Tony Bennett shares diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

A poignant new AARP profile of Tony Bennett, 94, reveals that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. In the years that followed, the legendary jazz singer continued to tour and record extensively new music, including a second album with Lady Gaga (with whom he recorded 2014 Cheek to cheek), which is expected to be released this spring.

Bennett first sought neurological counseling in 2015, after complaining to his wife, Susan, that he was having trouble remembering the names of other musicians on stage. Months later, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Bennett’s neurologist Gayatri Devi, MD, told reporter John Colapinto that she encouraged him to continue working on his music. “It kept him on his toes and also boosted his brain significantly,” she says.

As Colapinto notes in his story, the benefits of music for patients with dementia are “well documented but not well understood”. Over the past few years, even as his memory has deteriorated backstage, on stage, Bennett has been able to pull off 90-minute sets perfectly. But the COVID-19 outbreak has meant that all tours have been suspended and the disruption has had a huge impact on Bennett, as well as many other dementia patients.

“Her memory, before the pandemic, was so much better,” Devi said. “And he’s not alone. Many of my patients are negatively affected by the isolation, the inability to do the things that matter to them. For someone like Tony Bennett, the big effect he got while playing was very important.

Bennett’s family and friends wanted to share his diagnosis, they explained, as they hoped it would help remove some of the stigma that surrounds Alzheimer’s disease.

“Panicking and hiding is really unnecessary,” said Gill Livingston, MD, a University College London psychiatrist who specializes in dementia, told AARP. “What we want is for people to be as open as possible, open in themselves and within their families, so that they can be supported in the things they cannot do and be helped. to live a relatively full life. The support makes a big difference. “

Bennett’s son Danny said when he told Lady Gaga they were considering talking about his father’s diagnosis, she welcomed the idea. “I wanted to check in with her to make sure she was cool because she’s watching her back all the time,” Danny said. “She said, ‘Absolutely, that’s just another gift he can give the world.'”