Tony Lucca
Background information
Birth name	Anthony James Lucca
Born	(1976-01-23) January 23, 1976 (age 36) Pontiac, Michigan, United States
Origin	Waterford, Michigan
Genres	Rock, folk, acoustic, singer/songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, bass
Years active	1991 to present
Labels	Rock Ridge Music, Lucca Music
Associated acts	TFDI
Website	Official Web Site

Tony Lucca (born Anthony James Lucca on January 23, 1976, in Pontiac, Michigan), is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and sometime actor. He is perhaps best known for starting his career on the Mickey Mouse Club. After the Mickey Mouse Club, Lucca went to LA for a brief career as an actor, then became a full-time musician, releasing over seven studio albums and five EPs. He is a consistent touring artist and has toured with a multitude of acts, including *NSYNC, Marc Anthony, Josh Hoge, Sara Bareilles,^[1] the late Chris Whitley, Matt Duke and Tyrone Wells. He was the second runner-up on the second season of the American reality talent show, The Voice.

Early life[link]

Lucca was born in Pontiac, Michigan, the son of Sally and Tony Lucca.^[2] Lucca is of Italian, Welsh, French and English descent.^[2] Lucca grew up around a large and musical extended family,^[3] as his mother Sally was tenth of twelve children of the Detroit jazz piano player James "Jimmy" Stevenson.^[4][5][6] Lucca grew up in Waterford, Michigan and began singing at age 3^[7] and child modeling at age 9.^[2] When he was 12, he began playing in Detroit-area bands with his cousin, Cole Garlak.^[4][7][8][9]

Professional and musical career[link]

1991-94: Mickey Mouse Club[link]

When Lucca was 14, he went to Detroit to audition for the Disney movie Newsies, only to find out that the audition was for the Mickey Mouse Club instead.^[3] Encouraged by his sister, he auditioned for the show and was picked for callbacks in Los Angeles.^[2][3] In Los Angeles, he was selected along with 8 other kids to join the cast for the fourth season of the show. Lucca moved to Orlando, Florida with his mom and lived in an apartment complex with other castmates and traveled back to Michigan between seasons.^[2] He remained with the show for four seasons until being let go during the seventh season when the show was canceled.

1995-97: Hollywood[link]

After the cancellation of the Mickey Mouse Club, Lucca moved to Los Angeles to begin an acting career in 1995.^[7] He lived with fellow Mickey Mouse Club castmate Keri Russell, his girlfriend at the time. Russell and Lucca were cast and played leads together on the Aaron Spelling-produced Malibu Shores,^[10][11] a teen drama which lasted for one season. During this time he filmed commercials for Levi Jeans, J.C. Penney and Blockbuster Video.^[2] He had minor success in movies, appearing in an NBC movie of the week, Her Last Chance with Kellie Martin and Jonathan Brandis,^[12] as well as two independent features.^[13] He left acting in 1997 to pursue music.

1997-2003: Independent music[link]

In 1997 Lucca self-released his first CD, So Satisfied that he co-produced.^[4] In 1998 he started his website www.tonylucca.com and began to sell the CD and its self-released follow-up, Strong Words Softly Spoken through the website and at his live shows. Lucca also released two EPs and a limited series of Live & Limited CDs through his site; each CD sold was numbered and signed. In 2001 and 2002 he served as an opening act for 'N Sync, a boy band that featured fellow Mickey Mouse Club co-stars Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.

2004-Present: Lightyear and Rock Ridge Music[link]

Lucca's third full-length album and his first commercially-distributed, Shotgun was released in 2004 in conjunction with Lightyear and New Vibe Records, and was executive co-produced by JC Chasez, who Lucca toured with to support the album.^[14] Following that release was 2006 album Canyon Songs, recording in both Laurel and Beachwood Canyons,^[15] and in that same year a live concert album Live In Hollywood both of which were distributed by Rock Ridge Music. Come Around Again was released in 2008.

