‘Life is a gift — even with Alzheimer’s.’ Tony Bennett opens up about his condition

Legendary musician Tony Bennett revealed Monday he has Alzheimer’s and has been battling the disease since 2016.

“Life is a gift — even with Alzheimer’s,” Bennett tweeted Monday morning while posting an AARP article about his condition.

Even with Alzheimer’s affecting his short-term and long-term health, Bennett continues to sing. He and Lady Gaga have recorded the follow-up to their 2014 duet album, “Cheek to Cheek,” and it will be released this spring, according to AARP.

Gaga was aware of Bennett’s condition while they recorded the album over the course of two years.

“The pain and sadness in Gaga’s face is clear at such moments — but never more so than in an extraordinarily moving sequence in which Tony (a man she calls “an incredible mentor, and friend, and father figure”) sings a solo passage of a love song,” the article states. “Gaga looks on, from behind her mic, her smile breaking into a quiver, her eyes brimming, before she puts her hands over her face and sobs.”

Bennett’s wife, Susan Benedetto, told CBS News her husband is not in any pain and he still remembers her and their kids.

He also still remembers Gaga, who Benedetto said “is hard to forget.”

“He gets frustrated. And he doesn’t like being frustrated,” Benedetto said. “He doesn’t like being confused. But none of the real negative things.”

Alzheimer’s — which does not have a known cure — leads to memory loss over time, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. People with severe cases may lose their ability to carry conversations or respond to their environment.

In 2014, there were as many as 5 million Americans with Alzheimer’s, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bennett’s neurologist, Dr. Gayatri Devi at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital, said performing stimulated his brain. But as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live music, she said, it led to the iconic crooner’s memory weakening.

Music stimulates areas of the brain responsible for memory, movement and mood, according to a 2020 report from the Global Council on Brain Health.

Music has been a therapy for Bennett, who has won 19 Grammy Awards in a career spanning more than 70 years. His wife said he sings for an hour to 75 minutes twice a week and does not need cue cards.

“He’s devoted his whole life to the great American song book,” she told CBS News. “And now, the song book is saving him.”

Devi said Bennett “really is the symbol of hope for someone with a cognitive disorder,” according to AARP.

His last public performance was in March at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in New Jersey.

This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 11:06 AM.