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Domenico Modugno
Background information
Born
(1928-01-09)9 January 1928 Polignano a Mare, Apulia, Italy
Died
6 August 1994(1994-08-06) (aged 66) Lampedusa, Sicily, Italy
Marcello Modugno Marco Modugno Massimo Modugno (from his wife) Fabio Camilli (from Maurizia Calì)
Profession
Artist
singer
Domenico Modugno (Italian pronunciation: [doˈmeːniko moˈduɲɲo]; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, songwriter, actor, guitarist, and later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel blu dipinto di blu", for which he received Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. He is considered the first Italian cantautore.[1]
The youngest of four children, Modugno was born at Polignano a Mare, in the province of Bari (Apulia), on 9 January 1928.[2] His father, Vito Cosimo Modugno,[3] was a municipal police commander,[2] while his mother, Pasqua Lorusso,[3] was a housewife.[2]
At the age of 9, his family moved to San Pietro Vernotico, in the Province of Brindisi,[4] where his father was transferred for a new job position.[5] Here Domenico attended primary school and learned San Pietro Vernotico's dialect, which belongs to the linguistic area of Lecce's dialect, similar to Sicilian. He attended secondary school in Lecce.[1]
Career[]
While still studying, he had a role in a cinematographic version of Filumena Marturano by Eduardo De Filippo as well as some other films.[1] In 1957, his song "Lazzarella", sung by Aurelio Fierro, came second in the Festival della Canzone Napoletana, bringing him his first taste of popularity.[1] In 1958, Modugno took part in Antonio Aniante's comedy La Rosa di Zolfo at the Festival della Prosa in Venice. Also in 1958, he discovered the Italian comedy duo of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia, became their manager and got them into a long running film career.[6] The turning point of his career came in that year, when he also participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, presenting, together with Johnny Dorelli, the song "Nel blu dipinto di blu." Co-authored by Modugno and Franco Migliacci, the song won the contest and became an enormous success worldwide. It received two Grammy Awards[7] with sales above 22 million copies, and represented Italy in the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third.[1]
Modugno reportedly used the money gained with "Nel blu dipinto di blu" to purchase a Ferrari, however, his car was totaled in an accident, which included his fenders being smashed. This was mentioned in the Allan Sherman song "America's a nice Italian Name."
In 1959, Modugno won the Sanremo Music Festival for the second time in a row, with "Piove" (also known as "Ciao, ciao bambina"), and received second place in 1960 with "Libero." This was a successful period of time for Modugno who again represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1959. Later his hit song "Io" was sung by Elvis Presley in English with the title "Ask Me."[1]
In 1962, Modugno won the Sanremo Music Festival a third time with "Addio..., addio...." Four years later, he again represented Italy at Eurovision with "Dio, come ti amo." Sergio Franchi recorded it in Italian (titled "Oh How Much I Love You (Dio, come ti amo!)) on his 1967 RCA Victor album, From Sergio-with Love.Jack Jones recorded it in English for his 1967 album, Our Song, under the title "Oh How Much I Love You."[1]
Modugno was an actor in 44 movies (such as Appuntamento a Ischia), and was a film producer of two (Tutto è musica of 1963 was his own biographical production).[1]
In the 1970, Modugno focused on more classic music genres and profiles, as a singer and as a musician, adapting poetry, acting on television and in lead singing roles of modern operas.[1]
Final years[]
In 1984, Modugno suffered a severe stroke and remained partially paralyzed; this forced him to abandon his artistic career and devote himself to rehab.[1]
From 1986, he worked for the rights of disabled people, and in June 1987, he was elected congressman for Turin in Italian Parliament, in the ranks of the Radical Party, a liberal-social political group.[1] In the past he had supported the campaigns of the Italian Socialist Party and one for divorce, in addition to criticizing the human rights' violation by the regime of Augusto Pinochet, that cost him a denial of entry in Chile, where he had been scheduled to hold a concert.[1] In this last stage of his life, instead, he was very active in social issues, fighting against inhuman conditions of patients in the Agrigentopsychiatric hospital.[1]
Modugno returned on the music scene, definitively (he already held a concert for former inmates of Agrigento's mental asylum, in 1989), in 1992–1993. His last song was Delfini (Dolphins), in 1993 with his son, .[1]
On 6 August 1994, Modugno died at the age of 66, from a heart attack, on the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, while he was in his home by the sea.[1] His beach-villa was put up for sale in 2020. It is located on Rabbits' Islet beach, the location is part of a natural protected reserve with limestones and crags.[8][9]
Discography[]
Domenico Modugno "Nel blu dipinto di blu" (1958)
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"Nel blu dipinto di blu" was Modugno's signature song.
