Tony Bennett’s family has revealed that the legendary singer has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
In the latest edition of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Magazine, the singer’s wife Susan Crow and his son Danny Bennett said Mr Bennett was diagnosed with the disease in 2016.
They said he experiences “increasingly rarer moments of clarity and awareness.”
Sharing a link to the article on his official Twitter account, Mr Bennett tweeted: “Life is a gift - even with Alzheimer’s. Thank you to Susan and my family for their support, and @AARP The Magazine for telling my story.”
Ms Crow told the magazine that the star is "not always sure where he is or what is happening around him".
However, she said Mr Bennett has so far been spared many other symptoms of the disease, including the disorientation that can lead to episodes of terror, rage or depression.
Mr Bennett continues to rehearse and twice a week goes through his 90-minute set with his pianist, Lee Musiker.
Neurologist Gayatri Devi, who diagnosed Mr Bennett, told AARP the singer has "an amazingly versatile brain."
Ms Devi said he has some "cognitive issues, but multiple other areas of his brain are still resilient and functioning well."
"He is doing so many things, at 94, that many people without dementia cannot do,” she added.
"He really is the symbol of hope for someone with a cognitive disorder."
Ms Crow said the family decided to open up about Mr Bennett’s diagnosis as he prepares to release a new album in the spring with collaborator Lady Gaga, following their 2014 project Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek.
The magazine states the family are keen for “as many ears as possible to hear and enjoy what may very well be the last Tony Bennett record”.
They also want to break the silence around his condition - a decision which has made without the singer’s input because he is “incapable of understanding the disease, let alone making momentous decisions about whether to publicly disclose it", according to Ms Crow.
The 19 times Grammy Award winner came to prominence in the early 1950s with songs like I Left My Heart In San Francisco and The Shadow Of Your Smile and enjoyed a career revival in the 1990s in part because of an appearance on MTV Unplugged.
Since then, he has continued recording and touring and his 2014 collaboration with Lady Gaga debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
