I Left My Heart in San Francisco is a traditional pop ballad best known as Tony Bennett’s signature song. The music was written by George Cory and the lyrics by Douglass Cross, created in the early 1950s in Brooklyn and originally aimed at Claramae Turner. Bennett first performed it publicly in December 1961 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, and it was released as a single on February 2, 1962 by Columbia, as the B-side to Once Upon a Time; it later appeared on the album I Left My Heart in San Francisco. The song expresses nostalgia for San Francisco, with imagery of cable cars and morning fog, and helped cement Bennett’s association with the city. It became a hit, reaching No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 7 on the Easy Listening chart, won the Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Male Solo Vocal Performance, and was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2018 for its cultural significance. The tune is an unofficial city anthem, and its legacy includes a statue of Bennett outside the Fairmont and Tony Bennett Way, as well as ongoing cover versions and its association with San Francisco Giants victories.
