Aug. 3 is now Tony Bennett Day in America.
A resolution was unanimously passed within the Senate to honor the legendary singer, who died last week, on what would have been his 97th birthday.
“You simply come across a Tony Bennett once in a lifetime,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said of the longtime Recent Yorker on Thursday.
“It didn’t matter in case you were young or old or somewhere in between, it didn’t matter in case you were a friend of a fan, nearly everyone loved Tony — and Tony loved nearly everyone.”
Schumer also noted that besides being an exceptional musician and completed painter, Bennett was “a excellent human being,” as he served in World War II and marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965.
“He was a lifelong champion of civil rights and marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma in 1965, at a time when the agents of most entertainers discouraged them from marching in these sorts of things because they may lose some fans,” the Recent York Democrat said.
“But Tony didn’t care, he believed in equality.”
Bennett, who grew up in Astoria, Queens, is remembered for the indelible mark he left on the Big Apple and the world.
On Sunday, two days after his death, Chuck Schumer first called for the choice at a press conference at Bennett’s bench in Central Park.
“Here’s a man who sang about his heart while his soul was at all times here in Recent York,” he said.
“The King of Croon is beloved from coast-to-coast, his reach spanned genres and generations — but he’s, and he’ll at all times be, a Recent Yorker who did a lot good.”
An identical resolution was introduced within the House by Bennett’s longtime friend, Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
“This resolution appropriately honors Tony’s extraordinary legacy and celebrates his unsurpassed artistry and patriotic leadership,” the California Democrat said in a press release.
