Italian singer Gianni Morandi was born 79 years ago as Gian Luigi Morandi in Monghidoro, Bologna, is married and has 3 children. He is also an actor as well as a TV host.
As a youngster, Gianni used to work in a local cinema selling soft drinks, as well as giving his dad a helping hand in his shop. As a family, they loved to sing and Gianni performed for the first time in singing festivals which were held from time to time in several Italian municipalities. Later he was chosen for a song audition, regularly participated in competitions and village festivals and even tried to become a boxer. Once he qualified for a singing contest final and also won another one. After covering some famous Italian artists’ songs, Gianni was finally hired by a record label company.
In 1962, Morandi debuted with the successful track ‘Andavo a cento all’ora’, followed by another iconic hit single ‘Fatti mandari dalla mamma a prendere il latte’. Two years later, Gianni had a string of hits including ‘In ginocchio da te’, with which he won the Cantagiro, ‘Non son degno di te’, ‘Se non avere piu` te’, ‘Si fa Sera’ and ‘La Fisarmonica’. These tracks were so popular that some of them were even used in movies.
Over the years, Morandi participated 7 times in the yearly San Remo Music Festival and won the 1987 edition with the song ‘Si Puo` Dare di Piu`’ sung together with Umberto Tozzi and Enrico Ruggeri. He has also conducted this same Festival thrice. Sometimes Gianni wrote and composed songs for other artists as well.
Apart from music, Gianni starred in numerous films as well as TV productions including series, music shows etc.
During his long career, Morandi had 54 albums, 69 collections and 79 singles. He is considered as one of the most significant music artists in Italy and has sold more than 50 million record copies globally. He received 9 awards including 4 Regia Televisiva, a Lunezia and a Telegatto. In 2005, he was also honoured as Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy.
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