Lucca also participated in a cooperative tour with Jay Nash and Matt Duke, which resulted in the 2009 EP entitled TFDI. The collaboration, which stands for "Totally Fuckin' Doing It"^[16] was recorded in the Evanston, Illinois studio SPACE during an impromptu visit to the studio, after the three artists formed a friendship during the tour.^[7][17] Lucca's sixth album was released in 2010, entitled Rendezvous With the Angels, on Rock Ridge Music. Solo, an acoustic CD composed of b-sides and previously unreleased recordings was released in November 2010, and given away for free in conjunction with Amazon.com's MP3 web store. Lucca has recorded a second collaborative CD with Jay Nash and Matt Duke, TFDI II, which was released in the summer of 2011. On February 5, 2012, Lucca appeared on the NBC show The Voice and chose Adam Levine as his voice coach. ^[18]

Other Ventures[link]

Many of Lucca's songs have been featured in various TV shows, including Friday Night Lights, Brothers & Sisters, Shark and Felicity and in the movie Open Range. He appeared in an episode of the E! True Hollywood Story series, covering his time spent on The Mickey Mouse Club in 2007.^[19] He has performed numerous times on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly as a part of the show's band.^[9]

He briefly returned to acting in 2010, starring in a 901 Silver Tequila commercial, which was directed by the brand founder Justin Timberlake.^[20] He also played himself on an episode of Parenthood, appearing as a performing musician.^[21]

[edit] Contestant in The Voice (2012)

On February 5, 2012, Tony appeared on the Blind Auditions of the American reality talent show The Voice in its second season. He sang "Trouble", a Ray LaMontagne song. All four judges (Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton) hit the red "I Want You" button for him. He chose to join Adam Levine's team. It was also in this show that he reunited with fellow Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera. Initially, she showed no sign of recognition, but then realized who he was after he left the stage and followed him to congratulate him, also revealing that when they were young, Britney Spears, another fellow Mouseketeer, had a crush on Lucca. He advanced to the semi-finals, which he performed "How You Like Me Now" by The Heavy and moved on to the final round. For the final round on May 7, he performed Hugo's country-styled version of Jay-Z's 99 Problems. While enjoying his performance overall, Aguilera criticized Lucca for singing a song that she saw as being derogatory towards women, as the song contains the line "I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one." (Lucca did not sing the word "bitch" during this performance, but does on the studio recording.) This prompted Lucca's coach Levine to defend his performance, stating that he and Lucca discussed the content of the song and decided to go on with it, but used Hugo's version to change the tone and be taken less seriously, as well as revealing a black t-shirt with a sparkling pink "Team Xtina" logo on it. During that night since Lucca's performance, Aguilera made more jabs at him by stating that her finalist Chris Mann was "a real [gentle]man" who respects women, as well as appearing to ignore Lucca's other performances that night. On May 8, 2012, he made his last performance on the show duetting with fellow contestant Jordis Unga formerly of Team Blake on the Fleetwood Mac song, "Go Your Own Way". Later that night, it was announced that he had come in third place in the competition, barely placing ahead of Mann by one quarter of a percentage point and coming behind winner Jermaine Paul from Team Blake and first runner-up Juliet Simms from Team Cee Lo.

Personal life[link]

Lucca dated fellow Mouseketeer (and eventual Malibu Shores co-star) Keri Russell on-and-off for eight years.^[22][23]

On July 7, 2007 Lucca married single mom Rachel, adopting her son Liam. They live in Detroit, Michigan and have a daughter, Sparrow Jane Lucca (born October 17, 2009).

