In September 2011 , Bennett appeared on '' The Howard Stern Show '' and named American military actions in the Middle East as the root cause of the September 11 attacks . Bennett also claimed that former President George W. Bush personally told him at the Kennedy Center in December 2005 that he felt he had made a mistake invading Iraq , to which a Bush spokesperson replied , " This account is flatly wrong . " Following bad press resulting from his remarks , Bennett clarified his position , writing : " There is simply no excuse for terrorism and the murder of the nearly 3,000 innocent victims of the 9/11 attacks on our country . My life experiences , ranging from the Battle of the Bulge to marching with Martin Luther King , made me a life-long humanist and pacifist , and reinforced my belief that violence begets violence and that war is the lowest form of human behavior . " In September 2011 , Bennett released '' Duets II '' , a follow-up to his first collaboration album , in conjunction with his 85th birthday . He sings duets with seventeen prominent singers of varying techniques , including Aretha Franklin , Willie Nelson , Queen Latifah , and Lady Gaga . Bennett appeared on the season 2 premiere of the television procedural '' Blue Bloods '' performing " It Had To Be You " with Carrie Underwood . His duet with Amy Winehouse on " Body and Soul " — reportedly the last recording she made before her death — charted on the lower reaches of the '' Billboard '' Hot 100 , making Bennett the oldest living artist to appear there , as well as the artist with the greatest span of appearances . The single did well in Europe , where it reached the top 15 in several countries . The album then debuted at number one on the '' Billboard '' 200 , making Bennett the oldest living artist to reach that top spot , as well as marking the first time he had reached it himself . A model of Koss headphones , the Tony Bennett Signature Edition ( TBSE1 ) , was created for this milestone ( Bennett having been one of the early adopters of the Koss product back in the 1960s ) . In November 2011 , Columbia released '' Tony Bennett – The Complete Collection '' , a 73-CD plus 3-DVD set , which although not absolutely " complete " , finally brought forth many albums that had not had a previous CD release , as well as some unreleased material and rarities . In December 2011 , Bennett appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in Salford in the presence of HRH Princess Anne
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Tony Bennett