ABC News

Tony Bennett, who made history this week by becoming the oldest artist with a No. 1 album, said he has a secret to his success.

One, he said, most may not believe.

"I never worked a day in my life because I love what I do," he told ABC News. "I sing and I paint. And I do that every day. I keep studying. I keep learning. And I just love the fact that I'm getting away with it because it's what I love to do."

Bennett, 88, topped the Billboard 200 this week for his jazz duets collaboration with Lady Gaga titled "Cheek to Cheek." The album has reportedly sold more than 131,000 copies since its release last week.

Bennett called Lady Gaga, who is 60 years younger, elegant and talented.

"I don't think about her age because she's brilliant. She's a very accomplished piano player. She's a great improviser," he said. "Anything she takes on is going to work."

Bennett said he didn't back down when others criticized him for not performing more "modern stuff" or called his music "light entertainment."

"I'm convinced that 35 or 50 years from now, [music by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and others will] finally be called America's classical music," he said. "I don't consider them old songs, I consider them masterpieces."

Off stage, Bennett and his wife's foundation Exploring the Arts raised $1.3 million during their eighth annual benefit gala for arts programs in New York schools. Bennett said he hoped to expand the programs to San Francisco and elsewhere in the US.

"The whole dream is have more artists than any other country in the world," he said. "Every public school in the United States should have an art program because artists, the whole premise of artists, is the search for truth and beauty. … That's our dream."

For now, Bennett - who started singing while waiting tables as a teenager to help his single mother - said he was enjoying the success of his album with Lady Gaga.

"I'm thrilled about that because I've always wanted to be one of a kind somehow," he said "And it happened."