Anthony Dominick Benedetto started out in the 1940s as a singing waiter in his native New York. Discovered (and renamed) by Bob Hope while performing with Pearl Bailey, Tony Bennett went on to sell more than 50 million records worldwide. He’s featured in AMERICAN MASTERS Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends. Below, the renowned entertainer answers some questions about his life and career:

Q: Since the 1950s, you’ve consistently recorded one album after another. You keep a rigorous tour schedule. In August, you celebrated your 81st birthday. Where do you find your ongoing energy and inspiration?

A: 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. 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. 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!”

Q: Your recent album, Duets: An American Classic, earned you yet another Grammy Award. What was the motivation for collaborating with those artists?

A: My son Danny, who is my manager and a brilliant guy, approached me about doing a duets CD of my songs in honor of my 80th birthday. I was a bit apprehensive about the idea at first but a few weeks later he called me up and said, “We have Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Sting, James Taylor…” I stopped worrying and had a terrific time in the studio with all these artists recording it.

Q: Frank Sinatra called you “the best singer in the business.” What do you think has contributed to your vocal longevity?

A: I was very fortunate after I came home from WWII to be able to study at the American Theatre Wing under the GI Bill of Rights. It was there that I studied bel canto and it has been an excellent discipline that has kept my voice in shape all along.

Q: What does it mean to you to be designated an American Master?

A: I happen to be a big fan of PBS and love American Masters so it is truly a thrill to have a program being aired on the series. But 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.

Q: Jazz has infused your work since the start. How much influence does it have on your work today?

A: I have always loved jazz music and as a teen growing up in New York City and then later on as an adult have great memories of the jazz clubs that were all located on 52nd Street. I still catch as many jazz shows as I can when I am in New York. And when I perform, I have my jazz quartet by my side. Jazz musicians keep things spontaneous and very “live,” which is the way I like to perform.

Q: What brought you and Clint Eastwood, the film’s executive producer, together?

A: I have always admired Clint Eastwood’s films and he came out to see me perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival a few years ago. We got together while I was at the festival and had a wonderful conversation for a few hours, talking about everything, and the idea of doing a documentary grew from that day.

Q: You’re an Italian from Queens who participated in the Civil Rights marches in the 1960s and who refused to perform in apartheid South Africa. Where does your commitment to such principles come from?

A: Regardless of religion or race or ethnic background we are all human and we are all on this planet together. So what better reason do you need to not tolerate any form of violence against another human being?

Q: Your career is a family affair these days, and you work closely with your son Danny. How has he influenced your career?

A: Several years ago I went to Danny for advice and he knew that I just wanted to concentrate on my singing and my painting and he said “You do that, and I will handle the business side.” It has been a wonderful partnership ever since and given me the time and freedom to just concentrate on the creative.

Q: You’re a gifted painter. Have you had any formal training? Were you ever tempted to forgo music for art full time?

A: I attended the High School of Industrial Arts and studied with many great artists as painting is something that you never stop learning about. Actually, in high school there was a time that I was thinking about just concentrating on painting and I asked my music teacher, Mr. Sondberg, for advice and he encouraged me to stick with the music as well. So all my life I have been singing and painting.

Q: The internet has changed the musical landscape dramatically. What advice do you give to new singers today?

A: The best advice I can give them is to be true to themselves – don’t try to be just like some other singer hitting it big – find your own style and be honest in your performances. And never underestimate your audience.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I have so many ideas of new projects that I hope I have the time to get them all accomplished, but I’m looking forward to an art book of my paintings to come out in October and a new CD of my favorite songs from the Great American Songbook at the end of September.

Tony Bennett was trained from the start in the bel canto style of singing. It served him well. Bennett has gone on to earn 15 Grammys and to sell more than 50 million records in a career that’s celebrated in AMERICAN MASTERS Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends. Here is a timeline of major events in the entertainer’s life:

1926

The son of a grocer and an Italian-born immigrant, Tony Bennett is born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3.

1936

Already attracting notice as a singer, Bennett performs beside Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at the opening of the Triborough Bridge.

1944-46

Serves in combat in Europe during World War II and, upon his return stateside, attends the American Theater Wing on the GI Bill.

1949

Pearl Bailey asks Bennett to join her revue at New York’s Village Inn and he’s discovered by Bob Hope, who attends one of the performances. Hope offers Bennett a spot in his shows at the famed Paramount Theatre. Backstage, before Bennett goes on, Hope christens him “Tony Bennett,” changing it from Bennett’s stage name at the time, “Joe Bari.”

1950

Successfully auditions for Columbia Records’ producer Mitch Miller, singing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and signs with the label.

