cousin-article-graphic-2
ROCK & ROLL CALL📞📞☎️📞
Vito Picone is an American singer best known as the lead voice of Staten Island doo‑wop group The Elegants, who scored a 1958 number‑one hit with the lullaby‑inspired “Little Star.” Across decades he has remained the group’s driving force, balancing recording and touring with work in talent management.
Vito was born and raised in the South Beach section of Staten Island, New York, and attended New Dorp High School. As a teenager he participated in street‑corner harmony and formed vocal groups with neighborhood friends.
In 1956–57 Vito formed The Elegants with Carman Romano, Arthur Venosa, Frank Tardogno, and Jimmy Moschello, all from Staten Island. Picone and Venosa co‑wrote “Little Star,” reworking the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” into a doo‑wop ballad that became a 1958 hit single.The record sold over two and a half million copies, reached number one on the pop charts, and earned The Elegants top R&B and pop artist honors that year. They followed The Star with “Please Believe Me,” “Little Boy Blue,” and “Goodnight”.
Vito has made several film and television appearances, further and broadening his entertainment résumé. Decades after “Little Star,” he continues to be identified with The Elegants’ classic sound and Staten Island’s vocal‑group tradition.
We welcome this Rock & Roll original – Vito Picone to MUSICRADIO this Saturday 3/21/26.
CB