Died at the age of 91 years
Italian singer Ornella Vanoni dies
11/22/2025 – 11:54Reading time: 2 minutes
Ornella Vanoni shaped the Italian music scene for more than six decades and is considered an icon in Italy. Now the singer has died at the age of 91.
Ornella Vanoni died Friday evening at her home in Milan, Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli confirmed after several Italian media reported her death. The musician is one of the most prolific singers on the Italian music scene.
“With the death of Ornella Vanoni, Italy has lost one of its most original and sophisticated artists,” Giuli was quoted as saying in a statement. The Milan native has been successful for more than six decades and inspired several generations of artists in Italy and around the world. Vanoni has sold more than 50 million records over the years and released approximately 40 studio albums.
His best-known songs include “Senza Fine” from 1961 and “Domani è un altro giorno” from 1971. With the song “L’appuntamento” he also celebrated great success outside Italy and gained international fame. Originally released in 1970, the film reappeared in 2004 as the soundtrack to US director Steven Soderbergh’s blockbuster film “Ocean’s Twelve”.
Vanoni was born in 1934 to a wealthy Milanese family. In the early 1960s, the ever-red-haired singer first gained fame through televised music festivals. He first went to the theater before later devoting himself completely to music. He worked with great musicians such as Gino Paoli, Paolo Conte, Lucio Dalla and Fabrizio De André, among others.
Many Vanoni fans have spoken out on the X platform and mourned the artist’s death. “Ornella Vanoni should be immortal,” one person wrote there. “He is one of the greatest interpreters of light music and one of the Italian artists with the longest careers,” said an Italian radio station.
The Italian satirical TV show “Il Grande Flagello” published excerpts from an interview with the artist. In a video he jokingly talks about his funeral. She had everything planned for the occasion: “A Dior dress, a cheap coffin because I want to be burned and then thrown into the sea, maybe in Venice.”
