Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett grew up in Astoria, Queens, during the Great Depression in a family of Italian immigrants. After serving as an infantryman in World War II, he studied singing and then signed with Columbia Records, releasing his first hit in 1951. Over the course of his sixty-year career, he has sold millions of albums; has earned multiple platinum and gold records; has won two Emmy Awards and seventeen Grammys, including the Recording Academy's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award; and was named a Kennedy Center Honoree.