Tony Vincent
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Tony Vincent, original name Anthony Peter Strascina is a singer and actor and was born in New Mexico, United States on July 25, 1973. He took the stage name Tony Vincent (after his grandfather Vincent) when he was preparing to release his first EP in 1994. His given name is sometimes listed as Anthony Vincent Strascina, but this is incorrect.
His professional singing career began while attending Belmont University in Nashville,TN. Using the school's recording studio he recorded what became his first single, Love Falling Down. It was originally released only to his hometown radio station, KLYT in Albuquerque. The song proved popular. When it hit #1 on that station's charts, he and a college friend hastily organized a campaign to release the single nationally. The single was released nationwide in May 1993 and appeared for one week on the national Christian radio charts in July 1994. It was the first independently released single ever to do so.
After signing a record contract with Star Song Records, he spent three more years doing Christian music in Nashville, during this time his song One Deed from the album of the same name was featured in a United Way of America campaign. In 1997, he took a chance and moved to New York where he landed a role in the American touring production of Rent. He later returned to Broadway and was again cast in Rent, appearing in the roles of Roger and Mark. Taking another chance, he auditioned for and got the role of Simon Zealotes in the 2000 video of Jesus Christ Superstar in London. This new and fresh production revived the show on Broadway where in a last minute change just three weeks before opening night Tony was moved up to the lead role of Judas.
Impressed with Vincent's performance, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber picked him to travel through China introducing his music in a cultural exchange production in 2001. Returning to his adopted home in New York City, Vincent began focusing on his own music once more, having left it behind to pursue the stage. Having a hard time focusing, and a creative block Vincent moved to London for what was meant to be a temporary stint of 9 months. While living in London, Vincent won the lead role of Galileo Figaro in Queen's musical, We Will Rock You. He performed in that role 8 shows a week from May 2002 until November 2003. He also performed on stage with Queen in place of Freddie Mercury for the band's June 2002 appearance at Party at the Palace, a celebration of Queen Elizabeth's 50th anniversary as monarch, this was the first time Queen's most famous song Bohemian Rhapsody was ever performed live in its entirety.
The physical and vocal demands of We Will Rock You took a toll on Vincent, and he was forced to take a long vacation in which he underwent preventive surgery on his vocal cords. In the two months after the surgery, Vincent returned to New York City where he held sessions with a speech therapist to learn how to simply speak without placing strain on his voice. Whether or not Vincent's singing voice would return in full strength was of great concern. Vincent attributes his full recovery to God and the prayers of his family, friends and fans.
When the show "We Will Rock You" was launched in Las Vegas he was persuaded to again star in the production. Vincent had his last performance in the show on July 24th, 2005 and is back in New York, once again working to re-establish his solo career. Tony returned to China in October 2005 for a show called "Musical Moments," and performed at "SAS Live" in the United Kingdom in December 2005, as well as the Matthew Shepard EMBRACE! Benefit in February, 2006.
His three albums are: Love Falling Down (1993), Tony Vincent (1995), and One Deed (1997), he is currently working on a new album.
