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Gianni Morandi

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Gianni Morandi
Morandi in 2005
Morandi in 2005
Background information
Birth nameGian Luigi Morandi
Born (1944-12-11) 11 December 1944 (age 79)
Monghidoro, Emilia-Romagna, Kingdom of Italy
GenresPop
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actor
  • television personality
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1962–present
Labels
Websitemorandimania.it

Gian Luigi "Gianni" Morandi (Italian: [ˈdʒanni moˈrandi]; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer. It is estimated that Morandi has sold about 50 million recordings.[1]

Early life

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Born in Monghidoro, on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the son of a cobbler, Morandi interrupted his studies after primary school to work and support the poor economic conditions of his family.[2] While working in a cinema as a candy vendor he began performing as a singer between one film and another.[3] At 14 years old he entered the Scaglioni Orchestra, with whom he made his first tour in North Italy.[4]

Career

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1960s

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Morandi and Laura Efrikian in In ginocchio da te (1964)

After winning a music festival for newcomers in Bellaria, in 1962 Morandi made an audition for RCA Italiana, and while his performance left dubious a large part of the commission he was put under contract for the insistence of Franco Migliacci, who became its producer and main author for the first part of his career.[3] The same year Morandi made his record debut with "Andavo a 100 all'ora" and his television debut in the RAI show Alta pressione, where he launched his first hit "Fatti mandare dalla mamma a prendere il latte" and which gave him and Rita Pavone an early popularity as teen idols.[3] In 1964, he got his first number one hit with "In ginocchio da te", which won the Cantagiro festival and was adapted into a musicarello film which turned to be a massive success, grossing over 800 million lira.[3] The same year, he got another major hit with the Canzonissima winning song "Non son degno di te", and he held his first successful tour in Japan.[3]

In 1965, Morandi had other two number one hits with "Se non avessi più te", with whom he placed second at Cantagiro, and the melanchonic "Si fa sera", and held a successful tour in South America. The following year was as well massimally successful thanks to "La fisarmonica", runner-up at Canzonissima, "Notte di ferragosto", which gave him a second Cantagiro win, the protest song "C'era un ragazzo che come me amava i Beatles e i Rolling Stones", and "Se perdo anche te", a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man".[3] In early 1967, Morandi centered another major hit with the romantic "Un mondo d'amore" before taking a one-year break due to mandatory conscription.[3] He reprised his career in April 1968, closing the decade with another string of hits, notably Cantagiro runner-up "Chimera", Canzonissima winning song "Scende la pioggia" (a cover of the Turtles' "Elenore") and "Bella Belinda".[3]

1970s

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Morandi during Eurovision Song Contest 1970

The new decade opened in January for Morandi with another victory at Canzonissima, with the song "Ma chi se ne importa".[3] The same year he enjoyed critical acclaim for his acting performance in Pietro Germi's A Pocketful of Chestnuts and represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 with the Lucio Dalla's penned "Occhi di ragazza".[4][3] Following the two minor hits "Capriccio" and "Al bar si muore" he slowed his activities.[3] In 1972 he took part for the first time in the Sanremo Music Festival with "Vado a lavorare", which was a commercial disappointment, and enjoyed a stage success with the musical Jacopone.[3] In the following years, his career suffered a commercial downturn, with his ambitious 1975 album Il mondo di frutta candita, enterely penned by Oscar Prudente and Ivano Fossati, being a resounding failure.[4][3]

In 1976, Morandi got an unexpected number one hit with the ecologist children song "Sei forte papà", opening song of the Saturday night show Rete Tre he co-hosted with Ombretta Colli and Arnoldo Foà.[4][3] The same year he took part in the Tokyo Music Festival, winning the award for best performance with "Per poter vivere".[3] At the end of the year he decided to take a hyatus from showbiz to study double bass at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory.[4][3]

