Gianni Morandi

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

Early life Born in Monghidoro, Emilia-Romagna, the son of a cobbler, Morandi interrupted his studies after primary school to help support his family. While working in a cinema as a candy vendor he began performing as a singer between films. At 14 years old he entered the Scaglioni Orchestra, with whom he made his first tour in north Italy.

Career 1960s

After winning a music festival for newcomers in Bellaria – Igea Marina, 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. Anticipated by the lead single "Dove va a finire il mio affetto", in 1997 he released the album Celeste azzurro e blu.

2000s

In 2000, Eros Ramazzotti produced and penned all songs in Morandi's album Come fa bene l'amore. and released the album L'amore ci cambia la vita, which was certified double platinum. which like the previous one sold over 200,000 copies. 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.

2010s 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. In October 2011, he was confirmed as the presenter of the Sanremo Music Festival 2012.

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. In 2017, he recorded with Fabio Rovazzi the hit "Volare".

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 Awards winning film Parasite.

2020s In 2020, Morandi participated in the charity single "Ma il cielo è sempre più blu", in support of the work of Italian Red Cross during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2021, Morandi had a serious domestic accident that left his right hand badly burnt and almost without mobility. 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. One year later, he co-hosted with Amadeus the Sanremo Music Festival 2023.

Personal life In June 1966, Morandi married actress Laura Efrikian, with whom he starred in several musicarelli films, and they had two children, actress Marianna (b. 1969) and actor and singer Marco (b. 1974). The couple divorced in 1979.

From his relationship with Anna Dan, who became his second wife in November 2004, he had another son, Pietro (b. 1997), also a singer. Honorary citizenship of the Municipality of Carloforte (Carloforte, 28 June 2019) Golden Neptune of the City of Bologna (Bologna, 3 March 2022)