Tony Bennett dies at 96: What was his net worth?

Tony Bennett was known for being a jazz and pop singer. He won his first Grammy in 1962 with his song I Left My Heart in San Francisco, then in 2022, he lifted his 20th - and last - at the age of 95.

Sadly, the legendary singer passed away at the age of 96, on Friday, July 21, 2023. In 2016, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease but only went public with the diagnosis in 2021.

In 2022, the jazz singer was still performing and was on stage with Lady Gaga for his 20th Grammy Award at the age of 95.

Tony Bennett left behind a fortune

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Tony Bennett had a fortune worth £200M. The singer had sold over 50 million records worldwide. Bennett made most of his fortune through his music career.

However, Tony was also quite an accomplished painter. In fact, one of his paintings sold for a massive $80,000.

Tony once owned a mansion in Marin Country, California, which had 7 bedrooms and an incredible view of San Francisco. In 2010, the mansion was put up for sale at $27.5 million but Bennett was struggling to sell it. In the end, after 5 years, he sold it in September 2015 for $15.5 million.

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Tony Bennett nearly lost all of his money

As reported by Express, the legendary singer struggled with drug addiction, which sadly almost cost him his whole fortune.

During the 1970s is when Bennett’s addiction started to take a turn for the worse. According to The Rolling Stones, this is when Bennett’s financial troubles started.

In 2011, in his biography All The Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett, he revealed he was ‘drug-addled’ and taking ‘uppies, downies and sleepies’.

Tony had lived through the Great Depression in the US and explained that it wasn’t comparable to his ‘darkest period’ in the 1970s.

Tony eventually ‘owed something like $1.2 million (£980,000), which was a fortune in those days’, as reported by Express. When his mother died in 1977, his addiction spiralled out of control.

It is believed that Tony Bennett almost died of an overdose of cocaine. He was found in his bathtub by his then-wife Sandy Grant. This was the put Bennett needed to sort his life out.

In 1990, his son Danny became his manager and he eventually paid off all his debts and he was able to rebuild his career and fortune.

Sources used:

Celebrity Net Worth: ‘Tony Bennett Net Worth: $200 Million’

Express: ‘Tony Bennett’s staggering fortune was almost wiped in 1970s as star was millions in debt’

Sky News: ‘Legendary crooner Tony Bennett dies at the age of 96’