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"Lu pisce spada"
"Lazzarella"
"Nel blu dipinto di blu" – also known as "Volare" (Sanremo winner song, 1958), co-authored with Franco Migliacci
Buon Natale A Tutto Il Mondo (1958, with Ennio Morricone)
"La lontananza"
"Piove" – also known as "Ciao, ciao bambina" (Sanremo winner song, 1959)
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Ewan MacColl (songwriter) (1973)
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" – Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox (songwriters) (1974)
"The Way We Were" – Alan and Marilyn Bergman & Marvin Hamlisch (songwriters) (1975)
"Send In the Clowns" – Stephen Sondheim (songwriter) (1976)
"I Write the Songs" – Bruce Johnston (songwriter) (1977)
"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" – Barbra Streisand & Paul Williams (songwriters) / "You Light Up My Life" – Joe Brooks (songwriter) (1978)
"Just the Way You Are" – Billy Joel (songwriter) (1979)
"What a Fool Believes" – Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald (songwriters) (1980)
1981−2000
"Sailing" – Christopher Cross (songwriter) (1981)
"Bette Davis Eyes" – Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon (songwriters) (1982)
"Always on My Mind" – Johnny Christopher, Mark James & Wayne Carson (songwriters) (1983)
"Every Breath You Take" – Sting (songwriter) (1984)
"That's What I Like" – Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (songwriters) (2018)
"This Is America" – Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson & Jeffery Lamar Williams (songwriters) (2019)
"Unforgettable" by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole (1992)
"Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton (1993)
"I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (1994)
"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow (1995)
"Kiss from a Rose" by Seal (1996)
"Change the World" by Eric Clapton (1997)
"Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin (1998)
"My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion (1999)
"Smooth" by Santana (Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson) featuring Rob Thomas (2000)
2001−2020
"Beautiful Day" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr.) (2001)
"Walk On" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr.) (2002)
Nilla Pizzi ("") ·Nilla Pizzi ("") ·Carla Boni / Flo Sandon's ("") ·Giorgio Consolini / Gino Latilla ("") ·Claudio Villa / Tullio Pane ("") ·Franca Raimondi ("Aprite le finestre") ·Claudio Villa / Nunzio Gallo ("Corde della mia chitarra") ·Domenico Modugno / Johnny Dorelli ("Nel blu, dipinto di blu") ·Domenico Modugno / Johnny Dorelli ("Piove (Ciao, ciao bambina)")
1960s
Tony Dallara / Renato Rascel ("Romantica") ·Betty Curtis / Luciano Tajoli ("Al di là") ·Domenico Modugno / Claudio Villa ("Addio, addio") ·Tony Renis / Emilio Pericoli ("Uno per tutte") ·Gigliola Cinquetti / Patricia Carli ("Non ho l'età") ·Bobby Solo / The New Christy Minstrels ("Se piangi, se ridi") ·Domenico Modugno / Gigliola Cinquetti ("Dio, come ti amo") ·Claudio Villa / Iva Zanicchi ("") ·Sergio Endrigo / Roberto Carlos ("Canzone per te") ·Bobby Solo / Iva Zanicchi ("Zingara")
1970s
Adriano Celentano / Claudia Mori ("") ·Nada / Nicola Di Bari ("Il cuore è uno zingaro") ·Nicola Di Bari ("I giorni dell'arcobaleno") ·Peppino di Capri ("") ·Iva Zanicchi ("") ·Gilda ("") ·Peppino di Capri ("") ·Homo Sapiens ("") ·Matia Bazar ("") ·Mino Vergnaghi ("Amare")
1980s
Toto Cutugno ("") ·Alice ("Per Elisa") ·Riccardo Fogli ("") ·Tiziana Rivale ("") ·Al Bano and Romina Power ("Ci sarà") ·Ricchi e Poveri ("Se m'innamoro") ·Eros Ramazzotti ("Adesso tu") ·Gianni Morandi, Umberto Tozzi and Enrico Ruggeri ("") ·Massimo Ranieri ("Perdere l'amore") ·Anna Oxa and Fausto Leali ("Ti lascerò")
Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel ("") ·Elisa ("Luce (tramonti a nord est)") ·Matia Bazar ("") ·Alexia ("Per dire di no") ·Marco Masini ("") ·Francesco Renga ("") ·Povia ("") ·Simone Cristicchi ("") ·Giò Di Tonno and Lola Ponce ("") ·Marco Carta ("")
2010s
Valerio Scanu ("") ·Roberto Vecchioni ("Chiamami ancora amore") ·Emma Marrone ("Non è l'inferno) ·Marco Mengoni ("L'essenziale") ·Arisa ("Controvento") ·Il Volo ("Grande amore") ·Stadio ("Un giorno mi dirai") ·Francesco Gabbani ("Occidentali's Karma") ·Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro ("Non mi avete fatto niente") ·Mahmood ("Soldi")
2020s
Diodato ("Fai rumore") ·Måneskin ("Zitti e buoni")