Tony Renis


Tony Renis, stage name of Elio Cesari, is an Italian singer, composer, music producer and film actor.

Life and career

Born in Milan, he debuted in the mid-1950s, paired with Adriano Celentano, performing an impression of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In 1958, he signed to the label "Combo Record" as a singer and started releasing covers of Italian and American songs. In 1961, Renis debuted at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Pozzanghere".
In 1962, Renis gained international success with the song "Quando, quando, quando", written with Alberto Testa and performed at the Sanremo Music Festival. One year later, he won the same Festival with the song "Una per tutte", and, in 1967, he reached second place with the song "Quando dico che ti amo".
In 1972, he composed the song "Grande grande grande" with Alberto Testa, successfully performed by Mina, and later by Shirley Bassey under the English translation title "Never Never Never" also covered by Vikki Carr, Celine Dion with Luciano Pavarotti, Julio Iglesias, Patrizio Buanne with Renee Olstead, and others.
In 1974, he won the Nastro d'Argento for the Best Score for the score of Brothers Blue.
In the 1980s, Tony Renis mainly worked as music producer and, in 1981, he launched the career of Nikka Costa.
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 movie soundtrack.
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 a Golden Globe for Best Original Song at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards.
He received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2016.

Discography

33s in Italy