1951

Scores his first hit, “Because of You,” which peaks at No. 1 and remains on the charts for 32 weeks. His next single, Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart,” becomes the first notable cover of a country tune. Both feature the Percy Faith Orchestra, which provides the lush backdrop of 24 Top 40 tunes he charts before 1964.

1951-1953

Scores four hits in the Top Five of the charts.

1956

Performs for the first of nine U.S. presidents, Dwight Eisenhower.

1957

The experimental album The Beat of My Heart highlights jazz percussionists as its only instrumentation and serves as a precursor to later distinguished works.

1958

“Firefly,” by new songwriting team of Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, becomes Bennett’s last hit of the ’50s.

Basie Swings, Bennett Sings serves as a blueprint for his later forays into jazz singing.

1962

Records his first Grammy Award winner – and his subsequent trademark tune – “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Released as a single by Columbia, it remains on national charts for nine months. When the song’s album is released, it goes gold. The song was written by then-unknown songwriters George Cory and Douglass Cross.

Sells out New York’s Carnegie Hall, becoming the first male pop solo performer at the famed venue. As a follow-up, Columbia releases the live album, Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall.

Performs for the Queen of England in the first of six Royal Command Performances.

1963

I Wanna Be Around hits the top of the charts. The album’s title track also hits, as does the album’s next single, “The Good Life.”

1964-66

Scores a string of aesthetic and popular triumphs with his albums consistently hitting the top of charts, including 1964’s When Lights Are Low, his tribute to the King Cole Trio and 1966’s The Movie Song Album.

Enjoys a series of charting singles, such as the Top 40 hits “Who Can I Turn to (When Nobody Needs Me)” from the 1964 Broadway musical The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd and “If I Ruled the World” from the 1965 Broadway musical Pickwick.

1965

Joins friend and colleague Harry Belafonte to march with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama.

1968

Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album – which stands as his only solo yuletide release for nearly 35 years – gives audiences such classics for the holidays as “Winter Wonderland,” “White Christmas” and “My Favorite Things.” Robert Farnon arranges the music and conducts the orchestra for the project.

1972-77

Changes labels from Columbia to MGM Records and, by the mid-1970s, decides to form his own record company, Improv. Makes several albums for Improv, including two critically-acclaimed duet records with jazz pianist Bill Evans in 1975 and 1977.

1979

Son Danny, who becomes his manager, begins forging the next stage of his pop icon father’s career, which yields a new era that brings an overwhelming affinity from the next generation of audiences.

1986

Touring regularly in concert halls around the world, Bennett finds a growing appreciation for traditional pop music as performers like Natalie Cole and Linda Ronstadt record albums of standards. In this new environment, Bennett re-signs with Columbia records and releases The Art of Excellence, his first chart album in 14 years.

1990

The first celebrity guest artist to “appear” as himself in the animated hit The Simpsons – in the episode entitled Dancin’ Homer- Bennett starts to break ground with a younger set of fans.

Having consistently garnered excellent reviews in venues such as the Hollywood Bowl and Radio City, Bennett celebrates 40 years in the business with a concert at London’s Prince Edward Theatre.

Columbia/Legacy’s Forty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett is released as a four-CD set.

1991

Delivers a show-stopping performance of “When Do the Bells Ring for Me” from his Astoria album at the Grammy Awards.

1992

His album Perfectly Frank – a sampling of Bennett’s take on an array of Frank Sinatra songs – starts the Bennett revival in earnest and earns him a Grammy Award. Appropriately enough, Sinatra himself has called Bennett his favorite singer.

1993

Bennett’s tribute to Fred Astaire, Steppin’ Out, goes gold, and he wins another Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. The video is included in MTV’s popular program Buzz Bin and he is nominated for an MTV Video Music Award.

Presenting with the Red Hot Chili Peppers – alongside Anthony Kiedis and Flea – at the MTV Music Video Awards cements Bennett’s reputation as the epitome of cool. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are just one of the alternative rockers who will cite Bennett’s influence on their music.

1994

Further bringing Bennett to the forefront of the next generation’s hip idea of music, his MTV Unplugged – featuring guest stars Elvis Costello (”They Can’t Take That Away from Me”) and k.d. lang (”Moonglow”) – goes platinum and wins the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

1995

Earns another Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance for Here’s to the Ladies, which includes his version of songs by several female singers, such as Barbra Streisand’s “People” and Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow.”

1996

Rizzoli International Publications publishes What My Heart Has Seen, a collection of Bennett’s paintings that features portraits he has created of some of his idols, including Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, and landscapes of his world travels.