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1997: So Satisfied
• 1999: Strong Words, Softly Spoken
• 2004: Shotgun
• 2006: Canyon Songs
• 2008: Come Around Again
• 2010: Rendezvous With the Angels
• 2010: Solo
• 2011: Under the Influence

Live albums

• 2006: Live in Hollywood

EPs[link]

• 2001: So Far
• 2002: Simply Six
• 2006: Through The Cracks
• 2008: Close Enough
• 2009: TFDI

Singles[link]

Selected filmography[link]

• 1991 The All New Mickey Mouse Club as Himself
• 1993 Emerald Cove as Jeff Chambers
• 1996 Her Last Chance as Cody
• 1996 Malibu Shores as Zack Morrison
• 1997 Take a Number as Todd
• 1998 Too Pure as Jared
• 2004 The Wayne Brady Show as Himself
• 2007 E! True Hollywood Story: The Mickey Mouse Club as Himself

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official Tony Lucca Myspace Page
• Tony Lucca at the Internet Movie Database

Lucca
—  Comune  —
Comune di Lucca
Panorama of Lucca from the Torre Guinigi
Coat of arms
Lucca Location of Lucca in Italy
Coordinates: 43°51′N 10°30′E / 43.85°N 10.5°E / 43.85; 10.5
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Province	Lucca (LU)
Frazioni	see list
Government
• Mayor	Alessandro Tambellini (PD)
Area
• Total	185.5 km2 (71.6 sq mi)
Elevation	19 m (62 ft)
Population (30 April 2009)
• Total	84,323
• Density	450/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Demonym	Lucchese (plural, Lucchesi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	55100
Dialing code	0583
Patron saint	St. Paulinus
Saint day	July 12
Website	Official website

Lucca  listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Tuscany, the north-west of Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca. Among other reasons, it is famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls.

History[link]

Ancient and medieval city[link]

Lucca was founded by the Etruscans (there are traces of a pre-existing Ligurian settlement) and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. The rectangular grid of its historical centre preserves the Roman street plan, and the Piazza San Michele occupies the site of the ancient forum. Traces of the amphitheatre can still be seen in the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. Lucca was the site of a conference in 56 BC which reaffirmed the supremacy of the Roman First Triumvirate.^[1]

Piazza Anfiteatro and the Basilica di San Frediano.

Frediano, an Irish monk, was bishop of Lucca in the early 6th century.^[2] At one point, Lucca was plundered by Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy. Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the 6th century, when Narses besieged it for several months in 553. Under the Lombards, it was the seat of a duke who minted his own coins. The Holy Face of Lucca (or Volto Santo), a major relic supposedly carved by Nicodemus, arrived in 742. It became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the 11th century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. During the 10-11th centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.

First republic[link]

After the death of Matilda of Tuscany, the city began to constitute itself an independent commune, with a charter in 1160. For almost 500 years, Lucca remained an independent republic. There were many minor provinces in the region between southern Liguria and northern Tuscany dominated by the Malaspina; Tuscany in this time was a part of feudal Europe. Dante’s Divine Comedy includes many references to the great feudal families who had huge jurisdictions with administrative and judicial rights. Dante spent some of his exile in Lucca.

In 1273 and again in 1277, Lucca was ruled by a Guelph capitano del popolo (captain of the people) named Luchetto Gattilusio. In 1314, internal discord allowed Uguccione della Faggiuola of Pisa to make himself lord of Lucca. The Lucchesi expelled him two years later, and handed over the city to another condottiere Castruccio Castracani, under whose rule it became a leading state in central Italy. Lucca rivalled Florence until Castracani's death in 1328. On 22 and 23 September 1325, in the battle of Altopascio, Castracani defeated Florence's Guelphs. For this he was nominated by Louis IV the Bavarian to become duke of Lucca. Castracani's tomb is in the church of San Francesco. His biography is Machiavelli's third famous book on political rule. In 1408, Lucca hosted the convocation intended to end the schism in the papacy. Occupied by the troops of Louis of Bavaria, the city was sold to a rich Genoese, Gherardino Spinola, then seized by John, king of Bohemia. Pawned to the Rossi of Parma, by them it was ceded to Martino della Scala of Verona, sold to the Florentines, surrendered to the Pisans, and then nominally liberated by the emperor Charles IV and governed by his vicar. Lucca managed, at first as a democracy, and after 1628 as an oligarchy, to maintain its independence alongside of Venice and Genoa, and painted the word Libertas on its banner until the French Revolution in 1789.^[3]

Napoleonic conquest[link]

Palazzo Pfanner, garden view.

