Massimo Ranieri

Massimo Ranieri born Giovanni Calone May 3 1951 is an Italian pop singer film and stage actor He was born in Naples at Santa Lucia the fourth of eight children in the family When he was 10 young Giovanni would sing at restaurants wedding receptions etc He was discovered by a music producer about 4 years later and was flown to New York to record an EP under the name of Gianni Rock He recorded 4 songs in 1964 Tanti auguri signora Se mi aspetti stasera Non chiudere la porta and La Prima Volta None of the records were successful because young Giannis voice was changing Two years later he would later reemerge under his new stage name Massimo Ranieri In 1966 he made his TV debut singing Bene Mio A year later he made another TV appearance singing Pietà per chi ti ama In 1968 he recorded 2 more songs Da Bambino Ma Lamore cosè and Preghiera But it wasnt until 1969 when he really became successful and became a teen idol making all the young girls scream for him when he sang O Sole Mio on live TV Soon in most every TV appearance he made you could hear the girls screaming in the background That same year he had a string of hits Rita Se bruciasse la citta Quando lamore diventa poesia Il mio amore resta sempre and Zingara In 1970 Ventanni Sogno damore Sei lamore mio Aranjuez Amore Mio Candida During that year Massimo decided to venture into acting His screen debut Metello received rave reviews by critics and he even won an award for portraying the title character He costarred with Anna Magnani in La Sciantosa later that year In 1971 Adagio Veneziano Via del Conservatorio Io e Te He represented Italy in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin Ireland where he placed 5th with the song LAmore E Un Attimo That same year he had fathered a daughter Cristiana out of wedlock with Franca Sebastiani He didnt want to have anything to do with her saying that he was too young and inexperienced and that it was damage to his career He didnt have any contact with her until she was about 20 In 1972 Ti Ruberei O Surdato nnamurato Erba di Casa Mia In 1973 Amo Ancora Lei He returned to the Eurovision Song Contest that year in Luxembourg to represent Italy with Chi sarà con te where he placed 13th And in 1974 Te Voglio Bene Assaie Immagina Per Una Donna During that year he filmed Salvo DAcquisto where he portrayed a Carabinieri policeman who was executed by the Nazis during World War II Description above from the Wikipedia article Massimo Ranieri licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia