In pictures: The life and achievements of Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett, who died last week, was an eminent stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards graced a decadeslong career brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

Bennett often said his lifelong ambition was to create “a hit catalog rather than hit records,” which he accomplished through more than 70 albums, garnering 19 Grammys — all but two after he reached his 60s. If his singing and public life lacked the emotional drama of Sinatra’s, Bennett appealed with an easy, courtly manner and an uncommonly rich and durable tenor that made him a master of caressing a ballad or brightening an up-tempo number.

Bennett received many accolades from fellow singers, but none so meaningful than when his friend and mentor Sinatra said in a 1965 Life magazine interview: “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He’s the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more.”

In 2014, at age 88, Bennett broke his own record as the oldest living performer with a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart for “Cheek to Cheek,” his collaboration with Lady Gaga. Three years earlier, he topped the charts with “Duets II,” featuring such contemporary pop stars as Gaga, Carrie Underwood, and Amy Winehouse in her last studio recording.

For Bennett, one of the few performers to move easily between pop and jazz, such collaborations were part of his crusade to expose young audiences to what he called the Great American Songbook.

After turning 60, Bennett could have accepted lucrative offers for extended runs performing old hit for older fans. Instead, his son and manager, Danny, found creative ways to market the singer to the MTV Generation without compromising his musical integrity. “I wanted to be able to bring my music to as many people as possible, regardless of their age,” the singer wrote in his 1998 autobiography “The Good Life.” “I wanted to be one of the keepers of the flame when it came to great music. I knew that if I brought the best songs and the best orchestrations to people, they’d respond to it, because great music transcends generations.”

In 1994 Bennett did an episode of 'MTV Unplugged' with special guests Elvis Costello and KD Lang. The resulting album that won two Grammys, including album of the year.

Bennett would go on to win Grammys for his tributes to great female vocalists (“Here’s to the Ladies”), Billie Holiday (“Tony Bennett on Holiday”), and Duke Ellington (“Bennett Sings Ellington — Hot & Cool”). He also won Grammys for his collaborations with other singers: “Playin’ With My Friends — Bennett Sings the Blues,” and his Louis Armstrong tribute, “A Wonderful World” with lang, the first full album he had ever recorded with another singer.

It culminated with “Duets: An American Classic” in 2006 celebrating his 80th birthday. Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were among those who recorded with him in his preferred manner — face-to-face in the studio.