Does Tony Bennett Understand His Health Diagnosis?

At 95, Tony Bennett is truly one of the last surviving crooners of an age where jazz standards were the rule rather than the exception, and the Rat Pack ruled the Vegas strip. But even though many of the cohorts Bennett knew have long since died, Bennett has soldiered on, performing until his official retirement this past August. Even so, Bennett's drive to perform in the last four years leading up to his retirement has been a testament to his dedication to music — not only because of his age, but also because of an Alzheimer's diagnosis he received in 2017, which was made known to the public in February.

Months after Bennett and his family revealed his condition, his wife, Susan Benedetto, spoke with Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" in anticipation of Bennett's October farewell performances at New York City's Radio City Music Hall about the ways in which the disease has affected the singer's day-to-day life. Of her husband, Benedetto said he "likes to say he's in the business of making people feel good, and he still is" through his music. But while the interview was rife with adoration for Bennett, Benedetto also revealed how he's grappled with the challenges that Alzheimer's comes with, including whether or not he recognizes he even has the disease. Read on after the jump to find out more. 

As Susan Benedetto said during the "60 Minutes" exclusive, Tony Bennett's Alzheimer's diagnosis, in context, comes with a set of blessings. "He recognizes me, thank goodness, his children, you know we are blessed in a lot of ways," she told interviewer Anderson Cooper. But those blessings remain conditional and, while he still has a sense of who he is and his relationships with those he cherishes, Benedetto divulged that Bennett "doesn't know he has [Alzheimer's]."

Speaking with "60 Minutes," Bennett's diagnostic physician Gaytari Devi clarified whether or not Alzheimer's has affected Bennett's understanding of who he is, along with Bennett's understanding of his own legacy. "[He] knows he's Tony Bennett and he knows how to behave like Tony Bennett," Devi explained. "That's an area of the brain that's just so an innately hardwired part of his brain," adding, "It's also an area of his brain that gives them real meaning and purpose in his life, and it's imbued with emotion." (As People noted in their own coverage, Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2017.) Devi largely credited his lifelong dedication to music as integral to his continued sense of self. "Music is housed in different parts of the brain, including parts of the brain that deal with emotion, and therefore, it's easy to be moved by it when you hear it."