perform. But what I have also learned this year is that he left us with an extraordinary body of work that brings us joy every day: the recordings, his books, and film documentaries. Like John Pizzarelli said “Tony Bennett had died. But I don’t I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to.” He still lives in the hearts of his fans.

I leave you with the last song he sang, just two days before his death.