WASHINGTON (AP) — Tony Bennett has been honored with this year’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
The Library of Congress announced Tuesday that the 90-year-old Bennett is the recipient of the lifetime achievement award. The prize was created by Congress to honor singers and songwriters who entertain, inform and inspire.
Bennett has been a fixture on the pop charts for seven decades, spanning from his singles for Columbia Records in the early 1950s to his 2014 collaboration with Lady Gaga.
His signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” received two Grammy awards.
He says in a statement that he has great respect for George and Ira Gershwin and to receive an award named for them “is one of the greatest thrills” of his career.
