Tony Renis

Tony Renis
Tony Renis in the 1990s
Tony Renis in the 1990s
Background information
Birth nameElio Cesari
Born (1938-05-13) 13 May 1938 (age 86)
Milan, Kingdom of Italy
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • record producer
InstrumentVocals
Years active1958–2004
Labels

Elio Cesari (born 13 May 1938), known by his stage name Tony Renis, is an Italian singer, composer, music producer, and film actor.

Life and career

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Renis was born in Milan. In the mid-1950s he met with Adriano Celentano, and the two started performing an impression of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In 1958, he was signed by the label "Combo Records", and released a few cover versions of Italian and American rock 'n' roll songs as lead vocalist of the band Combos. In 1961, Renis debuted at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Pozzanghere".[1]

In 1962, Renis returned to the Sanremo Music Festival where he gained international recognition with the song "Quando, quando, quando", written with Alberto Testa.[1] One year later, he won the Festival with the song "Uno per tutte", and, in 1967, he finished second with the song "Quando dico che ti amo".[1]

In 1972, Renis and Testa composed the song "Grande grande grande". It was successfully interpreted by Mina, and later by Shirley Bassey as "Never Never Never". Over the years "Grande grande grande" have been covered by Marina Dale, Vikki Carr, Celine Dion with Luciano Pavarotti, Julio Iglesias, Patrizio Buanne with Renee Olstead, among others.

In 1974, he won the Nastro d'Argento for the Best Score for his work on the soundtrack of the film Brothers Blue.[2]

In the 1980s, Tony Renis temporarily retired from performing and mainly worked as music producer. In 1981 he launched the career of child prodigy Nikka Costa.[3]

In 1999, Renis received a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Oscar for the song "The Prayer", performed by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, from the Quest for Camelot film soundtrack.[3]

In 2005, he won a David di Donatello for the song "Merry Christmas in Love" from the film Christmas in Love. The song was also nominated for Best Original Song at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards.

In 2016 Renis received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation.

Discography

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Tony Renis and Frank Sinatra celebrating a Gold record in 1985.

Albums (Italy)

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  • 1969: Tony Renis (RCA Italiana, PSL 10435)
  • 1974: Graffiti (EMI Italiana, 3C 048-51500
  • 1976: Tony Renis (RCA Italiana, TCL 1–1078)
  • 1976: Un grande grande grande Tony Renis (RCA Lineatre, NL 31078)
  • 1989: Le più belle di Tony Renis (EMI Italiana, 7931031)

Singles (Italy)

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EPs (Italy)

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Albums (International market)

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  • 1964: Tony Renis (EMI, CLP 1754; published in Great Britain)
  • 1969: Chin-chin quechiquitin (RCA Victor, MIL/S 4051; published in Mexico)

Singles (International Market)

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EPs (International market)

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Sports work

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He composed the AC Milan Anthem - Milan Milan in 1988[4][5]

Filmography

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Tony Renis with Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli in 2002.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Marcello Giannotti (2005). L'enciclopedia di Sanremo. Gremese Editore, 2005. ISBN 88-8440-379-0.
  2. ^ Enrico Lancia (1998). I premi del cinema. Gremese Editore, 1998. ISBN 8877422211.
  3. ^ a b Mimma Gaspari (2009). Penso che un "mondo" così non-ritorni mai più. Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2009. ISBN 978-88-6073-469-3.
  4. ^ "Tony Renis: "Ecco racconto come è nato l'inno del Milan: è stata un'idea di Berlusconi"". Milannews.it. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  5. ^ "AC Milan's anthem: all the official AC Milan's songs". Acmilan.com. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
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