"Not everybody can figure out how to communicate with him, how to get him to respond," Bennett's wife, Susan, told Cooper. At other times, she will gently touch his arm to guide him. When the duo rehearses, rather than speaking to him, she often catches his eye, holds his gaze, and sings. She treats him gently, working deliberately to engage him. And we pick up right where we left off," Lady Gaga told Cooper.īennett's family and neurologist agree that Lady Gaga is a terrific partner for the singer. "Tony and I, when we're together, it's like we've never stopped. The latter was released this past week.Īs they rehearsed for their Radio City Music Hall performances this summer, two concerts that would celebrate Bennett's 95th birthday, they were able to rekindle some of their old rapport. The pair released their first album together in 2014 and recorded a second in 2018. One person helping Bennett to keep the spark alive is Lady Gaga. "And for families who are going through it, it gives them some suggestions about how to communicate with that person, how to find the thing that will trigger something in that person that keeps that spark alive." "Tony Bennett is still himself when he's on that stage and when he's singing," 60 Minutes' Cooper said. "Memories that are imbued with emotion-they're kind of pickled in it, as it were." "There is a way to touch the magic inside" "We all remember emotional memories far more than we do other types of memories," Devi said.
Music also taps into the part of the brain that deals with emotion. It engages multiple sections of the brain, from the visual system and auditory cortex to the part of the brain that deals with movement and dance. And music is itself a great stimulator for the brain. And so, it's no wonder that his brain has pretty much built itself around his music."īecause Bennett has spent seven decades singing for an audience, his ability to perform and his musical memory has become hard wired in his brain, Devi explained. "That's true of many great people, that they have an over-abiding passion that guides them and everything else is secondary," Devi told Cooper. For Bennett, music was more than what he does it is who he is. Gayatri Devi, says the transformation goes beyond muscle memory. "It was among the most extraordinary things I'd experienced on a shoot," Cooper told 60 Minutes Overtime.īennett's neurologist, Dr. He energetically walked out into the living room, gave a thumbs up to the cameras, and began singing. That is, until his accompanist, Lee Musiker, began playing a few notes of "Watch What Happens," a song Bennett has been singing since 1965. But he has trouble holding a conversation and remembering where he is. He maintains a genial demeanor and a fondness for the memories he does have, especially those of his mother, Anna. She is grateful, she told Cooper, that her husband still recognizes her and knows his children. When it came to an interview, Bennett's wife, Susan, had to do most of the talking. He would be performing with his friend and collaborator, Lady Gaga. Bennett was rehearsing for his final big performance: two sold-out nights at Radio City Music Hall in August. When Cooper and the 60 Minutes crew arrived at Bennet's New York City apartment this summer, they witnessed the metamorphosis in real-time. He likely won't recall the stories behind the photos that fill his New York City apartment, not the ones with Frank Sinatra or Rosemary Clooney, not even the one with Bob Hope - the man who gave Anthony Dominick Benedetto his new stage name: Tony Bennett.īut when Bennett hears that music, the soundtrack that has accompanied more than seven decades of American life, the singer that millions have come to know, returns. On any given day, the 95-year-old may forget a lot about his past life. "His brain has pretty much built itself around his music"Īs Anderson Cooper reported this week on 60 Minutes, music legend Tony Bennett is in the throes of Alzheimer's disease.
What happens next is nothing short of remarkable.