Legendary singer Tony Bennett’s legacy and love for San Francisco remembered

San Francisco, California - Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926, in New York City, for eight decades, the world knew the World War II combat veteran as Tony Bennett.

Bennett had East Coast roots but had a deep love for the City of San Francisco.

Rebecca Fineman and Bill Yee placed flowers at his monument outside the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood.

They were married at the hotel to their favorite Bennett song, "The Way You Look Tonight."

"He's an artist that made us feel love for ourselves and one another, and for the city," said Fineman.

Though he was from a city almost 2,600 miles away, it was a song about San Francisco that made him a household name worldwide — a song that became his signature.

"You know, he first sang 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' in our Venetian Room in 1961," said Michelle Heston, spokeswoman for the Fairmont.

Bennett won 20 Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, two Primetime Emmys, the Gershwin Prize, a Kennedy Center honoree. He was also an accomplished fine arts painter.

"He also had no ego. Tony was so great to talk about other singers, and how much he respected them. He was the most wonderful man. He'll live forever, and he had a long life," said entertainment journalist Jan Wahl.

William May, a bellman at the Fairmont Hotel, re-welcomed him for 37 years.

"I especially admired him because of the history of his civil rights work. You know, he worked alongside Harry Belafonte, Martin Luther King on the Selma Bridge in the south. He was quite a man," said May.

Greenbrae resident, Dick Bright, said he has many memories with the music icon.

Bright, a longtime Bennett friend and former Venetian Room band leader, said, "He would, many nights, stand in the lobby and shake people's hands as they were coming into the show. Attitude of gratitude. He was so grateful to have the audiences, and he was just happy to be there."

Bright wrote about his friend in his book titled "Workin' for a Livin': Makin' It in the Music Business."

Yee said, "He will always bring that smile from inside."

A bit of San Francisco died with Bennett, but his music and the memories of him will last forever.