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I learned of Tony Bennett’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease about a year ago. He was formally diagnosed in 2017 by his neurologist, Dr. Gayatri Devi. My maternal grandfather “Grampy” was the full-time care partner of my grandmother who lived a journey with Alzheimer’s Disease. Although they are deceased, this would have been a topic of conversation for me and Grampy. Tony Bennett was one of his favorite performers and his music inspired countless ballroom dances by my grandparents.
Seeing Tony Bennett’s “Final Act” on 60 minutes moved me. I encourage you to watch this 6-minute interview by Anderson Cooper. Tony’s wife Susan of more than 30 years is Tony’s full-time care partner. She explains how Tony expressed concerns of his own memory to her years ago. He began to forget the names of his musicians whom he had performed with for decades. As many couples and families do, they hid this illness from the public. This is sadly due to the stigma attached to Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. Devi helped the family to realize that opening up about Tony’s disease would be a gift to the world. She feels as though he is doing things at his age that people without dementia are unable to do. His story inspires and provides hope to those families who are on a similar journey.
Susan explains that Tony does recognize her and his children. He has no insight into his own disease process. One amazing display of engagement during this interview was when Tony heard his pianist playing his music. He was driven to walk to the piano and just sang. Whatever song the pianist was playing, Tony sang the lyrics effortlessly. Prior to this, Tony, Susan, and Anderson were sitting. Susan was doing most of the talking and Tony didn’t seem to have any part of the interaction. Although there was a bit of Tony’s humor that shined when Susan asked him to look at her. You’ll have to watch the interview to see for yourself.
Music is one of the best alternative therapies for people with dementia. The knowledge of why music memory is preserved in the Alzheimer’s Disease process is super complex. Reading research from 2015, I found one comprehensive study which explains why this may be the case. Their use of images displays the close cognitive and neuroanatomical relationship between musical memory and emotion. This helps to explain why Tony awakens from his Alzheimer’s Disease process when he hears his music.
He has done many endeavors with Lady Gaga, performing and recording records together. Tony’s son, Danny thought it would be a beautiful opportunity for the two of them to perform one more time on stage. It happened at Radio City Music Hall in August of this year as he celebrated his 95th birthday. Lady Gaga has witnessed Tony’s impaired memory and he was not able to call her by her name. Something sparked when she joined him on stage and he said, “there is Lady Gaga.” She said that moment was very special to her. As Anderson tagged along with Susan and Tony on their daily walk in Central Park, he had no recollection of the performance he gave just 2 nights ago. Read more for a deeper dive into Tony Bennett’s history.
