Tony Bennett's family reveals singer's final words and the last song he sang before his death

Tony Bennett's son has opened up about the late jazz icon's final words before his death on July 21 at age 96 following a multi-year battle with Alzheimer's.

"His last words to me [were], 'Thank you,'" Danny Bennett told Hoda Kotb on Thursday's episode of Today. "Can't say it better than that."

Tony's wife, Susan Benedetto, also revealed to Kotb the last song Bennett sang before he passed away: "Because of You," a 1951 cover of Larry Clinton's 1940 tune.

"The music never left him," Benedetto said, while also reflecting on the final words that Tony said to her before dying: "That he loved me."

She added, "He would wake up every day and still say that. He woke up happy every day."

Those close to him regularly spoke about Tony's enduring ability to perform through his Alzheimer's diagnosis, as evidenced by his 2021 One Last Time concerts with his Cheek to Cheek and Love for Sale collaborator Lady Gaga, marking his last appearances on stage.

JP Yim/Getty Tony Bennett

Benedetto maintained that music played a vital role in her husband's bout with Alzheimer's, bridging the gap between those disparate periods of his life.

"There's a lot about him that I miss," Benedetto previously told AARP. "Because he's not the old Tony anymore. But when he sings, he's the old Tony."

Watch Danny and Benedetto speak about Tony's death in the video above.

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