Who Are Those Singers and Musicians? ~ Domenico Modugno

 

Domenico Modugno was born in Polignano a Mare, Puglia, Italy on January 9, 1928. His father, Vito Cosimo Modugno, was a municipal police commander, while his mother, Pasqua Lorusso, was a housewife.

At the age of 9, his family moved to San Pietro Vernotico, in the Province of Brindisi, where his father was transferred for a new job position. Here Domenico attended primary school and learned San Pietro Vernotico's dialect, which belongs to the linguistic area of Salentino dialect, similar to Sicilian. He attended secondary school in Lecce.

While still studying, Modugno had a role in a cinematographic version of “Filumena Marturano” by Eduardo De Filippo as well as some other films. In 1957, his song "Lazzarella", sung by Aurelio Fierro, came second in the Festival della Canzone Napoletana, bringing him his first taste of popularity.

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 and Ciccio, became their manager and got them into a long-running film career. Modugno was an actor in 44 movies, and was a film producer of two.

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 with sales above 22 million copies, and represented Italy in the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third.

In 1984, Modugno suffered a severe stroke and remained partially paralyzed; this forced him to abandon his artistic career and devote himself to rehab. From 1986, he worked for the rights of disabled people, and in June 1987, he was elected congressman for Turin in the Italian Parliament, in the ranks of the Radical Party, a liberal-social political group.

On August 6, 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.

Modugno appeared in one Euro-western “A Fistful of Songs” (1966) where he performed the song “Tu si nacosa grande”.

MODUGNO, Domenico [1/9/1928, Polignano a Mare, Puglia, Italy – 8/6/1994, Lampedusa, Pelagie Islands, Sicily, Italy (heart attack)] – producer, director, writer, composer, singer, musician (guitar), actor, politician, married to actress Franca Gandolfi (Franca Guarnaccia) [1932-    ] (1955-1994) father of director, writer, composer, actor Marco Modugno [1958-    ], actor, composer Marcello Modugno [1966-    ], actor Massimo Modugno [1966-    ].

A Fistful of Songs – 1966 [sings: “Tu si nacosa grande”]