Italian-American singer Tony Bennett will be serenading his fans in China. Provided to China Daily

Although Tony Bennett has been famous in the United States for more than 60 years, the singer will only make his debut China tour in September.

He will perform in two concerts at the Mixing Room and Muse in the Mercedes-Benz Arena complex of Shanghai on Sept 19 and 20.

Bennett is an Italian-American singer with a career spanning more than half a century. With over 50 million records sold worldwide, he has received 17 Grammy Awards including Record of the Year in 1995 for his MTV Unplugged CD that introduced the singer to a new generation, and the Grammy Lifetime Award. His 2007 TV special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic, also won seven Emmy Awards.

"Tony Bennett is one of the greatest performers and legends of all time," says Michael Craig Enoch, general manager of the Mercedes-Benz Arena. "His artistry and accomplishments are recognized and applauded all over the world and we are honored to welcome him to Shanghai."

"I am so excited to have the opportunity to visit China for the first time and perform in Shanghai," Bennett told China Daily in an e-mail interview. "I have always kept to the premise never to insult the public by presenting to them poor quality music."

Bennett loves the popular standards from the 1920s-'40s, believing it was a golden age of songwriter with master craftsmen such as Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and the Gershwin brothers.

"So these are the songs that I perform in concert and I find that audiences all over the world just love them," he said.

Originally named Anthony Benedetto, Bennett was born in 1926, and served as a US army infantryman during World War II. He was performing in Greenwich Village New York when comedian Bob Hope discovered him, and gave him the stage name Tony Bennett.

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