Tony Dallara, one of the pioneers of postwar Italian pop music, died at the age of 89. He marked a watershed moment in the way popular music was performed and interpreted. Dallara, born Antonio Lardera in Campobasso on June 30, 1936, rose to prominence in the late 1950s as one of the first "urlatori", a term used to characterize young singers who abandoned traditional melodic heritage in favor of a more aggressive and modern approach. His breakthrough came in 1957 with "Come Prima" (more than 300,000 copies sold). This was followed by a long list of hits: "Ti Dirò", "Brivido Blu", "Non Partir", and "Ghiaccio Bollente". His most famous song, "Romantica", was released in 1960 and helped him win the Sanremo Music Festival alongside Renato Rascel. He returned to the Ariston stage in 1961 with "Un uomo vivo" with Gino Paoli, and again in 1964 with "Around the Corner" with Ben E. King.