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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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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
Best
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More quotes by 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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It's the kind of turn that happened to the great country of Germany, when Nazis came over and created tragic things, and they had to be told off. And if we continue this kind of violence and accept it in our country, the rest of the world's going to really take care of us, in a very bad way.
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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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 knew very early that somehow I would sing and draw and paint my whole life.
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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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
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Every city I go to is an opportunity to paint, whether it's Omaha or Hawaii.
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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I don't disrespect the audience. I only sing very well-written, intelligent songs.
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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More than anybody else I’d like to thank Count Basie for teaching me how to perform.
Tony Bennett
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It helps to know there is going to be continuity.
Tony Bennett
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I have a very strong passion to sing and paint. I'm really a student.
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 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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That song helped make me a world citizen. It allowed me to live, work and sing in any city on the globe. It changed my whole life.
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 still insist that American performers are the best performers in the world.
Tony Bennett
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I know the history of the record business so well because I followed Billie Holiday into the record studios. It was so primitive compared to the sophisticated business today.
Tony Bennett