Singer Tony Bennett dies aged 96

The 19-time Grammy winner was known for pop hits, show tunes and jazz

Tony Bennett, the eminent stylist of American musical standards, has died aged 96.

His death was confirmed by his publicist Sylvia Weiner in a statement to the Associated Press. She said he died in his hometown in New York.

Bennett, who had Alzheimer's disease for the last seven years, enjoyed a decades-long career and duets with stars including Frank Sinatra and Lady Gaga.

Tributes from across the global entertainment industry have poured in for him.

Music producer Nile Rodgers tweeted out his "heartfelt condolences" to Bennett's family and friends.

Star Trek actor George Takei called the musician "the last of his kind, a master of the American songbook".

The Louis Armstrong House, a house museum in New York that was the home of the famed Jazz crooner, also paid condolences and said Bennett would be missed.

“Tony Bennett once said: ‘The bottom line of any country is: what did we contribute to the world? We contributed Louis Armstrong.’ We also contributed Tony Bennett,” it tweeted.

Actor Josh Gad tweeted: “This one shouldn’t sting so much because any of us would take 96 years, but man is it hard to imagine a world without the great Tony Bennett.”

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo shared a photo of the two together, calling Bennett “a NYer in the truest sense of the word.”

Who was Tony Bennett?

Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in 1926 in Long Island City, Queens, to say he came from humble beginnings would almost be an understatement. His father, a grocer, died when he was 10, leaving his mother, a seamstress, to make dresses for a living during the Great Depression.

When he turned 18, he was drafted into the army during the Second World War, an experience that led him to despise violence. After being discharged in 1946, Bennett performed under the stage name Joe Bari. He got his first big break in 1949 when singer Pearl Bailey asked him to be the opening act for her show in Greenwich Village.

Comedian and actor Bob Hope, who was there that evening, discovered him while he was performing under the stage name Joe Bari. It was Hope who shortened his given name to Tony Bennett, as it was more memorable.

In 1950, Bennett signed to Columbia Records, and by 1951, he had released his first major hit, a pop-jazz number called Because of You, which reached No 1 in the Billboard Best Selling Pop Singles chart and stayed there for eight weeks.

In the years that followed, his natural talent, husky baritone vocals and charisma led to his spectacular stupendous rise. Whether it was because of his rendition of Cold, Cold Heart, a recording to Blue Velvet or his Rags to Riches, Bennett became a household name.