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Little Tony, born Antonio Ciacci in 1941 in Tivoli, Italy, was actually a citizen of San Marino, as his parents were from there. Despite living most of his life in Italy, he never applied for Italian citizenship. His father was a singer and accordionist. Inspired by the emerging rock and roll sounds from the USA, Antonio formed a rock and roll group in 1957, serving as lead singer alongside his older brother Alberto on bass and younger brother Enrico on guitar. Little Tony's style was modeled after Little Richard.
In 1958, Little Tony & His Brothers signed with Durium Records, releasing a series of covers of American rock and roll hits in Italy, including "Lucille," "Johnny B. Goode," "Splish Splash," and "Shake Rattle and Roll." In 1959, Italian singer Marino Marini, while in London for the TV show Oh Boy!, recommended the group to producer Jack Good. After attending their concert in Milan and being impressed, Good signed them immediately. The group relocated to England, where they lived and performed for about 18 months. They debuted on Good's TV show Boy Meets Girls in September 1959 and released their first UK single, "I Can't Help It"—their 11th Italian single—on the Decca label. Tony earned the nickname "the boy with the ducktail." Their third UK single, "Too Good," recorded in London and written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, reached number 19 on the UK singles chart in January 1960, marking their sole UK chart success. The group continued to make regular TV appearances in Britain until 1962.
In 1961, Little Tony & His Brothers returned to Italy to compete in the San Remo Festival, securing second place with "24 mila baci" ("24 Thousand Kisses"). He also contributed songs to popular Musicarellos such as I Teddy boys della canzone (1960) directed by Domenico Paolella and the parody Rocco e le sorelle (1961) by Giorgio Simonelli. The group returned more permanently to Italy in 1962. Little Tony then pursued a solo career, singing in Italian, and achieved his first Italian number one with "Il ragazzo col ciuffo" in 1962. He also began acting in films, including 5 marines per 100 ragazze (1962) directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Virna Lisi, the crime comedy Un gangster venuto da Brooklyn (1966) with Akim Tamiroff, and the Musicarello Riderà! (1967) by Bruno Corbucci.
One of his biggest hits, "Cuore matto" ("Crazy Heart"), held the number one spot for nine consecutive weeks in 1967. In 1969, he established his own record label, Little Records, and continued to record regularly. Throughout his career, he enjoyed hits across Europe and South America and released numerous albums in Italy. In 1993, he returned to film with a supporting role in Ken Loach's acclaimed comedy-drama Raining Stones.
In 2006, Little Tony suffered a heart attack during a concert in Ottawa organized by the Italian-Canadian community but made a full recovery and returned to perform at the San Remo festival in 2008. After a prolonged battle with cancer, he passed away on 28 May 2013 in Rome at the age of 72. Little Tony had one daughter, Cristiana (born 1972), and three grandchildren: Martina, Mirko, and Melissa.
