95-year-old music legend Tony Bennett has cancelled the remaining shows of his North American tour amid an ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Bennett was due to perform concerts across New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Oklahoma, and Canada in September, ahead of the release of his upcoming album with Lady Gaga Love for Sale.
However, his son and manager Danny Bennett, confirmed to Variety that he has now retired from performing.
“There won’t be any additional concerts… this was a hard decision for us to make, as he is a capable performer,” Danny said.
He continued: “This is, however, doctors’ orders. His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors — when Tony’s wife, Susan heard them — she said, ‘Absolutely not.’ He’ll be doing other things, but not those upcoming shows.”
“It’s not the singing aspect but, rather, the travelling. Look, he gets tired. The decision is being made that doing concerts now is just too much for him. We don’t want him to fall on stage, for instance — something as simple as that. We’re not worried about him being able to sing. We are worried, from a physical stand point… about human nature. Tony’s 95.”
The family of Tony Bennett revealed back in February that he has been battling Alzheimer’s since 2016. In spite of his diagnosis, he had continued to tour extensively and has worked on several albums.
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Just last week, he performed two sold-out shows with Lady Gaga at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
Love for Sale will premiere on October 1st, serving as the follow up to his 2014 record with Gaga, Cheek to Cheek.
The first single from the album ‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ premiered on August 6th; and a documentary on the making of the record is also reported to be in the works.
You can read more about this topic over at the Pop Observer.
Check out Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga performing ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’:
