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When Tony Bennett hears the opening notes of a familiar song, he always knows what to do.
Let someone start believing in you …
Standing upright, he sits next to the piano.
Let him extend his hand …
Her smile widens; his gaze meets the eyes of those around him.
Let him find you …
He knows the key, the tempo, the lyrics.
And watch what happens.
What happens next is simply remarkable.
“His brain was pretty much built around his music”
As Anderson Cooper reported this week on 60 Minutes, music legend Tony Bennett is plagued by Alzheimer’s disease. On any day, the 95-year-old can forget a lot about his past life. He probably won’t remember the stories behind the photos that fill his New York apartment, not the ones with Frank Sinatra or Rosemary Clooney, not even the one with Bob Hope – the man who gave Anthony Dominick Benedetto his new stage name. : Tony Bennett.
But when Bennett hears that music, the soundtrack that has accompanied more than seven decades of American life, the singer that millions of people have come to know returns.
When Cooper and the 60 Minutes crew arrived at Bennet’s New York City apartment this summer, they witnessed the metamorphosis in real time. Bennett was rehearsing for his last big performance: two parties sold out at Radio City Music Hall in August. He would perform with his friend and collaborator, Lady Gaga.
When it came to an interview, Bennett’s wife, Susan, had to do most of the talking. She is grateful, she told Cooper, that her husband still recognizes her and knows her children. He retains a sympathetic demeanor and a fondness for memories he has, especially those of his mother, Anna. But he has trouble having a conversation and remembering where he is.
That is, until his accompanist, Lee Musiker, started playing a few notes of “Watch What Happens”, a song Bennett has been singing since 1965. He walked out forcefully into the living room, threw his thumb up. towards the cameras and started singing.
“It was one of the most amazing things I’ve experienced on set,” Cooper told 60 Minutes Overtime.
Bennett’s neurologist Dr Gayatri Devi says the transformation goes beyond muscle memory. For Bennett, music was more than what he does; that’s who he is.
“That’s true for a lot of great people, they have an unwavering passion that guides them and everything else is secondary,” Devi told Cooper. “And for Tony, it’s always been music. And so, it’s no wonder his brain has pretty much been built around his music.”
Because Bennett spent seven decades singing for audiences, his ability to perform and his musical memory became ingrained in his brain, Devi explained. And music itself is a great stimulator for the brain. It engages several sections of the brain, visual system, and auditory cortex to the part of the brain that deals with movement and dance.
Music also taps into the part of the brain that processes emotions.
“We all remember emotional memories much more than other types of memories,” Devi said. “Emotional memories, they’re kind of kept in there, so to speak.”
“There is a way to touch the magic inside”
Bennett’s family hope that by telling his story, by sharing his last great performance with the world, they can give hope to other families whose loved ones are struggling with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
“Tony Bennett is always himself when he’s on stage and when he’s singing,” 60 Minutes Cooper said. “And for families who are going through that, it gives them suggestions on how to communicate with that person, how to find the thing that will trigger something in that person that keeps that spark alive.”
One person who helps Bennett keep the spark alive is Lady Gaga. The couple released their first album together in 2014 and recorded a second in 2018. The latter was released last week.
As they rehearsed for their performances at Radio City Music Hall this summer, two concerts that would celebrate Bennett’s 95th birthday, they were able to rekindle some of their old relationships.
“Tony and I, when we’re together it’s like we’ve never stopped. And we pick up where we left off,” Lady Gaga told Cooper.
Bennett’s family and neurologist agree that Lady Gaga is a great partner for the singer. She treats him gently, deliberately working to engage him. When the duo rehearse, rather than talking to him, she often catches his attention, holds his gaze and sings. At other times, she will gently touch his arm to guide it.
“Not everyone knows how to communicate with him, how to get him to respond,” Bennett’s wife, Susan, told Cooper. “And it’s not their fault. But she just has this gift. She’s very respectful.”
As she learned to navigate a new way of communicating with Bennett, Lady Gaga compared her to playing jazz music. Each person can improvise, play their own notes at any given time, so to keep their individual performances in harmony, they have to listen to each other.
It’s a lesson she teaches others who are learning to communicate with a friend or family member with dementia.
“I really want people to know that if a loved one has Alzheimer’s disease, there is a way to communicate,” Lady Gaga said. “And there is a way to touch the magic inside of them that is still there. I think it’s up to us to ask ourselves, what are the ways in which we can convey what we are feeling, so that we can communicate better with them, and receive their love? Because it is always there. “
The coda
Back at Bennett’s Manhattan apartment, Musiker begins playing “This Is All I Ask”. Tony Bennett is getting ready to sing the song, which he first recorded over six decades ago.
When he stands next to the piano, it seems that he has a strong idea of who exactly he is.
Wandering rainbows,
Leave a little color for my heart to possess …
“I consider myself an artist. My tool is singing. I just like to entertain people,” Bennett told 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley in a 1995 interview. “For me, making everyone forget about it. world its problems for an hour, that’s a very noble job for me. You know, I try to make people feel good. “
The stars in the sky,
Make my wish come true before the night flies away …
Bennett is the boy who did his mother good by singing for her when she returned home after making dresses in the clothing district of New York City.
This is the man who kept his singing style, no matter how much the music on the radio evolved and changed, who continued to sell millions of records and attract new generations of fans.
And he’s the man who, at 95, sold out at Radio City Music Hall before leaving the stage for what may well be the last time.
And let the music play as long as there’s a song to sing
And I will stay younger than spring.
The above video was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and Will Croxton. It was edited by Will Croxton.
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