Lucca had been the second largest Italian city state (after Venice) with a republican constitution ("comune") to remain independent over the centuries.

In 1805, Lucca was conquered by Napoleon, who installed his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi as "Queen of Etruria".

After 1815 it became a Bourbon-Parma duchy, then part of Tuscany in 1847 and finally part of the Italian State.

[edit] Frazioni

The municipal territory of Lucca includes eighty-one “Frazioni”:

Main sights[link]

Duomo di San Martino (the Cathedral).

Autumn in Lucca.

A close up of the front façade of the San Michele in Foro.

The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species.

The Academy of Sciences (1584) is the most famous of several academies and libraries.

The Casa di Puccini will re-open to the public on 14 September 2011.^[4] At the nearby town of Torre del Lago, there is a Puccini opera festival every year in July/August. Puccini had a house there as well.

The Passeggiata delle Mura.

Church of San Michele of Antraccoli.

There are many richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded façades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century.

• Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
• Piazzale Verdi
• Piazza Napoleone
• Piazza San Michele
• Duomo di San Martino (St Martin's Cathedral)
• The Ducal Palace, built on the location of Castruccio Castracani's fortress. The original project was begun by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1577–1582, and continued by Filippo Juvarra in the 18th century.
• The ancient Roman amphitheatre
• Church of San Michele in Foro
• Romanesque church of San Giusto.
• Basilica di San Frediano
• Church of Sant'Alessandro,^[5] an example of medieval classicism
• Torre delle ore ("The Clock Tower")
• Casa and Torre Guinigi - The Guinigi Tower with oak trees on top
• Museo Nazionale Guinigi
• Museo e Pinacoteca Nazionale
• Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca, a botanical garden dating from 1820
• Palazzo Pfanner
• Villa Garzoni, noted for its water gardens.
• Church of San Giorgio in the locality of Brancoli, built in the late 12th century. It has a nave and two aisles with a single apse, and a bell tower in Lombard-Romanesque style ranked amongst the most beautiful in northern Italy. The interior houses a massive ambo (1194) with four columns mounted on notable sculptures of lions. Also having notable medieval decoration is the octagonal baptismal fount. The altar is supported by six small columns with human figures
• Church of San Michele, at Antraccoli. Founded in 777, it was enlarged in the 12th century and modified again in the 16th century with the introduction of a portico.
• Passeggiata delle Mura Urbane, a street all over the city on the bastions. It passes from these balconies: Santa Croce, San Frediano, San Martino, San Pietro/Battisti, San Salvatore, La Libertà/Cairoli, San Regolo, San Colombano, Santa Maria, San Paolino/Catalani, and San Donato; also pass over these gates: Porta San Donato, Porta Santa Maria, Porta San Jocopo, Porta Elisa, Porta San Pietro, and Porta Sant'Anna.
• Church of Santa Giulia, of Lombard origins, but remade in the 13th century.
• The fortified city is surrounded by the streets of: Piazzale Boccherini, Viale Lazzaro Papi, Viale Carlo Del Prete, Piazzale Martiri della Libertà, Via Batoni, Viale Agostino Marti, Viale G. Marconi (vide Guglielmo Marconi), Piazza Don A. Mei, Viale Pacini (vide Pacini), Viale Giusti, Piazza Curtatone, Piazzale Ricasoli, Viale Ricasoli, Piazza Risorgimento (vide Risorgimento) and Viale Giosuè Carducci (vide Giosuè Carducci).

Culture[link]

Lucca is the birthplace of composers Giacomo Puccini (La Bohème and Madama Butterfly), Nicalao Dorati, Francesco Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini, and Alfredo Catalani. It is also the birthplace of Bruno Menconi and artist Benedetto Brandimarte.