1980s

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Morandi made his professional comeback in 1980, taking part in the 30th Sanremo Music Festival with a song penned by Ron and Francesco De Gregori, "Mariù", which got unnoticed.[4][3] His career started rebounding with the Mogol-penned songs "Canzoni stonate" and "La mia nemica amatissima", the latter being his 1983 Sanremo entry.[3] The same year he recorded a cover of Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonite" in a duet with Amii Stewart, "Grazie perchè"; the song was chosen as opening theme of Domenica in and reached the third place on the hit parade.[3] Also important for his professional relaunch were three television miniseries he starred in between 1984 and 1987, Voglia di Volare, Voglia di cantare, and Voglia di vincere.[3]

After two well received albums (Immagine italiana and Uno su mille, whose title-track became a classic in his repertoire) and a Targa Tenco for best performer, Morandi won the Sanremo Music Festival 1987 with "Si può dare di più" together with Enrico Ruggeri and Umberto Tozzi.[3] In 1988, he recorded a successful album in couple with Lucio Dalla, Dalla/Morandi, which launched by the singles "Dimmi dimmi" and "Vita" sold over one million copies.[3] In July 1988, the duo embarked on a long tour, which ended in Madrid in April 1989.[3] The decade ended for Morandi with another significant success, the half a million copies-selling album Varietà and its top ten singles, the Mogol-Lavezzi title-track and "Bella signora" by Lucio Dalla and Mauro Malavasi.[4][3]

1990s

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In 1992 Morandi released the album Morandi Morandi, that included "Banane e lamponi", which became one of his best known songs of his repertoire.[4] In 1995, he made his return at the Sanremo Festival, ranking second with "In amore", a duet with Barbara Cola.[5] Anticipated by the lead single "Dove va a finire il mio affetto", in 1997 he released the album Celeste azzurro e blu.[4] In 1999, he hosted the Rai 1 autobiographical musical show C'era un ragazzo, which achieved a large success, with an average of over 9 million viewers per episode.[6][7]

2000s

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Morandi in 2002

In 2000, Eros Ramazzotti produced and penned all songs in Morandi's album Come fa bene l'amore.[4] The lead single "Innamorato" premiered at the 50th Sanremo Festival, placing third.[5] In 2002, Morandi co-hosted with Lorella Cuccarini and Paola Cortellesi the Rai 1 Saturday night show Uno di noi,[8] and released the album L'amore ci cambia la vita, which was certifid double platinum.[9] In 2004, he released A chi si ama veramente, an album to which collaborated Gaetano Curreri, Luca Madonia and Mariella Nava,[9] which like the previous one sold over 200,000 copies.[10]

In 2006, Morandi hosted a new Rai 1 show, Non facciamoci prendere dal panico, released the new album Il tempo migliore, and penned an autobiography in a diary form, Diario di un ragazzo italiano.[10] In 2009, he took part in the charity single "Domani 21/04.09", co-hosted with Alessandra Amoroso the television show Grazie a tutti and released the album of cover songs Canzoni da non perdere.[11]

2010s

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Morandi was chosen to be the presenter of Sanremo Music Festival 2011, together with Belén Rodríguez, Elisabetta Canalis and comedians Luca Bizzarri and Paolo Kessisoglu from Italia 1's satire show Le Iene.[12] In October 2011, he was confirmed as the presenter of the Sanremo Music Festival 2012.[13]

At the beginning of 2016, Morandi started a tour called "Capitani Coraggiosi Tour" with Claudio Baglioni. A double album will be published on 5 February.[14] In 2017, he recorded with Fabio Rovazzi the hit "Volare".[15]

In 2019, his 1964 song "In ginocchio da te" gained renewed popularity as it was featured in one of the main scenes of the Academy Award winning film Parasite.[16][17]

2020s

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In 2020, Morandi participated in the charity single "Ma il cielo è sempre blu", in support of the work of Italian Red Cross during the COVID-19 pandemic.[18] In March 2021, Morandi had a serious domestic accident that left his right hand badly burnt and almost without mobility.[19] In June he released the Jovanotti-penned single "L'allegria", and one year later he participated at the Sanremo Music Festival 2022, finishing third with "Apri tutte le porte", also penned by Jovanotti.[20] One year later, he co-hosted with Amadeus the Sanremo Music Festival 2023.[21]

