Stevie Wonder duets with the late Tony Bennett in a beautiful tribute at the 2024 Grammys
5 February 2024, 09:55
US singer Tony Bennett dies aged 96
Stevie Wonder gets to perform with Tony Bennett one last time.
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Stevie Wonder paid a stunning tribute to the late Tony Bennett last night at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Wonder kicked off this year's In Memoriam segment at the ceremony at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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He sat at the piano and performed 'For Once in My Life', duetting with a video of Bennett, who died last summer at the age of 96.
Stevie then played 'The Best is Yet to Come', which Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh wrote for Tony Bennett back in 1962.
Having heard Bennett perform 'For Once in My Life' when he was a young teenager, Wonder covered the song in the studio in 1968, and Bennett and Wonder duetted it on Bennet's 2006 Duets album.
Stevie Wonder performs during “In Memoriam” at Grammys 2024
"What's amazing is I was able to actually sing the song with someone that I admired for so long," Wonder said.
"Not just because of his voice, which was incredible, but because of his love for art. His love for peace. His love for unity. His love for civil rights. Yes, I remember as a little boy him being in places where most people would not even go to stand for the right for freedom for everyone.
"Tony, I'm going to miss you forever. I love you always and God bless that God allowed us to have you and have us in this time and space in our life."
Other performers in the 2024 In Memoriam tribute were Annie Lennox, Jon Batiste, and Fantasia Barrino who performed 'Nothing Compares 2 U', a song made famous by Sinéad O’Connor, and 'Proud Mary', which was memorably covered by Tina Turner.
Artists remembered in the included Jimmy Buffett, Shane MacGowan, Rudolph Isley, Mary Weiss, Burt Bacharach, Denny Laine, Jane Birkin, Randy Meisner, Gary Wright, Terry Kirkman, Melanie, Marlena Shaw, Gordon Lightfoot and Andy Rourke.
Also memorialised were Rodriquez, Bobby Caldwell, Rita Lee, Chita Rivera, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tugoy the Dove, Ahmad Jamal, Gangsta Boo, Les McCann, Wayne Kramer, David Lindley, Charlie Robison, Michael Rhodes, Gary Rossington, George Winston, Jean Knight, Russell Batiste Jr., Aaron Spears and Magoo.
