Gianfranco Michele Maisano, best known as Michele (born 22 June 1944) is an Italian singer and actor.

Background

Born in

Vigevano Vigevano (; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Avgevan) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pavia, Lombardy in northern Italy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing ...

, as a child Maisano moved to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, where he attended the Nautical Institute. He recorded his first single at age 14. Abandoned the name Michele Maisano, he obtained his first success as Michele in 1963 with the song "Se mi vuoi lasciare", which won the musical contest

Cantagiro Cantagiro was an Italian summer song contest held from 1962 to 1972 and 1990 to 1993. It featured three categories, A for famous artists, B for newcomers and C for groups. The creator of the competition was Ezio Radaelli. The name of the festival ...

and ranked first in the Italian hit parade. In the sixties Michele then achieved some further successes including some cover versions to songs by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

. After a less successful period, in 1971, he got one another main success with the song "Susan dei Marinai", with an uncredited contribution to the lyrics by

Fabrizio De André Fabrizio Cristiano De André (; 18 February 1940 – 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter, the most prominent ''cantautore'' of his time. His 40-year career reflects his interests in concept albums, literature, poetry, political pro ...

. In 1970 Michele entered the competition at the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

with the song "L'addio", followed two years later by another participation with the song "Forestiero". During his career Michele was also a music producer and an occasional actor.

Discography

Selected singles

Studio albums

*1963 ''Michele'' *1966 ''Se sei sola'' *1970 ''Ritratto di un cantante'' *1971 ''Vivendo cantando'' *1973 ''Cantautori''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michele 1944 births People from Vigevano Italian pop singers Living people