Tony Dallara

Antonio Lardera was born in Campobasso, in Molise, on 30 June 1936, the youngest of five children (four boys and one girl), all born in Campobasso. His father, Battista Lardera, a Milanese, was a former chorus singer at the Teatro alla Scala. His mother, Lucia, from Campobasso, had worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy family in Milan. Tony grew up in Milan from early childhood and lived for a time on viale Tibaldi, near the tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano, who once said in an interview that the boy could have sung opera. Dallara recalled that his mother sang Neapolitan songs at home and that he began singing loudly at the parish oratory.

Dallara finished compulsory schooling and then went to work, first as a barman and later as a clerk. He had no formal conservatory training. His musical education came from home, where his father had sung at La Scala, and from listening to American singers, especially Frankie Laine and The Platters.

Dallara sang with the Rocky Mountains, which became I Campioni, and performed in Milan clubs, notably Santa Tecla, where he met Adriano Celentano. In 1957, while working as a delivery boy at the label Music, he was signed by director Walter Guertler, who gave him the stage name Dallara. "Come prima" (Di Paola, Taccani, Panzeri), released in December 1957, reached number one in Italy, sold 300,000 copies and also charted at the top in the Netherlands and Flanders. A string of hits followed in 1958 and 1959, including "Ti dirò", "Brivido blu", "Non partir", "Ghiaccio bollente" and "Julia", while he did military service.

In 1960 he won the Sanremo Music Festival with "Romantica", paired with Renato Rascel, and won Canzonissima with the same song. In 1961 "La novia" was number one in Italy for eight weeks, he placed tenth at Sanremo with "Un uomo vivo" (with Gino Paoli), and he won Canzonissima again with "Bambina bambina". He returned to Sanremo in 1964 with "Come potrei dimenticarti", paired with Ben E. King, and appeared at Un disco per l'estate (1964, 1965, 1972), the Cantagiro (1966) and the Festival di Napoli (1967).

He acted and sang in films including L'amico del giaguaro (1958), Agosto, donne mie non vi conosco (1959), I ragazzi del juke-box (1959), Sanremo, la grande sfida (1960) and I teddy boys della canzone (1960). After a period devoted to painting in the 1970s, he returned to the stage in the 1980s on the revival circuit, recorded Più di prima (1987) and Pensieri in musica (1991), worked as a commentator on Rai 2's L'Italia sul 2 from 2008, and featured on MAK's "Anime" in 2019.

Dallara was married to Patrizia, who described their relationship after his death as a deep, inseparable bond. They had two daughters, Lisa and Natasha Lardera, who grew up between Italy and the United States and largely stayed out of the public eye. He was also a painter of abstract works and exhibited in galleries; Renato Guttuso became a friend and admirer. In his later years he lived in Milan. He suffered serious health problems in the years before his death, including a period of about two months in a coma.

Dallara saw himself as a pioneer of a youthful style. In a 1959 television exchange with Claudio Villa on Vittorio Gassman's programme Il Mattatore, he said he hoped his style would live on because it was the style of the young. In later interviews he said the urlatori, from himself to Mina and Celentano, symbolised a generation rebelling against its parents' respectability. He spoke frankly about the economics of his career, saying that because he had not written "Come prima" or "Romantica" he never received songwriting royalties, and that he had been shut out of Sanremo for decades despite trying almost every year.

Dallara is remembered as the first Italian singer to be called an urlatore, the label that defined a wave of rock-influenced Italian singers in the late 1950s. "Come prima" became an international evergreen, recorded in English by The Platters and in French by Dalida, and has been used in international advertising. "Romantica" was translated into several languages, including Japanese. Vasco Rossi quoted "Come prima" in his song "Asilo republic", and Squallor parodied "La novia" in 1982. His records were released in France, Spain, the United States, Japan, Romania, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.

Winner, Sanremo Music Festival 1960, with "Romantica" (paired with Renato Rascel). Winner, Canzonissima 1960, with "Romantica". Winner, Canzonissima 1961, with "Bambina bambina". "Come prima" sold 300,000 copies and was a number one hit in Italy, the Netherlands and Flanders; "La novia" spent eight weeks at number one in Italy.

Dallara appeared in several musicarelli, the Italian music films of the era, including Lucio Fulci's I ragazzi del juke-box (1959) and Piero Vivarelli's Sanremo, la grande sfida (1960), and sang "Tempo di Roma" in Denys de La Patellière's Esame di guida (1963). He was a guest on Che tempo che fa (28 December 2008) and Soliti ignoti (12 May 2010), and sang live on Mara Venier's Domenica In in January and February 2024. Rai programmes including Domenica In and La volta buona paid tribute after his death. Biographical writing includes Enzo Giannelli's chapter "Tony Dallara, il ragazzo di Porta Ticinese" (2012) and Fernando Fratarcangeli's article in Raro! (2012).

After his death, his daughter Lisa said on Rai programmes Storie Italiane and La volta buona that his death had been unexpected and that he had not received optimal hospital care, saying staff told the family he was 89 and should be left in peace. Media reported that the family was considering a complaint. No official finding about his care had been made public.

In December 2025 Dallara broke his femur in a domestic accident and had surgery. He was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Milan, where he contracted a pulmonary virus; his breathing deteriorated rapidly and he was taken to hospital as an emergency. He died in Milan on 16 January 2026, aged 89. His death was announced by his daughter Natasha Lardera. A chapel of rest was held at the Casa funeraria San Siro on 18 and 19 January, and his funeral took place on 20 January 2026 at the Basilica del Corpus Domini on via Canova in Milan, with a blue coffin; his friend Memo Remigi gave a eulogy. His burial place has not been made public.