Born in Naples into a humble family, Cigliano approached the music at young age, after having received a guitar as a gift, and he made his record debut in 1953.

[1] Cigliano became first known thanks to his participation to the Napoli Music Festival, that he later won in 1959, in couple with Teddy Reno with the song "Sarrà... chi sà".

[1][2][3] In 1957 he ranked first at the Italian hit parade with the single "Che m'ha 'mparato a fa'".

[4] Between 1959 and 1964 he was entered into the main competition at the Sanremo Music Festival five times.

[2][3] He later focused his activities on the research and the revision of traditional Neapolitan music.