Anyone watching Tony Bennett? NBC

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Am I mistaken?

Was he not the singer who wouldn't sing the National Anthem because it was (in his opinion) a war song?
 
Was he not the singer who wouldn't sing the National Anthem because it was (in his opinion) a war song?

Sort of. It happened in 1961 at the Preakness. His comment was something along the line of "Bombs bursting in air? I don't know, that's not my kind of thing.". He has on numerous occasions sung America the Beautiful instead. It's not that he's anti-American, just doesn't like the song.
 
Anthony Benedetto is, for sure, one of the all time greatest singers ever. His voice is great solo but also blends well with other voices and always sounds good. I like to hear him sing with K D Lang. Their voices complement each other very nicely. His music is timeless. He has a large following of young people.
 
Was he not the singer who wouldn't sing the National Anthem because it was (in his opinion) a war song?

Interesting. I did not know that. Not a plus punkt for him, in my view, but it's a free country and he's certainly entitled to his opinion. I watched the show. It was a little over the top, I thought, but if he were here it wouldn't keep me from wishing him well. Stevie Wonder "stole the show" with Sir Duke, but of course with that tune, how could he not? :)
 
Was he not the singer who wouldn't sing the National Anthem because it was (in his opinion) a war song?

He considers himself to be a pacifist, based on his experiences in WWII.

"Benedetto was drafted into the United States Army in November 1944, during the final stages of World War II. He did basic training at Fort Dix and Fort Robinson as part of becoming an infantry rifleman. Benedetto ran afoul of a sergeant from the South who disliked the Italian from New York City and heavy doses of KP duty or BAR cleaning resulted. Processed through the huge Le Havre replacement depot, in January 1945, he was assigned as a replacement infantryman to the 255th Infantry Regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division, a unit filling in for the heavy losses suffered in the Battle of the Bulge. He moved across France, and later, into Germany. As March 1945 began, he joined the front line and what he would later describe as a "front-row seat in hell."

As the German Army was pushed back to its homeland, Benedetto and his company saw bitter fighting in cold winter conditions, often hunkering down in foxholes as German 88 mm guns fired on them. At the end of March, they crossed the Rhine and entered Germany, engaging in dangerous house-to-house, town-after-town fighting to clean out German soldiers; during the first week of April, they crossed the Kocher River, and by the end of the month reached the Danube. During his time in combat, Benedetto narrowly escaped death several times. The experience made him a pacifist; he would later write, "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one," and later say, "It was a nightmare that's permanent. I just said, 'This is not life. This is not life.'" At the war's conclusion he was involved in the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp near Landsberg, where some American prisoners of war from the 63rd Division had also been held."
 
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