Fausto Leali
Fausto Leali | |
|---|---|
 Fausto Leali in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Faustino Leali |
| Born | 29 October 1944 |
| Origin | Nuvolento (Brescia), Lombardy, Italy |
| Genres | Pop; soul; blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer; songwriter |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Labels | Music; Jolly; Ri-Fi; Philips Records; CBS; CGD; Itaca; Dischi Ricordi |
| Website | faustoleali.com |
Faustino (Fausto) Leali (born 29 October 1944, Nuvolento, Brescia, Italy) is an Italian pop singer.
Early life[]
Leali began his musical career as a singer in several bands in his native Brescia. His first guitar teacher was Tullio Romano, of the band Los Marcellos Ferial.
Career[]
Leali's first release was a 1962 promotional single as "Fausto Denis", for the magazine Nuova Enigmistica Tascabile.[1] He then joined the Novelty, a Beat band formed by Franco Piacibello (saxophone), Delio Ombrella (drums), Silvio Pesce (bass) and Piero Braggi (guitar) in Alessandria[2] that had already released an EP in 1961. With the group he managed to obtain a recording contract with the Music record label,[3] and release a few singles, including two covers of Beatles –"Please Please Me" and "Lei ti ama" ("She Loves You").[4] Leali's big opportunity came in 1966 when A&R executive Ezio Leoni moved from Music record label to Ri-Fi, bringing Leali and the Novelty with him.
Leali and The Novelty's first success was "A chi" ("To whom"), in 1967, an Italian version of a 1954 American song "Hurt", written by Roy Hamilton.[5] "A chi" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[6] In the same year, Leali took part for the first time in the music festival Un disco per l'estate, with the song "Senza di te" ("Without you"), but did not progress beyond the first round.[7]
In 1969, 1971, and 1974, he appeared again in Un disco per l'estate with the songs "Tu non meritavi una canzone" ("You did not deserve a song"), "Si chiama Maria" ("Her name is Maria"), and "Solo lei" ("Only you"). He returned to the hit parade in 1976 with the single "Io camminerò" ("I will go"), which reached the top of charts,[8] and in 1980 with a performance of Totò's song "Malafemmena" ("Bad woman" in Napolitan).
In the late 1980s, he made several appearances at the Sanremo festival; in 1987, with "Io amo" ("I love"), that came in 4th;[9] in 1988, with "Mi manchi" ("I miss you") at 5th;[10] and in 1989, in the duet with Anna Oxa "Ti lascerò" ("I'll leave you") that won 1st place.[11]
The same year, Oxa and Leali represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest with "Avrei voluto" ("I wanted to").[12] The song was voted in the 9th place. Leali returned to Sanremo in 2002, with "Ora che ho bisogno di te" ("Now that I need you"), a duet with Luisa Corna,[13] and the next year with "Eri tu" ("It was you"), which eventually went platinum.[4][14]
After taking part in 2006 in the Rai Due reality show, Music Farm, where he reached the finals,[15] Leali released a new album, Profumo e Kerosene (Perfume and Kerosene), with ten new songs, all in a new for him musical style.
Due to his naturally hoarse singing style, Leali was nicknamed by the Italian media Il negro bianco, "the white negro",[16][17][18][19] also the title of his 1968 album.
Personal life[]
Ιn 1968, Leali married the singer Milena Cantù, who was with the record company founded by Adriano Celentano.[3] They had a daughter, Deborah, so named after the success of the eponymous song of that year's Festival di Sanremo, sung at the competition in a duet with Wilson Pickett (it came in fourth place).
Selected discography[]
Albums[]
- 1964 Fausto Leali
- 1966 Fausto Leali e i suoi Novelty
- 1968 Il negro bianco
- 1976 Io camminerò
- 1977 Leapoli
- 1981 Un attimo di blu
- 1992 Saremo promossi
- 1994 Anima nuda
- 2002 Secondo me ... io ti amo
- 2006 Profumo e Kerosene
- 2016 Non sono Leali
Singles[]
|
|
Filmography[]
- I ragazzi dell'Hully Gully (1964)
- Escort in Love (2011)
References[]
- ^ "Speciale Festival Artisti". Radio 105 Network.
- ^ "Biografia". iMusic.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "FAUSTO LEALI". Libero.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Biografia". faustoleali.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
- ^ "Francesco De Gregori". Rockol.
- ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 224. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ "Settimana 8 Aprile 1967". hitparadeitalia.it.
- ^ "Fausto Leali". sanremostory.it. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
- ^ "Sanremo 1987 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
- ^ "Sanremo 1988 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
- ^ "Sanremo 1989 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
- ^ "1989". esc-history.com.
- ^ "Sanremo 2002 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
- ^ "Sanremo 2003 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
- ^ "Hit Parade della 7a settimana". musicfarm.rai.it. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
- ^ "Fausto Leali, il 'negro-bianco' compie 70 anni" ("Fausto Leali, the 'white negro', is 70 years old"), Corriere Brescia, 25 October 2014 (in Italian)
- ^ "Auguri a Fausto Leali, il 'Negro Bianco' compie 70 anni" ("Felicitations to Fausto Leali, the 'White Negro' is 70 years old"), ANSA, 25 October 2014 (in Italian)
- ^ "Fausto Leali, i 70 anni del Negro Bianco" ("Fausto Leali, the 70 years of the White Negro"), Brescia Oggi, 25 October 2014 (in Italian)
- ^ For the use of the term negro in Italian, see here
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fausto Leali. |
- Official website (in Italian)
- Fausto Leali at IMDb
| show Authority control  |
|---|
- 1944 births
- Living people
- Musicians from the Province of Brescia
- Italian male singers
- Italian pop singers
- Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Italy
- Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1989
- Sanremo Music Festival winners
- CBS Records artists
- Philips Records artists