Antonio Astarita (14 April 1939 – 15 April 1998), best known as Tony Astarita was an Italian

Canzone Napoletana Canzone napoletana (), sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song ( nap, canzona napulitana ), is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well represented b ...

singer.

Life and career

Born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Astarita made his official debut in 1962 participating to a contest for upcoming singers. In 1965 he won the

Festival di Napoli The Festival della Canzone Napoletana ("Festival of Neapolitan Song"), commonly known as the Festival di Napoli, is a Neapolitan song contest. The first edition was held in 1952 and the last in 2004. From 1952 to 1970 the show was broadcast on RAI ...

with the song "Serenata all'acqua 'e mare", in couple with

Aurelio Fierro Aurelio Fierro (13 September 1923 – 11 March 2005) was a successful Italian actor and singer who specialized in songs in the Neapolitan dialect. Career He was born in Montella, in the Province of Avellino, Italy. His singing career began ...

. He won again the festival in 1969, performing together with

Mirna Doris Mirna Doris (28 September 1940 – 27 March 2020) was an Italian Canzone Napoletana singer, mainly successful in the second half of the 1960s. Life and career Born Annunziata Chiarelli, in Naples, after studying singing Doris started performing i ...

the song "Preghiera a 'na mamma". During the peak of his career he participated to other well known musical events, such as

Canzonissima ''Canzonissima'' was an Italian musical variety show broadcast by Rai 1 from 1958 to 1974, aired on Saturday evening except for the last two editions in which it was aired on Sunday afternoon. The program was referred to as "the synthesis and the ...

and

Un disco per l'estate Un disco per l'estate (translation "A Record for the Summer") was an Italian Summer festival held from 1964 to 2003. It was organized and sponsored by the Italian record industry association, AFI, and by RAI, except for the editions between 1995 ...

, where he launched the hit "La cotta".Fabrizio Stramacci. "Astarita, Tony". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. Astarita died of a tumour on 15 April 1998, while he was preparing a new album.

Discography

;Album * 1966: ''Serenata 'mbriaca'' (King, LFK 0062005) * 1967: ''Tony Astarita'' (Kappaò, SCT 30002) * 1970: ''Nu peccatore'' (King, NLU 62011) * 1975: ''’Nu poco e Napule'' (Zeus, BS 3027) * 1976: ''Canzone amara'' (ATA, NDL 0009) * 1980: ''Vecchia Napoli'' (Holiday, HLP 1001) * 1981: ''Tony Astarita 1981'' (Holiday, HLP 1003)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Astarita, Tony Musicians from Naples 1945 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Italian male singers Deaths from cancer in Campania