His face was on the front page of all the transalpine press. Recognized by thousands thanks to her curly red hair, Italian singer Ornella Vanoni died this Friday, November 21 at the age of 91. In his almost 70 year career, he has been one of the most prolific on the Italian scene.
With his velvety voice that is also capable of gaining strength, he established himself as one of the most accomplished and appreciated interpreters of “musica leggera”, the popular song that marked the peninsula from the 1960s. During this decade and also in the 1970s, the star recorded his greatest success with hits such as “La musica è finita” (“Music ends”)“Eternity” (“Eternity”)“L’Appuntamento” (“Meeting”) popularized by the films “Ocean’s Thirteen”, and “Una Ragione di Più” (“One more reason”).
More than 50 million records were sold in his 70-year career
This non-age woman, with a charming and strange personality, died at her home in Milan, in the north of the country, most likely of a heart attack. At the scene, emergency services were unable to resuscitate him. Born on September 22, 1934 in Milan, Vanoni began his career in the theater, before launching songs on the stages of the Lombard capital, under the leadership of Giorgio Strehler, the famous theater director who was once his colleague and mentor.
With more than 50 million records sold, the singer was also able to surround himself with the best artists during fruitful collaborations: George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Franco Califano and Gino Paoli, with whom he maintained long-term ties, both artistic and personal.
In 1964, he won the Festival of Naples, a music competition that later disappeared, then participated no less than eight times in the prestigious Sanremo festival, an Italian institution still attended today by almost 15 million spectators on the other side of the Alps. Ornella Vanoni finished second in 1968 with “Casa Bianca”, before in 1999 becoming the first singer in Sanremo history to receive a lifetime achievement award. His last participation was in 2018, when he finished fifth. He returned to appear in the final in 2023, aged 88.