Lucca, Piazza Anfiteatro

Museums[link]

• National Museum of Villa Guinigi
• Museum of Villa Mansi
• Museo della Cattedrale
• Lu.C.C.A. Lucca Center of Contemporary Art
• Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca

Festivals[link]

Lucca annually hosts the Lucca Summer Festival. The 2006 edition saw Eric Clapton, Placebo, Massive Attack, Roger Waters, Tracy Chapman and Santana play live in the Piazza Napoleone.

Lucca hosts the annual Lucca Comics and Games festival, Italy's largest festival for comics and related subjects.

Film and television[link]

Mauro Bolognini's 1958 film Giovani mariti with Sylva Koscina is set and was filmed in Lucca.

Lucca was featured on Top Gear during a Hot Hatch comparison in Episode 2 of Season 17. The city's narrow and one-way street layout played a large role in the segment.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Lucca is twinned with:

Notable natives and residents[link]

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife by Jan van Eyck.

Vincenzo Lunardi

• St. Anselm of Lucca, (1036–1086), bishop of Lucca
• Giovanni Arnolfini, merchant and arts patron
• Saint Zita
• Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of Austria
• Pompeo Batoni, painter
• Luigi Boccherini, musician and composer
• Elisa Bonaparte, ruler of Lucca
• Castruccio Castracani, ruler of Lucca (1316–1328)
• Alfredo Catalani, composer
• Gusmano Cesaretti, photographer and artist
• Mario Cipollini, cyclist
• Matteo Civitali, sculptor
• Ivan Della Mea, singer-songwriter
• Theodor Döhler, composer and pianist; lived in Lucca from 1827–1829
• Amerigo Fabbri, Pierson College Dean, Yale University
• Saint Frediano
• St. Gemma Galgani, mystic and saint
• Francesco Geminiani, musician and composer
• Gioseffo Guami, composer
• Pope Lucius III
• Vincenzo Lunardi, pioneer aeronaut ^[6]
• Felice Matteucci, engineer
• Leo Nomellini, athlete
• Marcello Pera, politician and philosopher
• Giacomo Puccini, composer
• Marco Rossi, athlete
• Renato Salvatori, actor
• Rolando Ugolini, athlete
• Giuseppe Ungaretti, poet
• Antonio Vallisneri, scientist and physician

Economy[link]

Tourism[link]

Tourism is a source of income. The following events are attended by a number of people from outside the area:

• Lucca Comics and Games, the most important^{[citation needed]} exposition of comics and games in Italy, the second in Europe^{[citation needed]} and the third in the world.^{[citation needed]} It takes place at the end of October.
• Viareggio's Carnival^[7]
• Lucca Summer Festival, an international music meeting.^[8]
• Lucca Film Festival^[9]
• Lucca Digital Photo Fest^[10]
• Procession of Santa Croce, on 13 of September. Costume procession through the town's roads.^{[citation needed]}
• Lucca Jazz Donna^[11]

See also[link]

• Castruccio Castracani
• Duchy of Lucca

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lucca

• Municipality website

Christina Aguilera
Aguilera attending the launch of the Montblanc John Lennon edition in September 2010.
Background information
Birth name	Christina María Aguilera
Born	(1980-12-18) December 18, 1980 (age 31) Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Origin	Wexford, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Pop, R&B, soul, dance-pop[1]
Occupations	Singer-songwriter,[2][3][4] record producer, dancer, television personality,[5] actress
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1993–present
Labels	RCA
Website	christinaaguilera.com

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection",^[6] the theme song for the animated film Mulan (1998).

In 1999, Aguilera came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera, which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)."^[7] Her sophomore and her debut Latin-pop album, Mi Reflejo (2000), a Christmas third studio album, My Kind of Christmas (2000), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image.^[8] After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002).^[9] The album's second single, "Beautiful", was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image.^[10][11][12] Aguilera followed up Stripped with the soul, jazz and blues inspired, Back to Basics (2006), released to positive critical acclaim.^[13] The album produced three singles "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt" and "Candyman". Four years later Aguilera released her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B, electropop, and synthpop and was met with mixed reviews and low sales.^{[14][15][16][17]} Aguilera's seventh studio album is set to be released in 2012.