On Valentine’s Day, A&E airs Live by Request: Tony Bennett and garners Bennett an Emmy and Cable Ace Award. The program’s concept, developed by Bennett himself, is so popular that the network creates a continuing series of Live by Request music specials.

1997

Earns a Grammy Award for Bennett on Holiday: A Tribute to Billie Holiday.

1998

His best-selling autobiography, The Good Life, hits bookstores.

Releases a children’s album, The Playground.

1999

Wins another Grammy for his tribute to friend and colleague, Duke Ellington, Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot and Cool.

Makes a cameo appearance in the hit film Analyze This, starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal.

2001

Releases on Columbia Records Playin’ With My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues, an album of duets with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder, featuring such tunes as “Stormy Weather” with Natalie Cole and “Let the Good Times Roll” with B.B. King.

Receives a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Celebrates his 75th birthday with a gala event at Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The city of New York opens the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts high school in Queens, which Bennett conceived of and championed.

2002

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honors Bennett with the Pied Piper Lifetime Achievement Award.

Receives a Grammy Award for Playin’ With My Friends.

With son Dae, open Bennett Studios in Englewood, N.J. as a full-service, state of the art production and recording facility.

With k.d. lang, records a duets album at Bennett Studios, A Wonderful World, which is produced by T-Bone Burnett.

PBS airs the performance special, Tony Bennett’s Wonderful World: Live in San Francisco.

2003

Makes cameo appearance in the film, Bruce Almighty, starring Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston.

Along with k.d. lang, wins a Grammy for A Wonderful World.

2004

Returns to Bennett Studios to record The Art of Romance, which features the track, “All for You,” with lyrics penned by Bennett himself.

2005

Named Kennedy Center honoree.

Original oil painting, Central Park, is accepted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.

2006

Named 2006 NEA Jazz Master.

Wins Grammy Award for The Art of Romance.

In celebration of his 80th birthday, Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic is released and becomes the highest charting and best selling CD of his career, reaching platinum status in less than three months.

NBC airs Tony Bennett: An American Classic, a groundbreaking musical variety special directed by Oscar winner Rob Marshall.

Receives the Billboard Century Award.

2007

Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic wins three Grammy Awards, including shared vocal duet award for Bennett and Stevie Wonder for their rendition of “For Once in My Life.”

Honored by the United Nations with their 2007 Humanitarian Award.

Tony Bennett is an artist who moves the hearts and touches the souls of audiences. He’s the singer’s singer and has received high praise from his colleagues through the years, including Frank Sinatra, who stated unequivocally, “Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.” He is an international treasure who was honored by the United Nations with its Citizen of the World award, which aptly describes the scope of his accomplishments.

The son of a grocer and Italian-born immigrant, Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born on August 3, 1926, in the Astoria section of Queens. He attended the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan, where he nurtured his two passions – singing and painting. His boyhood idols included Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, both big influences on Bennett’s easy, natural singing style. Bennett sang while waiting tables as a teenager, then performed with military bands in the Army during World War II. He later had vocal studies at the American Theatre Wing school. The first time Bennett sang in a nightclub in 1946, he sat in with trombonist Tyree Glenn at the Shangri-La in Astoria.

Bennett’s big break came in 1949 when comedian Bob Hope noticed him working with Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village in New York City. As Bennett recalls, “Bob Hope came down to check out my act. He liked my singing so much that after the show he came back to see me in my dressing room and said, ‘Come on kid, you’re going to come to the Paramount and sing with me.’ But first he told me he didn’t care for my stage name (Joe Bari) and asked me what my real name was. I told him, ‘My name is Anthony Dominick Benedetto,’ and he said, ‘We’ll call you Tony Bennett.’ And that’s how it happened. A new Americanized name, the start of a wonderful career and a glorious adventure that has continued for 50 years.”

With more than 50 million records sold worldwide and platinum and gold albums to his credit, Bennett has received 15 Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The MTV generation first took Bennett to heart during his appearance with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the 1993 MTV Video Awards ceremony. He appeared on MTV Unplugged and the resulting recording of the same name garnered the singer Grammy’s top award, Album of the Year. “Tony Bennett has not just bridged the generation gap,” pointed out The New York Times, “he has demolished it. He has solidly connected with a younger crowd weaned on rock. And there have been no compromises.” Bennett credits his son and manager, Danny, for his success in capturing a whole new generation of listeners.

