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More than anybody else I’d like to thank Count Basie for teaching me how to perform.

Tony Bennett

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Tony Bennett
Age: 98
Born: 1926
Born: August 3
Actor
Autobiographer
Jazz Musician
Painter
Recording Artist
Singer
New York City
New York
Anthony Dominick Benedetto
Anthony Dominick Tony Benedetto
Anthony Benedetto
Anybody
Teaching
Else
Like
Basie
Perform
Count
Thank

More quotes by Tony Bennett

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Sometimes the teacher would tell me that if you're singing a love song and you just don't feel it with a person or something you've experienced, just think of a dog or cat that you love.
Tony Bennett
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I think in all of the arts there are just certain people that have a gift. I think it's a certain spirituality, it's a God-given gift that just certain individuals have.
Tony Bennett
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If you follow your passion, you'll never work a day in your life.
Tony Bennett
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I'd like to have every gentleman and lady in this room commit themselves to get our government to legalize drugs. So they have to get it through a doctor, not just some gangsters who sell it under the table. Let's legalize drugs like they did in Amsterdam. No one's hiding or sneaking around corners to get it. They go to a doctor to get it.
Tony Bennett
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I don't disrespect the audience. I only sing very well-written, intelligent songs.
Tony Bennett
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I have been very fortunate to have been able to make a living from what I love to do best - performing and singing for people.
Tony Bennett
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When the uncreative tell the creative what to do, it stops being art.
Tony Bennett
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I am very much inspired by the great masters of entertainment: Bob Hope, George Burns, Jimmy Durante - who never thought about retiring. When people ask me if I plan to retire, I say, Retire to what? I am doing what I love best right now!
Tony Bennett
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Luckily for his audiences, Bennett doesn't tire of singing I Left My Heart. ... that song made me a world citizen. And when I do it, it always feels like the first time.
Tony Bennett
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I don't look down to an audience. I look up to them. They respond to quality.
Tony Bennett
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I knew very early that somehow I would sing and draw and paint my whole life.
Tony Bennett
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It helps to know there is going to be continuity.
Tony Bennett
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Someday, when I'm awfully low, and the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight.
Tony Bennett
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I'm not the type of person who likes to look backwards. I've always felt compelled to move forward and I've never been one to dwell in the past. All the people I've met, all the places I've been, and all the things that I've done have simply been part of who I am.
Tony Bennett
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I have to say I owe my career to the master composers of the Great American Songbook who have written such high-quality songs - the best popular music ever composed.
Tony Bennett
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You can't teach it [jazz singing]. There's nobody who can teach you how to sing jazz. Either you know how to sing jazz, or you don't.
Tony Bennett
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There's always something every night that I learn from reacting to what the audience is reacting to. You learn what to leave out, what to put in, if you need a little more comedy or more drama.
Tony Bennett
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I think if you have a passion for what you do then there are no limitations on how long or how much you can accomplish.
Tony Bennett
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We're in an era where the demand is for immediate hits that are destined to become obsolescent. Six months later, everyone forgets the artist and the tune. It's become like a con job. Producers, engineers, lawyers and accountants all make money, but the artists don't.
Tony Bennett
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I've taken stuff from people, too. You know though, if you steal from one person, you're just a thief. But if you steal from everyone, that's research.
Tony Bennett