| Tony Lucca | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Anthony James Lucca |
| Born | January 23, 1976 Pontiac, Michigan, United States |
| Origin | Waterford, Michigan |
| Genres | 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, Josh Hoge, Sara Bareilles,[1] the late Chris Whitley, Matt Duke and Tyrone Wells.
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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 signing 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]
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.
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 Micky 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.
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.
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 is due to be released in the summer of 2011.[18]
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]
Lucca dated fellow Mouseketeer (and eventual Malibu Shores co-star) Keri Russell on-and-off for eight years.[22][23] From 2000 to 2007, Lucca dated NYC dancer Gaby Moss.
On July 7, 2007 Lucca married single mom Rachel, adopting her son Liam. They live in Los Angeles, California[1][24] and have a daughter, Sparrow Jane Lucca (born October 17, 2009).[1][22] A former fan of tequila, he has been sober since 2007.[25][26]