Tony Bennett doesn't know he has Alzheimer's disease

Tony Bennett attends The Art Students League's 2019 Gala at The Edition Hotel in New York City in November 2019. Photo / Getty Images

Tony Bennett doesn't know he has Alzheimer's disease.

The 95-year-old music legend's wife, Susan Crow, has opened up about her husband's battle with the illness - which slowly destroys memory and thinking skills - and revealed he is not aware he is suffering and has moments where he is "more alert".

In an interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS News' 60 Minutes, Susan said: "Every day is different. Tony late at night, sometimes early in the morning, he's more alert, if I can use that word.

“It's emotional. It's hard to watch somebody change,” says Lady Gaga about performing with Tony Bennett, who has Alzheimer’s. “He really pushed through something to give the world the gift of knowing that things can change & you can still be magnificent.” https://t.co/jN5wnIVozD pic.twitter.com/cW6jHdWmPE

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 4, 2021

"So, I'll tell him, 'Tone, you're gonna be on 60 Minutes.' He's, like, 'Great.'

"I said, 'You remember that show, 60 Minutes, he's, like, 'I do.' But in any other given moment, he won't know."

She then said: "He recognises me, thank goodness, his children you know, we are blessed in a lotta ways. He's very sweet. He doesn't know he has it."

Anderson clarified: "He doesn't know he has it?" to which Susan confirmed: "No."

The legendary singer was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2016, and the I Left My Heart in San Francisco star recently retired from performing and released his final album, Love for Sale, a collaborative LP with Lady Gaga, last week.

It was Susan who implored Tony to step back from performing.

The singer with Lady Gaga, with whom he has collaborated in recent times. Photo / Getty Images

His son and manager Danny Bennett previously explained: "His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors - when Tony's wife, Susan heard them - she said, 'Absolutely not.'

"He'll be doing other things, but not those upcoming shows. It's not the singing aspect but, rather, the travelling. Look, he gets tired. The decision is being made that doing concerts now is just too much for him.

"We don't want him to fall on stage, for instance - something as simple as that."