Obituary

Con Astone, popular Italian singer, dies at 79

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Con Astone, left, performing with singer Teddy Randazzo in his early years.
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Longtime Long Beach resident Con Astone, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who performed with Elvis Presley, Teddy Randazzo and other popular acts in Las Vegas, died on May 26 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 79.

In recent years, Astone was best known for drawing big crowds to Italian Night during the city’s Summer Concert Series.

Astone was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 1936 and grew up in an Italian family. He began performing at age 16, according to his son, Erik, and played everything from jazz and pop standards to traditional Italian songs.

“He had a voice that rivaled Tony Bennett’s,” he said. “He was an amazing Italian artist but equally as amazing playing pop tunes — he had an amazing repertoire.”

A year before his death, Astone’s wife, Dorothy — who owned Dorian’s clothing store in the West End for more than 20 years — passed away at age 77 on March 12, 2015, after she was diagnosed with cancer.

“She suffered for a better part of a year,” Erik said. “All the while, my father had cancer while he was taking care of her and he never knew it. She was his main priority, but you could see he was growing weaker and weaker.”

The couple were married for 54 years. Astone met the former Dorothy Hoover while she was working coat-check at a New York City nightclub he was performing at. They had three children, Erik, Scott and Marc. The family moved to Long Beach from Sunnyside, Queens, in 1971, and lived in the West End on Louisiana Street.

“We had fun, we always had people over,” Erik said. “My dad was incredibly friendly and an amazingly outgoing man — he had a wonderful personality and so did my mom. They were great, and their relationship blossomed as they grew older and it become something even more special.”

Astone continued to perform on his own and with the Con Astone Trio, and released his own recordings over the years.

“He was mostly performing in Queens, Brooklyn and the city and did club dates and weddings on Long Island and all over the tri-state area and upstate,” Erik said. “He performed all the way up until he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer — his last performance was about three or four months before he passed away.”

For 20 years, Astone was a staple on the boardwalk at the concert series, performing Italian classics and Neil Diamond tunes. Most recently, he opened for actor and comedian Pat Cooper in Atlantic City for a few shows, Erik said. Con and Dorothy had moved from Long Beach to Florida in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.

“Words could do no justice to his life,” Erik said. “The leader of the band has passed and his instrument is at rest — we are all the living legacy of the leader of the band.”

In addition to their three children, Con and Dorothy are survived by their grandchildren, Alexander, Adam, Nicole, Zachary, Christopher, Nicholas, Matthew and Oliver, and a great-granddaughter, Shealynn Eloise. Astone is also survived by his brother, Al.

A memorial mass will be held for the Astones at St. Ignatius Martyr Church on Saturday at 10 a.m.

“God blessed them here on earth and will continue in heaven,” Erik said. “Fresh from his club date on earth, he is finally reunited and whole with his beautiful wife, Dorothy.”