Happy 60th Birthday Fiorella Mannoia

Fiorella Mannoia was born on April 4, 1954 in Rome, Italy. Fiorella’s father Luigi was an Italian film stuntman, and Fiorella, her brother Maurizio and sister Patrizia began work in this area as children. Fiorella Mannoia's first film role as stuntwoman was at the age of 13 in the television film "Don't Sing, Shoot!" (1968). She often acted as a stand-in for Monica Vitti, as in “Amore mio aiutami” (1969), and was also a stand-in for Candice Bergen in “The Hunting Party” (1971). She debuted in the world of music at the Castrocaro Music Festival in 1968, singing ‘Un bambino sul leone’ by Adriano Celentano. Although she didn't win, she obtained a record contract with Carisch, with whom she recorded her first 45, ‘Ho saputo che partivi’, which had on the B-side ‘Le ciliegie’, written by the young guitarist Riccardo Zappa.

 
In 1970 she got to know the singer and guitarist Memmo Foresi, who had put out some 45s as a solo act and with whom she formed a relationship. After signing a contract with the label It founded by Vincenzo Micocci, in 1971 she cut a 45 of a song written by Enzo Perrotti and a Foresi track on the B-side; this too went unnoticed.
 
In the early 70s, she had minor roles in the spaghetti Westerns “When the Devil Grips a Colt” (1972), “And on the Third Day, the Crow Arrived” (1973) and “Six Bounty Killers for a Massacre” (1973).
 
Fiorella found success when she changed record labels to DDD and subsequently won the Critic’s Prize at the Sanremo Music Festival for two years in a row. In 1987, she won with ‘Quello che le donne non dicono’, her first number one hit, written specifically for her by Enrico Ruggeri and Luigi Schiavone. She won again in 1988 with ‘Le notti di maggio’, written by Ivano Fossati. In 1988, the album “Canzoni per parlare” was released, which included these and other songs by leading Italian songwriters, including Ron and Riccardo Cocciante. This was also her first record produced by the musical director and guitarist Piero Fabrizi, who has played an important role in all of her subsequent work.
 
During her career, Fiorella Mannoia has sung in a number of languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese and English, as well as Neapolitan and her native Italian.
 
Today we celebrate Fiorella Mannoia’s 60^th birthday.