Tony Bennett spoke to The Tribune in 2015. Here's what he had to say.

Editor's note: With the news Friday that Tony Bennett had died at age 96, The Tribune went back into its archives to republish this interview, unedited, with the incomparable singer and performer that originally appeared Sept. 27, 2015. At the time, Bennett had a concert scheduled at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend. In the interview, Bennett was warm, insightful, energized and generous with his time — the interview went 10 minutes longer than scheduled. The photos are from when he performed at the Morris on Aug. 20, 2005.

Incomparable

Bennett still vital on 'The Silver Lining'

On Wednesday, a Facebook page received 1 million "likes" when it reported the death of Tony Bennett at age 89.

Just a day later, however, a healthy-sounding Bennett spoke with The Tribune for an interview in advance of his concert Saturday at the Morris Performing Arts Center.

Although Wednesday's celebrity death hoax didn't come up during the conversation, the singer made it clear Thursday that he remains very much alive and active.

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"I'm not retiring," he says by phone from his home in New York City. "Next year, my son is creating an explosion of Tony Bennett events because I'll be 90 years old. I'm still healthy and have top quality with my voice."

Bennett, who turned 89 on Aug. 13, proves that on "The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern," released Friday as his 58th studio album.

Over the course of 14 songs by the Broadway and Hollywood composer, including "The Last Time I Saw Paris," "Pick Yourself Up" and "The Way You Look Tonight," his tenor is supple and resonant, playful in places and heart-rending in others, with his phrasing and sense of dynamics as precise and incomparable as ever.

"They're all beautiful songs," Bennett says. "They'll never die. They'll never become old-fashioned."

During his four-decade career from 1904 to his death in 1945 at 60, Kern wrote more than 60 Broadway musicals — "Show Boat" remains his best known — and more than 700 songs, many of which have become standards in the Great American Songbook — a term music historian Will Friedwald says in the liner notes to "The Silver Lining" that Bennett coined.

"He influenced Gershwin and Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, who is better than all of them, with his classical background," Bennett says about Kern, who studied at the New York College of Music. "They couldn't believe he came up with very mature accompaniment for the melodies he wrote, and they'll last forever. … He's the one who learned how to write intelligent songs that last forever."

Pianist Bill Charlap and his trio — along with Charlap's wife, Renee Rosnes, joining on the piano duet numbers — provide Bennett with tasteful accompaniment that veers from the subtle to the swinging.

"It was a beautiful experience to perform with them because they're quite phenomenal," Bennett says. "They play very clear and perfect."

Photo gallery: Tony Bennett dies: See the legendary singer's life, career in photos

Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in Astoria, Queens, Bennett adopted the name that made him famous at the suggestion of Bob Hope, who heard him sing in a Manhattan night club and took him on tour with him in 1949.

By 1951, Columbia Records had signed Bennett, and the singer had his first hit, the No. 1 single "Because of You."

Over the years, Bennett became known for such songs as "I Wanna Be Around," "When Joanna Loved Me," "Rags to Riches" and, of course, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

At this point in his career, his appeal spans generations, from original fans who made him a star in the '50s to Generation X'ers who embraced him in the '90s, when he recorded the Grammy Award-winning "MTV: Unplugged" album.

In 2014, Bennett added Millennials to his stable of fans when he released the duets album "Cheek to Cheek" with Lady Gaga, the pop and dance singer, actress, activist and fashion provocateur who burst into the public consciousness with the 2008 album "The Fame" and whose hit singles include "Just Dance," "Bad Romance" and "Born This Way."

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"No one's supposed to know me," Bennett says about Lady Gaga's audience. "We helped one another. People said, 'I didn't know she sang that well,' and she introduced me to her fans."

The album, which features such standards as "Anything Goes," "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" and the title track, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

"Her young audience is the young teenagers who never heard of Tony Bennett," he says. "She raved to her fans that I allowed her to sing the way she trained to sing. She plays great piano and is very educated. … She's giving me the credit for closing the gap with the older audience."

But neither commercial success nor awards appear to motivate Bennett, although he continues to reap both — "The Silver Lining" was ranked at No. 1 on Amazon.com's jazz best-sellers list for the week leading up to its release.

"I spent my whole life staying with top quality and not trying to have a hit record that will be quickly forgotten after 16 weeks," he says. "I have a great appreciation of the Great American songs and I do not compromise. It's paying off. The last two albums were big hit albums, and this album is getting great reviews."

Instead, he continues to pursue joy with his music.

"I just try to make people feel good," Bennett says. "It works in an audience. They really enjoy themselves. I could have retired 17, 20 years ago, but I do it because I like to make people feel good."

Email Tribune staff writer Andrew S. Hughes at ahughes@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Tony Bennett interview with Tribune from 2015 republished