Tony Bennett performs in 2019 at Packard Music Hall in Warren. (Staff file photo)

Reading this week that singer Tony Bennett is battling Alzheimer’s disease was sad news.

Discovering that he first showed symptoms in 2016 also had to be shocking to anyone who saw Bennett perform at Packard Music Hall in 2019.

At 92 years old, Bennett seemed like a medical marvel when he appeared on Mother’s Day at the Warren venue. His voice still had enough power that he could fill the hall, even when he pulled the microphone away from his mouth and sang without amplification.

Frankly, I was impressed he stood for the entire 70-minute performance. If I approach his longevity, I hope my knees will allow me to do the same.

Any memory issues he may have had in 2019 didn’t apply to song lyrics. I don’t remember any lyrical flubs, and I didn’t mention any in the review of the concert.

And the performance didn’t feel like someone reciting words by rote. Bennett never was a singer who wowed with vocal histrionics. He is a vocal storyteller who makes the audience feel he lived every word of those classic songs.

Bennett also was part of the opening weekend festivities and the second act to headline the downtown Youngstown arena now known as the Covelli Centre in 2005. Just like he did at Packard, he put the microphone down and filled that cavernous venue with just his voice.

Bennett was born in Queens and still lives in New York. He may have left his heart in San Francisco, but he left his art in the Mahoning Valley.

He is a painter as well as a singer, and his work has been shown at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown and was the part of the grand opening of former Butler Trumbull Branch in Howland. Through those art exhibitions and their opening receptions, many people in the area got a chance to meet Bennett, shake his hand, maybe have a brief conversation with him.

He may have 19 Grammy Awards and a Kennedy Center Honor, he may have sold more than 50 million records, but there’s a bond locally that feels a little stronger compared to other stars who’ve visited the region.

I was fortunate enough to see Bennett perform at Packard and the Covelli Centre. I met him a couple of times at the Butler, and I interviewed him at least twice.

They weren’t great interviews. With someone who has been interviewed thousands of time before, it’s difficult to get them to stray from the answers they’ve given time and time again, especially in a 20-minute conversation.

But Bennett has a reputation for being one of the nicest people in show business, and my strongest memory from those interviews only confirms that impression.

Here’s something most folks might not know: celebrities, once they reach a certain level of fame, never dial their own phone, at least not for an interview. Rather than having to wait several precious seconds before a reporter might answer, a publicist or assistant will call the reporter, make sure they are on the line and ready, and then connect the celebrity onto the call.

One of the times I interviewed Bennett, the interview was scheduled around 3 p.m., and we had a newsroom staff meeting that day at 2 p.m. on a different floor of the building. Bennett’s schedule changed, so he called around 2:15 p.m. to see if we could do the interview early.

Bennett waited while someone came downstairs to pull me out of the interview and while I made my way back upstairs to take the call. He was ON HOLD FOR AT LEAST TWO MINUTES! That might not sound like much, but it hasn’t happened before or since.

According to the AARP magazine story that revealed his diagnosis, it appears the one part of his memory and personality unaffected by the disease is his ability to remember song lyrics. I hope those memories that remain are as cherished by him as the ones he’s given so many in the Mahoning Valley over the years.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.