Little Tony Cause of Death: How the Sammarinese Singer and Actor Lost His Battle with Cancer

Little Tony was a popular singer and actor who achieved fame in both Italy and Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. He was known for his rock and roll style, his charismatic personality, and his successful career in music and film. He died of lung cancer on May 27, 2013, in Rome, at the age of 72. This article will explore his life, his achievements, and his cause of death.

Early Life and Career

Little Tony was born Antonio Ciacci on February 9, 1941, in Tivoli, Italy. He was a citizen of San Marino, where his parents were born, but he never applied for Italian citizenship. He formed a rock and roll group with his two brothers, Alberto and Enrico, in 1957, naming himself Little Tony in emulation of Little Richard. The following year, the group was signed by Durium Records, who released a series of covers of American rock and roll songs by them in Italy.

In 1959, the Italian singer Marino Marini, when in London, recommended the group to TV pop show producer Jack Good. Good visited Italy to meet the group, was impressed, and signed them up to appear in his British TV show Boy Meets Girls. They made their first appearance on the programme in September 1959, and released their first single in the UK, “I Can’t Help It” – the 11th single of their career in Italy – on the Decca label soon afterwards. For their third British single, Good recorded the group in London for the first time, and the resulting single, “Too Good”, written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, reached #19 on the UK singles chart in January 1960, their only chart success in Britain. The group continued to appear regularly on TV shows in Britain until 1962.

Return to Italy and Solo Success

The group first revisited Italy in 1961 to appear at the Sanremo Festival when they performed the song “24.000 baci” with Adriano Celentano and finished second. They returned more permanently the following year. Little Tony then worked as a solo singer, having his first #1 in Italy with “Il ragazzo col ciuffo” in 1962. He began working as a movie actor, appearing in over 20 movies in Italy, and becoming a star in the musicarelli film genre. He also continued to record regularly through the 1960s, one of his biggest hits from Festival Sanremo ‘1967 is “Cuore matto” (crazy heart), no. 1 for nine consecutive weeks in 1967. It sold in excess of about six million copies and was awarded a gold disc in May 1967. Another successful song was “Quando vedrai la mia ragazza”, that he performed in Festival Sanremo ‘1964, which sold almost one million copies, and later “Riderà”, which sold over a million copies in 1966.

He formed his own record label, Little Records, in 1969. In Festival Sanremo 1969 Little Tony was singing the swing hit “Bada Bambina” (be careful baby) and in the following year, he participated in Festival Sanremo ‘1970 with the hit “La spada nel cuore” (sword in my heart) that became an international hit.

Later Years and Death

Little Tony continued to perform and record until his final years. He also appeared on several TV shows as a guest or a judge. He was married twice and had three children. He suffered from diabetes and had a heart attack in 2006. In 2012, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent chemotherapy. He died on May 27, 2013, in Rome, at the age of 72. He was buried in Tivoli.

Little Tony was a beloved figure in Italian pop culture and a pioneer of rock and roll music. He left behind a legacy of songs that are still popular today. His cause of death was cancer.

Doms Desk

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