Tony Bennett died this morning… just two weeks shy of his 97th Birthday.

If I had to pick two singers who made up the “Soundtrack” of my life it would be Tony and Frank Sinatra. I met and interviewed Tony several times over the years… once at the Roostertail many years ago, another time at one of my many radio stations, and another at his Hotel in town. I got there a few minutes early for our pre-arranged interview and Tony answered the door wearing only a t-shirt and boxer shorts. He ended up doing the whole interview dressed that way!!

From his first hit, “Because of You” in the 1950’s to his recent “Duet” albums that he did with Lady Gaga and other artists , Tony Bennett was…and always will be… one of the greatest American standard/pop singers of all time - on par with Frank Sinatra who once said, “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business."

On a personal note… When I was in elementary school… one of my teachers, Miss Tripidii, was actually COUSINS with Tony Bennett!!!! I’ll never forget her handing out black and white wallet sized photos of him to everyone in the class!

If only I’d kept mine…

One more thing - I was going to post one of of his more popular songs like “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”… but I decided to put up a lesser known hit of Tony’s - but a great one - “If I Ruled the World”. It was written in 1963 but it has a message that we all need to hear today…

If only…

- Dick