Personal life

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In June 1966 Morandi married actress Laura Efrikian,[3][22] with whom he starred in several musicarelli films.[23] The couple divorced in 1979.[24]

Discography

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Studio albums

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  • 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)
  • Evviva! (2023)

Live albums

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

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Role(s) Notes
1963 Sexy Toto Himself Cameo appearance
1964 In ginocchio da te Gianni Traimonti
1965 Highest Pressure Himself Cameo appearance
Non son degno di te Gianni Traimonti
Se non avessi più te
1966 Mi vedrai tornare Gianni Aleardi
1967 Per amore... per magia... Aladdin
1968 Chimera Gianni Raimondi
1969 Faccia da schiaffi Nino
1970 A Pocketful of Chestnuts Luigi Vivarelli
1971 Il provinciale Giovanni DiGiacomo
1972 La cosa buffa Antonio
1973 Società a responsabilità molto limitata Enea Marano
1983 "FF.SS." – Cioè: "...che mi hai portato a fare sopra a Posillipo se non mi vuoi più bene?" Himself Cameo appearance
1985 Azzurri Uncredited
1999 Dirty Linen Cameo appearance
2004 Natale a casa Deejay Runner #01
2007 Linee d'ombra Himself Documentary film
2009 Pietro Germi: Il bravo, il bello, il cattivo
2012 The Landlords Fausto Mieli
2016 The Pills - Sempre meglio che lavorare Himself Cameo appearance
2018 I'm Back
2022 Sulle nuvole

Television

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Year Title Role(s) Notes
1967 TuttoTotò Himself Episode: "TotòCiak"
Dietro le quinte: Gianni Morandi e Patty Pravo Himself / Performer Special
1968 Senza Rete Himself / Guest host Variety show (season 1)
1969 Stasera Gianni Morandi Himself / Host Special
1970 Canzonissima Himself / Contestant Variety/musical program (season 8)
Eurovision Song Contest 1970 Annual music contest
1972 Sanremo Music Festival 1972 Performing "Vado a lavorare" (4th place)
1975 Alle nove della sera Himself / Host Variety/musical show
1976 Rete tre Himself / co-host Variety show
1978–1979 10 Hertz Himself / Host
1980 Sanremo Music Festival 1980 Himself / Contestant Performing "Marilù" (4th place)
1981 Un disco per l'estate 1981 Himself / Host Annual music festival
1982 Tutti insieme Variety show
1983 Sanremo Music Festival 1983 Himself / Contestant Performing "La mia nemica amatissima" (8° place)
1984 Voglia di volare Davide Gabrielli Lead role; 4 episodes
1985 Voglia di cantare Paolo Fontana Television film
1987 Sanremo Music Festival 1987 Himself / Contestant Performing "Si può dare di più" (Winner)
La voglia di vincere Marco 3 episodes
1988 Fantastico Himself / Performer Variety show (season 8)
1990 Gianni Morandi: Questa è la storia Himself / Host Special
1993 In fuga per la vita Michele Lead role; 3 episodes
1995 Sanremo Music Festival 1995 Himself / Contestant Performing "In amore" (2nd place)
La voce del cuore Daniele Montero Lead role; 4 episodes
1998 La forza dell'amore Fabrizio 2 episodes
1999 C'era un ragazzo Himself / Host Variety/musical show
2000 Sanremo Music Festival 2000 Himself / Contestant Performing "Innamorato" (3rd place)
Un disco per l'estate 2000 Himself / Regular guest Annual music festival
2002–2003 Uno di noi Himself / Host Variety show
2004 Stasera Gianni Morandi Variety/musical show
2006 La nostra storia - 25 anni con la Nazionale Italiana Cantanti Himself Special
2009 Grazie a tutti Himself / Host Variety show
2011 Sanremo Music Festival 2011 Annual music festival
2012 Sanremo Music Festival 2012
2013 The Voice of Italy Himself / Special coach Talent show (season 1)
Gianni Morandi - Live in Arena Himself / Headliner Concert event
2015 Capitani coraggiosi Himself / Co-host Special
2016 Untraditional Himself Episode: "Un ricco spuntino"
2017–2019 L'isola di Pietro Dr. Pietro Sereni Lead role; 18 episodes
2018 Io e Lucio: Dalla-Morandi solo 30 anni fa Himself / co-host Special
2022 Sanremo Music Festival 2022 Himself / Contestant Performing "Apri tutte le porte" (3rd place)
Caro Battiato Himself Television movie
2023 Sanremo Music Festival 2023 Himself / co-host Annual music festival

