ON MONDAY, November 16, Columbia Records will celebrate Tony Bennett's remarkable 50 year career with the release of a definitive CD collection tracing some of his finest recorded moments -- The Essential Tony Bennett (A Retrospective).

From his childhood in Astoria, Queens, to years learning his craft in New York clubs through to 1998 when he appeared on the main stage at the Glastonbury Festival, and won his eighth Grammy Award, Tony's career as one of the most enduring and respected performers of the 20th Century has been full of adventure.

In his auto-biography The Good Life (Simon & Schuster), also released on November 16, Tony describes the 'crazy adventure' which started when Bob Hope discovered him. He tells of experiences of knowing or performing with such greats as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Bassy and Duke Ellington, of being one of the biggest selling recording artists of all time and the events which led to a whole new audience discovering him through his Tony Bennett -- MTV Unplugged performance and album and how, 50 years later, he is still performing to packed audiences of all ages around the world.

The 90s have seen Tony win a Grammy Award for every album he has recorded and a rise in popularity across the generations unparalleled in musical history. When a 72 year old performer is invited to play one of the world's largest rock festivals and the event is described by the Daily Telegraph as "one of the most sublime moments in Glastonbury's history, and one which is surely set to enter festival mythology", something very special is happening.

The Essential Tony Bennett (A Retrospective) is the perfect illustration of what it is that makes Tony such a remarkable artist, why he continues to attract new fans every year and why he has enjoyed 50 amazing years doing what he loves best.

According to a national newspaper: "The difference between Tony Bennett in his youth and now? Then he was just great. Now he is beyond compare."

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