Celebrities mourn Tony Bennett's death: 'Truly one of the greats'

July 21 (UPI) -- Celebrities are mourning the death of famed entertainer Tony Bennett.

Singer and musician Paul Young, actors George Takei and Josh Gad, songwriter and musician Nile Rodgers and other stars paid tribute to Bennett on social media Friday following his death at age 96.

Bennett, a pop and jazz singer whose career spanned over 70 years, died Friday in New York City after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016.

Young honored Bennett on Twitter as "truly one of the greats."

"Ahhh, RIP Tony Bennett, truly one of the greats. The first album I had was Tony Bennett sings 10 Rodgers and Hart songs, from when my record company in 1976 let me do a 'bank raid' of their vinyl stock and I was a fan from there on in. An incredible singer live, saw him many times," Young wrote.

Takei praised Bennett as a "master of the American songbook."

"The great Tony Bennett has passed away at the age of 96. He was the last of his kind, a master of the American songbook. He may have left his Heart in San Francisco, but he won all of our hearts, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. Be at peace, and sing to us now from the stars, Tony," Takei tweeted.

Gad also mourned Bennett on Twitter, writing, "This one shouldn't sting so much because any of us would take 96 years, but man is it hard to imagine a world without the great Tony Bennett."

Rodgers voiced his support for Bennett's friends and family.

"My most heartfelt condolences go out to Tony Bennett's family and friends. They're also my emotional family and friends," he tweeted.

In addition, Al Roker and the Today cast honored Bennett on the show Friday. Roker remembered Bennett as "just amazing."

"Such a generous guy. And he was New York," he said. "He was a friend of the show ... he was just unbelievable. 70 albums and recording with every other music star out there."