Gianni Morandi (; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer.

Early life

Gian Luigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father Renato was active within the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

and Gianni used to help him sell the party newspapers. At an early age Morandi worked as a shoe-shiner, cobbler and as a vendor of

sweets Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

in the village's only cinema. His vocal abilities led him to a number of small gigs, some of which were during the Communist Party's activities.

Career

Gianni Morandi (Italie), Bestanddeelnr 923-3708

He made his debut in 1962 and quickly placed high at or won a number of Italian popular song festivals, including the '' Canzonissima'' festival in 1969. In 1962 he was signed by

RCA Italiana RCA Italiana was an Italian record company founded in 1949 and active until 1987, the date on which, together with the parent company RCA Records, it was bought by BMG Entertainment. History Founded in Rome in 1949 under the Vatican's protec ...

and achieved national stardom with the song "Fatti mandare dalla mamma", and remained Italy's darling throughout that decade. In 1970, he represented Italy at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

with " Occhi di ragazza". His career went into a decline in the 1970s but underwent a revival in the 1980s. He won the

Festival of Sanremo 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 ...

in 1987 with "Si può dare di più" together with

Enrico Ruggeri Enrico Ruggeri (born 5 June 1957) is an Italian singer-songwriter. Biography A native of Milan, Ruggeri made his debut in the 1970s with the punk band Decibel. In 1981 he began his solo career and established himself as a songwriter: his most ...

and

Umberto Tozzi Umberto Antonio Tozzi (; born 4 March 1952) is an Italian pop and rock singer and composer. Over the course of his career, he has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally, and his biggest international hits are: "Stel ...

, placed second in 1995 and third in 2000 and 2022. It is estimated that Morandi has sold 50 million recordings. He has written a number of autobiographical books and appeared in 18 films. In TV he played Claude Jade's husband Davide in the 1984

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

Voglia di volare Voglia di volare is an italian miniseries (1984) starring Gianni Morandi and Claude Jade. The pilot Davide has left his wife Barbara. Davide's father, a stubborn farmer, had never accepted his German daughter-in-law, Barbara. As Adreina, the dau ...

''. He also played as actor in several TV series, as well as the host in popular Italian television shows. In 1966 he married actress

Laura Efrikian Laura Efrikian ( hy, Լաուրա Էֆրիկյան; born 14 June 1940), is an Italian actress and television personality. She is of Armenian descent. Life and career Born in Treviso as Laura Ephrikian, the daughter of the conductor and musicol ...

, with whom he played in several Musicarelli films together. The couple divorced in 1979. Morandi was chosen to be the presenter of

Sanremo Music Festival 2011 The Sanremo Music Festival 2011 was the 61st annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, province of Imperia, during the five nights between 15 February 2011 and 19 February 2011. The artistic director of the show was Gia ...

, together with

Belén Rodriguez Belén is the Spanish name for Bethlehem. Belen, Belén or Beleń may also refer to: Places Argentina * Belén, Catamarca * Belén de Escobar, Buenos Aires Province Bolivia * Belén (Aroma), La Paz Department, Bolivia * Belén (Potosí), Bo ...

and

Elisabetta Canalis Elisabetta Canalis (; born 12 September 1978) is an Italian actress and showgirl. Early life Canalis was born in Sassari, Sardinia in Italy. Her father, Cesare, is a radiologist in University of Sassari's clinic, and her mother, Bruna, was a te ...

. They were joined by comedians Luca Bizzarri and Paolo Kessisoglu from Italia 1's satire show '' Le Iene''. In October 2011, he was confirmed as the presenter of the

Sanremo Music Festival 2012 The Sanremo Music Festival 2012 was the 62nd annual Sanremo Music Festival. It was held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, province of Imperia, during the five nights between 14 February 2012 and 18 February 2012, and it was broadcast by Rai 1. Th ...

. At the beginning of 2016, Gianni Morandi started a tour called "Capitani Coraggiosi Tour" with Claudio Baglioni. A double album will be published on 5 February. In 2017 he sang with Fabio Rovazzi the song "Volare", a big hit. In 2019 his 1964 song " In ginocchio da te" gained renewed popularity as it was featured in one of the main scenes of the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n movie

Parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson h ...

, which won four

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

the following year, including Best Picture. Morandi participated at the 2022 Sanremo Festival, where his song "Apri Tutte le Porte" finished in 3rd place, in a competition of 25 other singers.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Gianni Morandi'' (1963) *''Ritratto di Gianni'' (1964) *''Gianni 3'' (1966) *''Per amore... Per magia...'' (1967) *''Gianni 4 – Un mondo d'amore'' (1967) *''Gianni 5'' (1968) *''Gianni 6'' (1970) *''Gianni 7'' (1970) *''Un mondo di donne'' (1971) *''Il mondo cambierà'' (1972) *''Jacopone'' (1973) *''Il mondo di frutta candita'' (1975) *''Per poter vivere'' (1976) *''Old Parade Morandi'' (1978) *''Abbraciamoci'' (1979) *''Cantare'' (1980) *''Morandi'' (1982) *''La mia nemica amatissima'' (1983) *''Immagine italiana'' (1984) *''Uno su mille'' (1985) *''Le italiane sono belle'' (1987) *''Dalla/Morandi'' (1988) *''Varietà'' (1989) *''Morandi Morandi'' (1992) *''Morandi'' (1995) *''Celeste azzurro e blu'' (1997) *''Come fa bene l'amore'' (2000) *''L'amore ci cambia la vita'' (2002) *''A chi si ama veramente'' (2004) *''Il tempo migliore'' (2006) *''Canzoni da non perdere'' (2009) *''Bisogna vivere'' (2013) *''D'amore d'autore'' (2017)

Live albums

*''Cantare'' (1980) *''Morandi in teatro'' (1986) *''Live @RTSI Gianni Morandi'' (1999) *''Grazie a tutti, il concerto'' (2009) *''Capitani coraggiosi – Il live'' (2016)

Filmography

Awards and honors

* Gianni Morandi has been honorary president of Bologna Football Club 1909 since 2010. * His songs " In ginocchio da te", "Non son degno di te" and "Scende la pioggia" were certified as having each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs. * Asteroid 248970 Giannimorandi, discovered by Italian amateur astronomer Vincenzo Casulli in 2007, was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function T ...

on 25 November 2015 ().

References

External links

MorandiMania
– Official site

– Biography at raiuno.rai.it * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morandi, Gianni 1944 births Living people People from the Province of Bologna Italian musicians Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Italy Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1970 Sanremo Music Festival winners Italian television personalities