ByQuotes

Tony Bennett Quotes

Powerful Tony Bennett for Daily Growth

It sounds so simple, but if you just be yourself, you're different than anyone else.

- Tony Bennett

Simple, Be Yourself, Just Be, Just Be Yourself

I still insist that American performers are the best performers in the world.

- Tony Bennett

World, American, Still, Performers

Performers should really go to the best schools, like Lady Gaga, you know, she went to NYU and had great teachers... It's best to really study your technique as much as you possibly can so you can have a long career instead of a quick one that's a failure.

- Tony Bennett

Career, Study, Quick, Performers

I was possessed with a wonderful example of my Italian American family. They would come over and join us every Sunday, all my aunts and uncles and nephews and nieces, and I would sing for them.

- Tony Bennett

Over, Possessed, Italian

Gaga is a gorgeous singer, and when she sings a great ballad, I get goose bumps.

- Tony Bennett

She, Sings, Gaga, Goose

I have a simple life. I mean, you just give me a drum roll, they announce my name, and I come out and sing. In my job I have a contract that says I'm a singer. So I sing.

- Tony Bennett

Simple Life, Give, Singer, Contract

It's a great thing that the United States has given the rest of the world - no other country has given such great popular music to the Far East and Europe. When I play those great countries, a lot of times, the audience starts singing the songs with me. They know them. They love them.

- Tony Bennett

Love, Play, Country, Great Thing

Mercer was very clever. He knew the way Southerners spoke and put that into his lyrics. But in that whole era, you had the best. Harold Arlen was just fantastic. Cole Porter was better than anybody, and Gershwin was Gershwin, y'know. Johnny Mercer started Capitol Records, and he brought in Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole.

- Tony Bennett

Very, Dean, Brought, Southerners

I don't sing operatically, and I sing very intimately, but I still do the scales, and I think in terms of intonation and making sure that I'm hitting the notes right on the head... and having it appear quite effortless.

- Tony Bennett

Think, Very, Still, Intonation

I lived for 15 years in Los Angeles, and I still can't believe that the handsomest man in the world, Cary Grant, and the greatest performer in the world, Fred Astaire, and Johnny Carson, one after another - they were all in my home at different times. I celebrated my 50th birthday with them. Unforgettable.

- Tony Bennett

Birthday, Believe, Another, Johnny

My whole premise has been, right from the beginning, that it would take me a lifetime to learn to explain myself as an artist. As you grow older, you learn what to do and what to leave out. You kind of simplify your work and get the same thing done with fewer strokes. It's pretty interesting to me.

- Tony Bennett

Beginning, Explain, Been, Premise

As a young boy, I did a lot of foolish things. I made a lot of mistakes. And you live and learn.

- Tony Bennett

Learn, Young, Lot, Foolish

Every week, as an 11-year-old kid, I would tune in to what was really the first American Idol-type program, a radio show called 'Major Bowes' Amateur Hour.' The winning group on the evening of September 8, 1935, was called the Hoboken Four, and their spokesman was Frank Sinatra, then aged 19.

- Tony Bennett

Week, Kid, Frank, None

I respected Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. Those were my heroes, and they were 10 years older than I was.

- Tony Bennett

King, Frank, Nat King Cole, None

Nobody has communicated with the public more than Lady Gaga. Ever. I trust the audience, and I'm very impressed. As far as they're concerned, she's part of their family. The only guy who ever did that was Bing Crosby, years ago.

- Tony Bennett

Trust, Very, Crosby, None

Fame comes and goes. Longevity is the thing to aim for.

- Tony Bennett

Fame, Aim, Goes, Longevity

For many years, I've always been attached to what they call the Great American Songbook, and Kern was a great leader of that because he had the classical training of Europe. He impressed all the greatest composers, like Cole Porter and Gershwin. They couldn't believe he was writing the songs he was writing.

- Tony Bennett

Leader, Been, Composers, Gershwin

The young people look great on television. They're youthful and have a lot of zip and energy, but when you see them live, they can only do about 20 minutes because they haven't got the training to hold an audience for an hour and a half or so.

- Tony Bennett

Young, About, Half, Hour And A Half

In America, at the beginning of talkies, they pulled Fred Astaire from the theaters and put him on the screen and had all of these great composers write songs for him. They call it the Great American Songbook; I call it the Fred Astaire Songbook because they were written for him.

- Tony Bennett

Beginning, Screen, Composers, Theaters

I've been so fortunate because I never really had ups and downs as far as my career. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I've been sold out all over the world.

- Tony Bennett

Career, Been, Had, Ups

I was taught never to compromise: to never sing a cheap song. I never look down at the audience and think that they are ignorant or think that I'm more intelligent than they are. To think otherwise is totally incorrect and runs contrary to everything I was raised to believe.

- Tony Bennett

Believe, Down, I Was Raised, Runs

Presley is country music, white music. Jazz is black music - it was invented by the blacks in New Orleans. And I'm really a jazz singer. I was impressed with Elvis - he was the handsomest guy I ever met in my life, and a very nice person, too. But the music doesn't impress me.

- Tony Bennett

My Life, Country, Very, New Orleans

The high point for me in my career was when Sinatra called me his favourite performer in the Fifties. And I've been sold out ever since.

- Tony Bennett

Career, Been, Sold, High Point

When you hear a great two-track of a performance in Carnegie Hall, let's say, it sounds like you're right there at that moment. It's true to reality. And the closer it gets, once it gets too technical, it becomes very tinny to hear notes. It doesn't sound right. It has to be natural.

- Tony Bennett

Notes, Very, Technical, Carnegie

I still get a little nervous before performing. You don't want to forget a lyric; you don't want to make a mistake. I still get butterflies. You can try to judge an audience, but you can only really judge things by the applause.

- Tony Bennett

Mistake, Audience, Still, Applause

To me, life is a gift, and it's a blessing to just be alive. And each person should learn what a gift it is to be alive no matter how tough things get.

- Tony Bennett

Gift, Learn, Alive, Blessing

I loved my mom so much because she had to work on a penny just to put food on the table... During the Depression in the United States, everybody had a tough time. And I was so hurt because she was crying that she didn't have any food for us for Thanksgiving.

- Tony Bennett

Mom, United, Everybody, Table

I know the history of the record business so well because I followed Billie Holiday into the record studios. It was so primitive compared to the sophisticated business today.

- Tony Bennett

Sophisticated, Studios, None

I study nature, and I realize that no matter how much you learn, you can't top nature.

- Tony Bennett

Nature, Learn, Study, Study Nature

Sinatra invited me once to his birthday party in L.A. I was young, and I felt great about it. But when I got there, the Rat Pack were all in the kitchen laughing their heads off.

- Tony Bennett

Birthday, Young, About, Kitchen

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.