Gianni Morandi Italian Singer With 2M Instagram Followers

Early life

Gian Luigi Morandi, known as Gianni, was born on 11 December 1944 in Monghidoro, a town in the Emilia-Romagna region. His father was a cobbler. After primary school he stopped studying in order to help support the household. He worked as a candy seller in a cinema and began singing between the films shown there. At 14 he joined the Scaglioni Orchestra and went on his first tour of northern Italy with it.

Career

After winning a contest for newcomers in Bellaria-Igea Marina, Morandi auditioned for RCA Italiana in 1962. Part of the panel was doubtful, but the producer Franco Migliacci insisted, and Morandi was signed. That year he made his record debut with "Andavo a 100 all'ora" and appeared on television in the RAI programme Alta pressione, where he introduced "Fatti mandare dalla mamma a prendere il latte". The song made him, together with Rita Pavone, a teenage favourite.

In 1964 "In ginocchio da te" became his first number one and won the Cantagiro festival. A film built around it was a big box office success. The same year he scored with "Non son degno di te" and toured in Japan. Number ones continued in 1965 with "Se non avessi più te" and "Si fa sera", and he toured South America. He took a break in 1967 for compulsory military service and returned in April 1968. "Scende la pioggia" and "Chimera" were among his hits that year.

He started the 1970s with another Canzonissima win, "Ma chi se ne importa", and received good reviews for his role in Pietro Germi's film A Pocketful of Chestnuts. He represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 with "Occhi di ragazza", a song written by Lucio Dalla. His commercial fortunes cooled in the mid-1970s, but "Sei forte papà" became an unexpected number one in 1976. He then stepped away from show business to study double bass at the Santa Cecilia conservatory.

He returned in 1980 at the Sanremo festival, and his career recovered over the next few years with songs written by Mogol, including "La mia nemica amatissima" at Sanremo 1983. A trio of television miniseries between 1984 and 1987, beginning with Voglia di volare, helped his comeback. In 1987 he won the Sanremo Music Festival with "Si può dare di più", performed with Enrico Ruggeri and Umberto Tozzi. In 1988 he made the album Dalla/Morandi with Lucio Dalla, which sold over a million copies, and the two toured until April 1989. The album Varietà sold around half a million copies.

His 1992 album Morandi Morandi included "Banane e lamponi", one of his best-known songs. In 1999 he presented the autobiographical RAI 1 show C'era un ragazzo, which averaged over nine million viewers an episode. He released Come fa bene l'amore in 2000, written and produced by Eros Ramazzotti, and L'amore ci cambia la vita in 2002, which went double platinum. He presented the Sanremo Music Festival in 2011 and 2012, and co-hosted the 2023 edition with Amadeus.

In 2016 he toured with Claudio Baglioni under the title Capitani coraggiosi, and in 2017 he recorded the hit "Volare" with Fabio Rovazzi. His 1964 song "In ginocchio da te" gained new attention in 2019 when it was used in a scene of the film Parasite. At Sanremo 2022 he finished third with "Apri tutte le porte", a song written by Jovanotti. Later releases include the albums Evviva! in 2023 and L'attrazione in 2024, and the singles "Monghidoro" and "Hit Parade" in 2026. Estimates put his total record sales at around 50 million. He has also acted since the 1960s, with 20 screen credits that run from Sexy Toto in 1963 to The Landlords in 2012.

Recognition

Morandi has received eight recognised awards. They include the Sanremo festival win for "Si può dare di più", a Targa Tenco, a Telegatto, a Premio Regia Televisiva, a SEAT Music Award and a Nastro d'argento for best original song. He was made Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in January 2005. In 2022 the city of Bologna gave him its Golden Neptune, and in 2019 the municipality of Carloforte named him an honorary citizen.

Personal life

Morandi married the actress Laura Efrikian in June 1966, and they appeared together in several musical films. They divorced in 1979. He has three children, among them the singer Tredici Pietro.