- Tony Bennett (aka Anthony Dominick Benedetto) passed away on July 21 at age 96 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
- At the time of his death, he was married to Susan Benedetto (née Crow), whom he wed in 2007.
- Tony was married before Susan.
Tony Bennett passed away in his hometown of New York on July 21, 2023, just two weeks shy of his 97th birthday. The iconic crooner was known for songs like “Blue Velvet,” “Stranger In Paradise,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” and his collabs with Lady Gaga. While no cause of death was given at the time, Tony had been battling Alzheimer’s disease since 2016.
As one of the most legendary singers in pop and jazz, Tony led a very successful life in the music industry, but he also led a life of love over the years. The singer was married three times; his widow, Susan Crow, married Tony in 2007 after a decades-long romance. The three marriages also resulted in four children, making Tony a doting father (and grandfather, as he leaves behind nine grandchildren).
As the world mourns the loss of Tony’s incredible voice, learn more about Susan and her background with Tony as well as Tony’s two ex-wives below.
Susan Crow
Tony and Susan were married in 2007 after starting up a relationship in the 1980s. She has worked as a school teacher and has admitted to being a big fan of her husband for a long time. Being 40 years younger than him, Tony revealed that he once took a photo with Susan’s parents, Marion and Dayl Crow, at a show in San Francisco when her mom was pregnant with her in 1966.
“As fate would have it, Marion was pegnant at the time with … Susan! It’s a photo we all laugh about knowing the incredible turn of events that followed,” he wrote in his memoir, Just Getting Started, which was released in 2016.
He also opened up about how she went to his concert when she was just nineteen, and that’s what started their romance. “When she was nineteen, she had tickets to see me perform at the Masonic Temple in San Francisco, and she put in a request to say hello backstage after the show, probably not expecting a response,” he explained in the book. “The request was sent to me, and it tickled me that someone of her age was so devoted to my music. I not only agreed to say hello to her backstage but asked her to be my date for the evening, and that’s how it really all began … foreshadowed by a backstage photo taken in 1966!”
In addition to being Tony’s wife, Susan was his caregiver after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He announced the news in Feb. 2021, and Susan talked about the challenge in an interview with AARP Magazine. “There’s a lot about him that I miss, because he’s not the old Tony anymore,” she said in the interview. “But when he sings, he’s the old Tony.”
Sandra Grant Bennett
Tony’s second wife was Sandra Grant. Sandra worked as an actress in the 1965 movie The Oscar, which he also starred in, and that’s reportedly how she met the talented star. They went on to strike up a romance and live together before eventually getting married in 1971. The former lovebirds welcomed two daughters during their love story, including Joanna in 1970 and Antonia in 1974, before separating in 1979. Their divorce wasn’t finalized until 2007.
Patricia Beech
Tony married his first wife, Patricia Beech, in 1952. The duo met after one of his shows when she was an art student, according to Glamour Path. They made headlines during their wedding when thousands of Tony’s female fans stood outside the wedding venue while “mourning” and wearing all black. The former husband and wife didn’t let that stop them from starting their life together, though, and they went on to welcome two sons, including D’Andrea in 1954 and Daegel in 1955. They ended up separating in 1965 and eventually divorced in 1971.
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