Mango

Born in Lagonegro, Potenza, on November 6, 1956, Italian rock fusion innovator Pino Mango started performing with neighborhood ensembles at age seven. Challenging material from Aretha Franklin, Peter Gabriel, and Deep Purple entered his repertoire during his early teenage years. Parallel to these pursuits, Mango completed formal training in sociology at the University of Salerno. While still enrolled he refined his songwriting abilities by composing and staging original pieces. His first album appeared in 1976 on RCA and included the single "Si Questa Terra Solo Mia." Steady, well-received releases marked the late 1970s and the entire 1980s, accompanied by three Sanremo Festival appearances in 1985, 1986, and 1987. Several projects, among them Inseguendo l'Aquila and Ferro e Fuoco, proved strong enough to receive Spanish-language versions for release in Spain.

Switching to EMI, Mango issued the self-titled Mango in 1994 and followed with seven additional original albums throughout the decade. Personnel drawn from Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds contributed to his work, which continued to foreground Mediterranean musical elements. In the new millennium he broadened his stylistic range considerably beyond prior efforts. A six-voice arrangement of the Beatles' "Michelle" and the 2004 double-platinum album Ti Porto in Africa both demonstrated this willingness to explore unexpected directions. Mango also published a volume of his poetry that same year. He joined BMG in 2005 and delivered Ti Amo Così and L'Albero delle Fate in 2005 and 2007, respectively.