Tony Bennett Headlines His 30th Ravinia Season

On August 3rd Tony Bennett, the master interpreter of The Great American Songbook, will celebrate his 91st Birthday! On FRIDAY evening, AUGUST 4th, at 8:30 PM, the beloved music icon will once again headline under the RAVINIA stars for his 30th spectacular season. He first performed at the renowned suburban Chicago venue (America's oldest outdoor music festival) in the summer of 1984! Just as Tony continues electrifying audiences all over the world, he is one of the Festival's most anticipated and thrilling entertainers performing to Sold-Out crowds each year. Almost 91 years young, Tony Bennett is the ageless and timeless jazz master singing and swinging to perfection, and still cuts a handsome and dashing figure onstage!! His millions of admirers span the generations, and Ravinia audiences are no exception! As The New York Times perfectly stated after his Grammy Award-winning "MTV Unplugged," "Tony Bennett didn't just bridge the generation gap, he demolished it!!" His dear friend and mentor Frank Sinatra called Tony, "The Best Singer in the Business!"

Touring with Tony this season is his talented daughter, the singer Antonia Bennett, who will open for her proud father...what she refers to as "A distinct honor!" Antonia will make her Café Carlyle debut next month and also releases a brand new CD, "Embrace Me." She studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and is an alumna of the Berklee School of Music. THE Tony Bennett QUARTET will feature Pianist Billy Stritch, Guitarist GREY SARGENT, Drummer HAROLD JONES, and Bassist MARSHALL WOOD.

TICKETS GO ON SALE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC ON TUESDAY, MAY 9.

PAVILION: $149.00/$116.00; LAWN: $39.00. For tickets and information go to www.ravinia.org, call (847) 266-5100, or visit the Ravinia box office. All major credit cards accepted. Ravinia is located at the intersection of Lake Cook and Green Bay Roads in Highland Park, IL.

Thirty-one years ago, Tony Bennett released an album called "The Art of Excellence!" Those words also describe the legendary singer's illustrious music career that now spans 68 extraordinary and unprecedented years. He has become keeper of the flame of The Great American Songbook. No one in the history of American popular song has recorded for so long and at such a high level of excellence and insistence on quality. The 19-time Grammy Award-winning artist has acknowledged that his unparalleled success as a recording artist and entertainer is due to always staying with the best music. He credits his beloved mother, Anna Suraci Benedetto, with instilling in her son the importance of "quality." Frank Sinatra further encouraged Tony to "Always stay with good music!"

The title of Tony's 2016 memoir, JUST GETTING STARTED, in collaboration with the noted NPR host Scott Simon (A Chicago native) is aptly named! The charming and beautifully written keepsake, which also includes 80 color reproductions of his original paintings and sketches, reflects on the lessons Tony Bennett has learned over the years, and pays homage to the remarkable people and places that have inspired him.

Just prior to his 90th Birthday, Tony exclaimed, "I feel like I'm 45!" That milestone occasion was lovingly celebrated by the millions of Tony Bennett's adoring fans at every stop during his 2016 Sold-Out concert tour. This vibrant Renaissance man hasn't slowed down since his Ravinia concert last August! On September 15th, a gala star-studded extravaganza, "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet To Come", (which was aired as an NBC Prime-time Special on December 20th and also released as a CD) took place at NY's historic Radio City Music Hall. A "Who's Who" of the entertainment world joined in the celebration, including Lady Gaga, Andrea Bocelli, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Robert DeNiro, Kevin Spacey, Elton John, Alec Baldwin, k.d.lang, Michael Buble, Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, and dozens more. Each artist performed a Tony Bennett classic paying tribute to their great friend. The treasured music legend said it was "One of the best nights of my life!" Even amongst this stellar line-up, no one's voice shined more brightly and to perfection than Tony Bennett's!!

This summer the internationally loved artist embarks on an ambitious European tour, headlining concerts in Paris, France; Verona, Italy; Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; Dublin, Ireland; Glasgow, Scotland, and the UK; including London's famed Royal Albert Hall.

Tony has often remarked, 'I just want to make people feel good...to forget their problems!" His dear friend, Judy Garland, summed it up nicely: "Tony Bennett is the epitome of what entertainers were put on this earth for. He was born to take people's troubles away, even if it's only for an hour. Tony loves doing it; he's a giver!"

It is all about the LOVE! Tony's love for his audience; the love that is returned; and his love for The Great American Songbook. PBS host Tavis Smiley, during a fascinating and very candid interview with Bennett earlier this month, told Tony that he is the only performer Smiley has ever seen who actually applauds his audience after a song.

In his book, THE ZEN OF BENNETT, Tony explained, "If you find something you love to do you will never work a day in your life!" That is the philosophy of this very wise and thoughtful artist whose two greatest passions are singing and painting. He has often said, "I still have a lot to learn!" Tony Bennett's given name, Benedetto, means "blessed one" in Italian. He reflected on that connection in a 2016 radio interview: "I'm so fortunate because here I am going on 90 years old and my voice is in top shape. I have what I call a blessed life. I'm doing what I love and I'll never retire! I'm going to sing and paint and try to get better and better!"

In the last decade alone, Tony Bennett has sold over ten-million albums world-wide and has continued to record chart-topping hits since the 1950's, now into the 21st Century. He was honored with his 19th Grammy Award (at the age of 89!) and has been the recipient of many gold and platinum albums, along with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a "Record of the Year" Grammy for "MTV Unplugged." Tony has introduced a multitude of hits into The Great American Songbook, beginning with "Because of You" and "Rags to Riches." His signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," which he has often said made him "A citizen of the world," was recorded 55 years ago.

Tony's extraordinary accomplishments include his 2015 internationally acclaimed Sold-Out "Cheek to Cheek" Tour with the incomparable Lady Gaga (they adore one another!) which earned raves and made headlines all over the world. Their two-night Ravinia engagement became the fastest sell-out in the Festival's 111-year old history! The album that followed debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts, was named Billboard's #1 Jazz Album of the Year, and honored with a Grammy for "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album."

Tony has been painting since he was seven years old making chalk drawings in front of his childhood home in Astoria, Queens. A dedicated artist, Anthony Benedetto's life (he paints under his given name) is as colorful and vibrant as the original artwork he creates. He paints or sketches every single day, whether at home in NYC or on tour. Benedetto Originals are on permanent display in The Smithsonian; the United Nations; The Butler Institute of American Art; the landmark National Arts Club of New York; and The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, where his portrait of close friend Duke Ellington (which was completed while performing in Chicago) resides. His original portrait of another dear friend, Ella Fitzgerald, is on display in The Smithsonian's "Ella Fitzgerald Permanent Collection." Benedetto Originals are in the private collections of President Bill Clinton, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, Robert DeNiro, and Katie Couric, amongst others. On May 4 - June 18, one of the largest exhibits of Tony's artwork, "Tony Bennett: Celebrating 90 Years of Artistry," will open to the public at New York City's prestigious Paley Center for the Media. It will feature 40 original paintings, paired with screenings of Bennett's classic TV performances, including his December 20th NBC Special. Several years ago, Tony Bennett gifted Ravinia (one of his very favorite venues) with an original work, "Ravinia: Music Under the Stars," which is proudly displayed on the Festival grounds, along with commemorative posters in their gift shop.

Throughout his life Tony Bennett has been a dedicated humanitarian making a difference in the lives of millions. He is a WWII veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and participated in the liberation of a concentration camp. Tony marched with his friend and fellow singer Harry Belafonte alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma to Montgomery in support of Civil Rights. Coretta Scott King honored Bennett with the Martin Luther King Center's "Salute to Greatness" Award for his ongoing efforts in fighting racial discrimination.

A 2005 Kennedy Center Honoree is just one of the many honors bestowed upon this national treasure. The United Nations presented him with their "Citizen of the World" Award. He is the recipient of Billboard's "Century Award" in recognition of his outstanding contributions to American Music. In 2015, Downbeat inducted Tony into the Magazine's esteemed "Downbeat Hall of Fame." Last year he received the Variety's Club's highest honor, their "Entertainment Icon" Award. Tony Bennett is only the sixth person (including his friends Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and Robert DeNiro) to be so honored in the Club's 112-year history.

When young people ask Tony how to get started as a performer, his answer is, "Get a good education first!" In 2001, he founded THE Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in honor of his dear friend and mentor. In 2009, a state-of-the-art permanent facility was built in Bennett's hometown of Astoria, Queens, providing an extraordinary, well-rounded educational opportunity for youngsters who wish to pursue a career in the arts. With his wife, Susan Benedetto, Tony established EXPLORING THE ARTS (ETA), a non-profit organization that supports arts education in 17 public high schools in NYC and Los Angeles. The September 15th Radio City Music Hall live performance of "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet To Come" was a benefit raising millions of dollars for ETA.

In a sea of change, this brilliant artist has remained true to himself and to his music. Tony Bennett is, without question, the foremost interpreter of American Popular Song. He has not wavered in his integrity, humanity and dedication to his art, his country, and to his millions of admirers throughout the world. When Tony sings about love it comes straight from his heart, and the intimacy he evokes is unparalleled. In a 2001 Vanity Fair interview, Bennett was asked, "How do you sing?" He replied, "I go along in the song, paying attention to the nuances of each line, and the breathing, and the spirit. Until I come to the word 'LOVE!' Then I give that word my attention. The word 'LOVE.' Get it?"

Tony Bennett has achieved The Great American Dream and in doing so has never forgotten his own roots. As he welcomes his 91st year, "The Sweetest Man in Show Business" continues to learn something new each day and is dedicated to ensuring that others can also pursue their passions and reach for the stars!!