Who is Susan Benedetto? Find Out More About Tony Bennett’s Wife!
- Tony Bennett and Susan Benedetto married in 2007 after 20 years of dating.
- Tony was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
- The legendary singer passed away in July 2023 at age 96.
Here’s everything you need to know about Susan Benedetto
Tony Bennett and Susan Benedetto married in 2007 after 20 years of dating.
After meeting in the late 1980s at one of the singer’s concerts, they started dating and remained together for 20 years before tying the knot in an intimate ceremony in 2007.
After their wedding, Susan took her husband’s legal surname, Benedetto, instead of his professional stage name, Bennett.
In 2016, Tony was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and his wife became his primary caretaker. Along with that, she also continued arts education charity work.
Despite the disease, Susan revealed that her husband remained in great spirits at the time.
In an interview with AARP The Magazine, Susan said,
“He is doing so many things, at 94, that many people without dementia cannot do. He really is the symbol of hope for someone with a cognitive disorder,”
In July 2023, Tony died at 96 years of age.
So who is the longtime love of Tony Bennet?
Also, Read Tony Bennett’s Wife Susan Benedetto Shared a Moving Tribute to the Legendary Singer After His Death!
Susan Benedetto is a former teacher
Susan Benedetto is a graduate of Fordham University and Columbia University’s Teachers College.
She started her job as a teacher in social studies at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and the Performing Arts, a public high school in New York City.
Before working as a teacher, she was the owner of Creative Artists Management in Manhattan.
Susan Benedetto’s mother met Tony when she was pregnant with Susan
In his 2016 memoir, Just Getting Started, Tony revealed his first encounter with his then-future wife. It happened when Susan’s mother was pregnant with her.
Susan’s parents, Marion and Dayl Crow were fans of the legendary singer and attended one of his shows in 1996 in New York. They even got a chance to pose backstage for a picture with Bennett.
Tony wrote,
“As fate would have it, Marion was pregnant at the time with … Susan!”
“It’s a photo we all laugh about, knowing the incredible turn of events that followed.”
Susan Bennett was the president of Tony’s fan club
Susan Benedetto inherited her love for Tony from her parents and even became in charge of a fan club for the singer in San Franciso as a teenager.
When she was just 19, she got a chance to meet her future husband after requesting to meet him backstage.
Tony later shared in his memoir,
“It tickled me that someone of her age was so devoted to my music,”
“I not only agreed to say hello to her backstage but asked her to be my date for the evening, and that’s how it all really began, foreshadowed by a backstage photo taken in 1966!”
Susan Bennett co-founded an arts nonprofit with her husband
In 1999, Tony and Susan Benedetto joined hands and founded Exploring the Arts together which promotes and supports arts education through partnerships with more than 50 schools in New York and Los Angeles.
In an op-ed for Huffington Post, Susan shared her experience of working with her husband on the joint project.
She said,
”I happen to be one of those lucky people who can honestly say that dreams do come true. Being able to work with my husband, Tony Bennett, has been one such dream,”
She added,
“Together we founded a nonprofit organization, Exploring the Arts (ETA), to transform the lives of young people through arts education.”
Susan Benedetto and Tony married after more than 20 years together
After dating for over 20 years, Susan Benedetto and Tony tied the knot in a private civil ceremony in New York City on June 21, 2007.
Just a week after the wedding, Susan revealed that there was no exact reason for the two to decide on their wedding.
She told People at the time,
“We just decided to do it,”
“It was just one of those things.”
Also, Read Legendary Singer Tony Bennett Dies at 96 Following Alzheimer’s Diagnosis!