Gianni Morandi (born December 11, 1944) is an Italian pop singer and entertainer.
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 1970, he represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 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 in 1987, placed second in 1995 and third in 2000.
It is estimated that Morandi has sold 30 million records and CDs. He has written a number of autobiographical books and appeared in 18 films. In TV he has played in 1984 Claude Jade's husband Davide in TV-Series Voglia di volare. [edit] Biography
Gianluigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines to a humble family. His father Renato was very active within the Italian Communist Party and little Gianni used to help him sell the party newspapers. At an early age he worked as a shoe-shiner, cobbler and as a candy vendor 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.
In 1962 he was signed by RCA Italia and achieved national stardom with the song "Fatti mandare dalla mamma", and remained Italy’s darling throughout that decade. During the 1970s he experienced a period of decline; however, he regained popularity during the 1980s and won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1987 with "Si può dare di più" together with Enrico Ruggeri and Umberto Tozzi.
Morandi also played as actor in several TV series, as well as host in popular Italian shows.
