Sir Elton John hails 'irreplaceable' Tony Bennett
Sir Elton John has described Tony Bennett as the "classiest singer, man, and performer you will ever see".
Sir Elton John "loved and adored" Tony Bennett.
The 76-year-old singer has taken to social media to heap praise on the legendary crooner, who passed away on Friday (07.21.23), aged 96.
Alongside a throwback photo of them together, Elton wrote on Instagram: "So sad to hear of Tony’s passing. Without doubt the classiest singer, man, and performer you will ever see. He’s irreplaceable. I loved and adored him. Condolences to Susan, Danny and the family."
Elsewhere, Billy Joel has hailed Bennett as a "unique voice" and "one of the nicest human beings" he's ever met.
The 74-year-old star wrote on Instagram: "Tony Bennett was the one of the most important interpreters of American popular song during the mid to late 20th century. He championed songwriters who might otherwise have remained unknown to many millions of music fans.
"His was a unique voice that made the transition from the era of Jazz into the age of Pop. I will always be grateful for his outstanding contribution to the art of contemporary music. He was a joy to work with. His energy and enthusiasm for the material he was performing was infectious.
"He was also one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever known. (sic)"
Meanwhile, Josh Gad has claimed that it's "hard to imagine a world without the great Tony Bennett".
The 42-year-old actor wrote on Twitter: "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. [broken-heart emoji] (sic)"
Bennett's death was announced via his official Twitter account earlier on Friday.
A statement read: "Tony left us today but he was still singing the other day at his piano and his last song was Because of You, his first #1 hit.
"Tony, because of you we have your songs in our heart forever. (sic)"
