Just Getting Started

Tony Bennett (1926 - 2023) grew up in Astoria, Queens, during the Great Depression. After serving as an infantryman in World War II, he studied singing and signed with Columbia Records in 1950, releasing his first hit with the label in 1951. Over the course of his career, which spanned more than sixty years, he sold millions of albums that achieved gold and platinum status both in the United States and worldwide, and won twenty Grammy Awards.

Scott Simon is the New York Times bestselling author of Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime. He is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters, having reported from all over the world and from many wars. He is now the award-winning host of Weekend Edition Saturday. With more than four million listeners, it is the most-listened-to news program on National Public Radio. Simon has won Peabody and Emmy Awards for his reporting.

"Fans of heralded crooner Bennett will revel in this inviting charming book...In these beguiling portraits, Bennett warmly remembers of the deep influences on his life." - Publishers Weekly

"[Just Getting Started] is as breezy and meaningful as one of his trademark songs as readers learn about the man by the company he kept and the heroes he worships. Bennett's ethereal still lifes and landscape paintings adorn this simple yet profound and gracious homage." - Booklist

"In Just Getting Started...the singer takes a look back on his long, successful career and rich life...What comes through in all 42 chapters is the singer's gratitude...Let's hope this new generation can learn a lesson from Mr. Bennett's unflagging class and graciousness. - Wall Street Journal

"He's the reason that I'm here today, that I'm still making music, that I'm still excited to make music." - Lady Gaga

"For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song. He excites me when I watch him. . . . He moves me. He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more." - Frank Sinatra

"If Tony Bennett, who swings wonderfully, can't send you, there's a phychiatrist right up the street from you. DIG him." - Louis Armstrong

"Tony Bennett is one of the greatest. He's in a class by himself." - Fred Astaire

"The epitome of what entertainers were put on earth for. Tony was born to take people's troubles away, even if it's only for an hour. He loves doing it; he's a giver." - Judy Garland

"He's a big, beautiful man. With all of his greatness, his hat size never needed to be larger than his artistic stature." - Duke Ellington