Tony Bennett's wife reveals the last song he sang before he passed away and why it is so special

Tony Bennett died at the age of 96. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's since 2016 but his wife, Susan Benedetto reveals that he did not forget his songs. “He could do that,” she said in an interview with TODAY. Benedetto married Bennett in 2007 after they met at one of his concerts in 1985. She also discussed how a few days before he passed away, Bennett sang one of his earliest hit songs. “He sang ‘Because Of You.’ We were getting him up to exercise, and so it was easy to just latch onto the piano," she said. "And I said, ‘Ton, why don’t you get up and you can sing?’ You know, any excuse to just get him up? I said, ‘Why don’t you sing?’ He’s like, ‘What do you want to hear?’ I said, ‘How about singing 'Because Of You'?’ So, he sang ‘Because Of You.’"

“Literally, that was the last song he sang, yeah,” she said. She discussed how they watched YouTube videos with some help to help Bennett remember a few details about him. “And Tony was alert enough that he’s like watching. And he said, ‘Was I always popular?’ And I said, ‘Yes, sweetheart.’ I said, ‘You’ve been popular for over 70 years.’ And he said, ‘That’s because I stayed with quality.’” She also shared his final words to her. “That he loved me," she said. "Yeah. He would wake up every day and still say that. He woke up happy every day. Even if he had had a bad day or night, he didn’t remember it. That was the only blessing. He woke up happy. And he’s just like, ‘Susan. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.’ And he would say that to me all the time.”

He leaves behind an exceptional music career and the love he gathered as a person. “He didn’t want to be remembered as the best. He just really wanted to be remembered as a nice person," she said. "And I think all of the outpouring of love from people that we know and love and complete strangers has proven that. People feel like they’ve lost a family friend, even if they never met him. And, you know, when he sang, he truly believed what he was singing," she added. 

She also discussed what losing Bennett felt like and that she cannot calculate how much she has lost. “Well, I mean, the obvious thing is to say everything,” she said. “I lost my North Star. But no reason to feel bad for me, though, because my life has been wonderful. And I’ll find a way to make sure it stays that way. It’ll just be different forever.” Truly, Bennett's music touched the hearts of many people and his life and love touched the life of his loved ones. Now, after he is gone, his wife plans to keep his memory alive in her heart. As for his fans, they have his music with them.