Danny Antonelli was born in Trieste, Italy. His mother was a functionary of the Italian government and his father an American soldier. He has lived in Zagreb, Yugoslavia; Los Angeles, California; Tananarive, Madagascar; Nairobi, Kenya; Durban, South Africa; New Delhi, India; Baltimore, Maryland and eventually made it back to Los Angeles where he earned a B.A. with honors in English at California State University, Northridge.
He left the USA in 1980 and lived in Lisbon, Portugal, where he wrote his first hit record, O Rapaz do Cubo Magico sung by Lara Li (1982). In October 1982, he moved to Hamburg, where he has lived ever since, working as a professional lyricist, librettist, and songwriter. His second hit record, La Valle Del Eden by Nino de Angelo was a #1 hit in Germany and France and was also a hit for Giovanni Zarrella who rerecorded it in 2020.
Danny works as a professional lyricist for a number of German pop and rock and metal bands. He also produces and releases records with many of his own compositions on the Atman LC 01692 label (http://www.atmanrecords.de).
His newest release is Evil Eye, an album of blues songs featuring 4 excellent German blues guitarists. http://www.atmanrecords.de/danny-antonelli/evil-eye.html
Other work: In 2008, Danny Antonelli completed a documentary film, Living The Truth, about the life and music of film composer Bill Conti. In 2014, for the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, he composed a song, Ich Bin Berlin, with a video that was shown at festivals in Berlin.
He wrote the libretto for diamond way (1999) – a chamber opera with music by Christine K. Brückner. His newest libretto is for Our World is on Fire (2021) – an oratorio about the climate crisis with music by Rainer Bartesch. https://vimeo.com/512954005