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Gianni Morandi in numeri". Virgilio.it. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Morandi". Panorama (in Italian). Mondadori. April 1990. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Giannelli, Enzo (1990). "Morandi, Gianni". In Castaldo, Gino (ed.). Dizionario della canzone italiana. Curcio. pp. 1133–8.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Deregibus, Enrico (2006). "Gianni Morandi". Dizionario completo della canzone italiana. Giunti. pp. 315–8. ISBN 978-88-09-04602-3.
  5. ^ a b Eddy Anselmi (2009). "Gianni Morandi". Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana. Panini Comics. p. 805. ISBN 978-8863462296.
  6. ^ "Morandi: 9 milioni di audience e critiche favorevoli". Rockol (in Italian). 23 January 1999. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Tanti auguri a Gianni Morandi, l'eterno ragazzo della musica italiana". Rai News 24 (in Italian). 11 December 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Gianni Morandi, l'applauso a Paola Cortellesi: "Il tuo film è straordinario, tu al di sopra di tutto"". la Repubblica (in Italian). 2 November 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b Benedetti, Luca (24 December 2015). "Morandi si fa in sei". Corriere della Sera. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Gianni Morandi: Il tempo migliore' è la mia 'My way". Rockol (in Italian). 2 October 2006. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Gianni Morandi - CANZONI DA NON PERDERE - la recensione". Rockol (in Italian). 7 December 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  12. ^ Renato Franco (10 May 2010). "Festival di Sanremo, ok a Morandi. Ci saranno anche Belen ed Elisabetta". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Italy. p. 41. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  13. ^ "Il Morandi bis sul palco di Sanremo. Adesso è ufficiale: lo condurrò io". La Stampa (in Italian). 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Baglioni e Morandi, il gran ritorno: "Capitani coraggiosi" di nuovo in tour". La Repubblica. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Fabio Rovazzi, dopo "Andiamo a comandare" e "Tutto molto interessante" arriva il duetto con Gianni Morandi". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 15 May 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  16. ^ TG24, Sky (10 February 2020). "Parasite, nella colonna sonora anche 'In ginocchio da te" di Morandi". Sky TG24 (in Italian). Retrieved 28 July 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Giampieri, Valentina (3 December 2019). "Che ci fa un Gianni Morandi d'annata nel film (koreano) del momento?". GQ Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  18. ^ "50 artisti cantano 'Ma il cielo è sempre più blu'". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 12 May 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  19. ^ Arcolaci, Alessia (24 April 2021). "Gianni Morandi mostra le ferite: "La mano destra è quasi priva di mobilità"". Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Morandi porta alle stelle 'Apri tutte le porte'". Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 24 May 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  21. ^ Gradi, Stefano (7 February 2023). "Amadeus e Gianni Morandi, i conduttori di Sanremo 2023". TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (in Italian). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Chi é Laura Efrikian, madre di Marianna Morandi: Il legame insospettabile con un protagonista di Uomini e Donne". 26 January 2024.
  23. ^ Enrico Lancia, Roberto Poppi (4 March 2024). Dizionario del cinema italiano – Le Attrici. Gremese Editore, 2003. ISBN 978-8884402141.
  24. ^ Vivì Zizzo (1 February 2011). "Laura Efrikian torna a parlare. Intervista esclusiva alla prima moglie di Gianni Morandi". Oggi. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  25. ^ "Morandi Sig. Gianni – Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana". Presidenza della Repubblica.it. 24 January 2005. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  26. ^ "Bologna consegna il Nettuno d'Oro a Gianni Morandi". 3 March 2022.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Sanremo Music Festival
Winner
1987 		Succeeded by
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