Gianni Morandi

Italian pop crooner Gianni Morandi first came to fame as a teenage idol in the 1960s and has since spent decades as an all-round entertainer with record sales of over 50 million.
Morandi was born in the small village of Monghidoro in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine mountains south of Bologna where, as a child, he worked in his father's shoe repair shop and sold candy at a cinema, which is where he made his first public singing performance at a New Year's Eve celebration when he was just 12-years-old. He also sang in local hotels, barber shops, village festivals and events run by the Italian Communist Party, in which his father was involved. He went on to be mentored by Alda Scaglioni, joining his orchestra in 1958 and going on to spend three years touring the country, landing a record contract with RCA. He was still only 18 when he released his debut single 'Andavo a Cento All'ora' and his breakthrough hit 'Fatti Mandare dalla Mamma' followed in 1962. His national popularity as a wholesome pop heartthrob was cemented when his first number one hit 'In Ginocchio Da Te' topped the charts for 17 weeks, and he won the prestigious Cantagiro festival in both 1964 and '66. He also performed on movie soundtracks for composer Ennio Morricone and acted in several musicarello films, but caused controversy with his chart-topping anti-Vietnam War protest song 'C'era Un Ragazzo Che Come Me Amava I Beatles e i Rolling Stones', which was censored by television and radio but later covered by Joan Baez and Lucio Dalla.

He married actress Laura Efrikian and completed military service, but returned with the song and movie 'Chimera' in 1968 and represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest two years later. As his teenage fans matured his popularity faded, but he worked his way back to popularity as a television actor, and had a resurgence thanks to some well-received performances at the Sanremo Music Festival, acclaimed album 'Immagine Italiana' in 1984 and his collaboration 'Si Puo Dare Di Piu' with Umberto Tozzi and Enrico Ruggeri. His tour with songwriter Lucio Dalla was another huge success, producing a million-selling live album and, despite regularly touring, recording and acting, he had another career spike in 2015 when he teamed up with singer Claudio Baglioni on a project called 'Capitani Coraggiosi', which evolved from a radio show into television specials and a hit live album.