His initial successes came via a string of Columbia singles in the early 1950s, including such chart-toppers as “Because of You,” “Rags to Riches” and a remake of Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart.” He had 24 songs in the Top 40, including “I Wanna Be Around,” “The Good Life,” “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me),” and his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” which garnered him two Grammy Awards. Bennett is one of a handful of artists to have new albums charting in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and beyond. He introduced a multitude of songs into the Great American Songbook that have since become standards for pop music. He has toured the world to sold-out audiences with rave reviews whenever he performs. Bennett re-signed with Columbia Records in 1986 and released the critically acclaimed The Art of Excellence. Since his 1991 show-stopping performance at the Grammy Awards of “When Do the Bells Ring for Me,” from his Astoria album, he has received a string of Grammy Awards for releases, including Steppin’ Out, Perfectly Frank, and MTV Unplugged. In celebration of his unparalleled contributions to popular music with worldwide record sales of over 30 million, Columbia/Legacy assembled Forty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett. The four-CD boxed set, released in 1991, chronicles the singer’s stellar recording career and documents his growth as an artist, inspiring Time magazine to call the collection “… the essence of why CD boxed sets are a blessing.”

Tony Bennett became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2005, and in 2006 was named an NEA Jazz Master and recipient of Billboard Magazine’s prestigious Century Award, in honor of his outstanding contributions to music.

Tony Bennett has also received an Emmy Award and a Cable Ace Award for his groundbreaking television special, Live By Request…Tony Bennett, which featured a unique interactive format in which the viewing audience called in song requests to the performer live during the program, a concept created by Bennett that has become a regular special on the A&E network. Bennett has also authored two books, What My Heart Has Seen, a bound edition of his paintings published in 1996, and The Good Life, his heartfelt autobiography released in 1998. He won another Grammy Award in 2006 for The Art of Romance.

Tony Bennett is a dedicated painter whose interest in art began as a child. He continues to paint every day, even while touring internationally. He has exhibited his work in galleries around the world and was chosen to be the official artist of the 2001 Kentucky Derby, creating two original paintings celebrating this historic event. The United Nations has commissioned him for two paintings, including one for its 50th anniversary. His original painting “Homage to Hockney” is on permanent display at the Butler Institute of American Art, while the landmark National Arts Club in New York is home to his painting, “Boy on Sailboat, Sydney Bay.” Most recently his oil painting, entitled “Central Park,” was accepted to the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s permanent collection in Washington, D.C.

Throughout his career, Bennett has always put his heart and time into humanitarian concerns. He has raised millions of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, which established a research fund in his name. His original paintings each year grace the cover of the American Cancer Society’s annual holiday greeting card, proceeds from which are earmarked for cancer research. He is active in environmental concerns and has performed at fundraisers for both the Walden Woods Foundation and the Save the Rainforest Foundation. The Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta bestowed upon him its Salute to Greatness Award for his efforts to fight discrimination. He conceived and spearheaded the effort to honor his great friend with the establishment of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, which opened its doors as a New York City public high school offering an extensive arts curriculum in September 2001.

In the 1950s, thousands of screaming bobby-soxers surrounded the Paramount Theatre in New York, held back only by police barricades, to see their singing idol Tony Bennett. Today, the children and grandchildren of those fans are enjoying the same experience. Perhaps what sums up Bennett’s legacy and longevity best was the observation The New York Times made in a review of MTV Unplugged. “What accounts for the Bennett magic? Artistry certainly. The repertory is indeed classic… But perhaps more important is his ability to convey a sense of joy, of utter satisfaction, in what he is doing.”

Tony Bennett turned 80 on August 3, 2006, an event that generated a wide range of tributes and celebrations. In addition to the release of Duets – An American Classic, RPM Records/Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings is launching a monumental and definitive reissue project, The Tony Bennett Master Series. Executive produced by Tony Bennett and Danny Bennett, the first five releases in The Tony Bennett Master Series include expanded editions of three Grammy-winning titles – I Left My Heart In San Francisco (1962), Perfectly Frank (1992), and MTV Unplugged (1994) – as well as two brand-new 16-song collections: Tony Bennett’s Greatest Hits of the ’50s and Tony Bennett’s Greatest Hits of the ’60s.

Bennett was the subject of a major television special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic, which aired on NBC in November 2006. The special featured musical guests Elton John, Michael Bublé, John Legend, k.d. lang, Diana Krall, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Chris Botti, and Juanes. Segment hosts for the program included Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Billy Crystal, John Travolta, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Notables from the worlds of music, stage, screen, and politics were on hand to help Bennett celebrate his 80th birthday at a star-studded party at the Museum of Natural History in New York. The evening included heartfelt tributes from Harry Belafonte, Bruce Willis, Katie Couric, and former President Bill Clinton.

As the world’s most boyish octogenarian, a vital musical artist at the peak of his powers, Tony Bennett is living proof that fairy tales can indeed come true when you’re young at heart.