For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.

That's what Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, told Life magazine in 1965.

It changed my life in many ways.

First it was negative because I had to live up to those accolades.

But it ended up a blessing because it had me bump into my best friend.

I call him Discipline.

That's Tony Bennett speaking to NPR back in 1998.

It allowed me to just be very consistent.

Oh it's often used many words to say a simple thing.

It takes thought and time and rhyme to make a poem sing.

And being consistent with the audience do consistent performances.

Tony Bennett died Friday morning at the age of 96 after a life that was a testament to that consistency.

Think about it. Sinatra said that back in 1965.

And Bennett was still putting out albums this decade.

And all that time he stuck to the American pop standards that first brought him a claim.

Fly me to the moon.

I don't sing any bad songs.

I believe what I'm singing.

I know they're good. I know they're telling stories.

Maybe it was that choice of songs that explains Bennett's remarkable endurance over the years,

even as the country's musical taste changed.

I look for optimistic songs because everybody has personal tragedies.

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