A duet between jazz great Tony Bennett and the late singer Amy Winehouse is to be released as a single to benefit a charity established by her father.
The classic pop standard Body and Soul that Winehouse recorded with Bennett in March is one of her last works. She died at age 27 on July 23rd after a long battle with alcohol and drugs.
The veteran US singer told a television show royalties from the song would go to the foundation set up in Winehouse's name by her father, Mitch. Bennett told NBC's Today programme Winehouse, who died last month, "sang beautifully" on the track which features on his new album of duets.
“Actually what’s going to happen is that we’re putting that out ahead of the album. And it’s going to a foundation that her father started to teach all the young children not to take drugs, and all the royalties of the record will go to that,” he said.
The song, recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London, will also appear on Bennett's Duets II CD, to be released on September 20th.
Mitch Winehouse said the foundation would support people struggling with drink and drugs and “help thousands of people”.
Writing on Twitter, Mr Winehouse said: “The foundation is going to help thousands of people. That is Amy’s legacy.” In a eulogy at his daughter’s funeral, he said the foundation would be “something to help the things she loved - children, horses, but also to help those struggling with substance abuse”.
Grammy-winner Winehouse was famed for her black beehive hair and soulful voice, and is best known for her 2006 song Rehab that summed up her struggles with addiction. An official cause of her death has not been determined.
Bennett, a Grammy-winning jazz legend whose biggest songs include I Left My Heart in San Francisco and Rags to Riches, celebrated his 85th birthday yesterday.
Agencies