Nada

Enfant prodige, elegant interpreter, rocker, singer/songwriter, actress, and writer, Nada embodies this range of identities and more, blending raw talent with restless energy to stand apart in Italy’s music landscape. Nada Malanima came into the world on November 17, 1953, in Gabbro near Livorno in Tuscany. While still a child she secured her debut contract with RCA and stepped onto the stage at the 1969 Sanremo Music Festival with “Ma Che Freddo Fa.” Though the entry failed to claim victory, the song quickly became a massive hit and propelled her to stardom. Guided by producer Franco Migliacci, she appeared at Italy’s leading festivals over the next seasons, capturing first place at Sanremo in 1971 with “Il Cuore È uno Zingaro” while releasing the albums Nada (1969) and Io l'Ho Fatto per Amore. Her increasingly defiant streak steered the career toward less commercial yet more fulfilling artistic paths. After laying down tracks by emerging writers Riccardo Cocciante, Antonello Venditti, and Claudio Baglioni—material that surfaced only later on the 1994 anthology Malanima—she forged a partnership with Livorno’s maudit singer/songwriter Piero Ciampi, who supplied every song for Ho Scoperto Che Esisto Anch'io (1973). The albums 1930: Il Domatore delle Scimmie and Nada appeared in 1975 and 1977 respectively. During those same years she made her theatrical debut, collaborating with directors such as Giulio Bosetti and Dario Fo.

Nada had meanwhile begun composing her own material, one result being the 1982 single “Ti Stringerò,” which served as the title track of her first album of the 1980s following the 1979 release also titled Nada. Smalto (1983) contained the decade’s standout hit “Amore Disperato.” The more electronic-leaning Noi Non Cresceremo Mai (1984) and Baci Rossi met with modest sales, stalling momentum until the partial resurgence of L'Anime Nere in 1992. Mid-decade she joined forces with Avion Travel’s Fausto Mesolella on guitar and Ferrucio Spinetti on double bass, launching a triumphant tour that recast earlier successes in a jazz-inflected, introspective light; the collaboration yielded the 1998 album Nada Trio. She returned to Sanremo in 1999 with “Guardami Negli Occhi,” featured on the Mauro Pagani–produced Dove Sei Sei, which opened a fresh, rock-leaning chapter. L'Amore È Fortissimo Il Corpo No and Tutto L'Amore Che Mi Manca arrived in 2001 and 2004; the latter, helmed by John Parish, incorporated contributions from Cesare Basile and Howe Gelb. In 2003 she issued her debut book, Le Mie Madri. A subsequent tour alongside former C.C.C.P. and C.S.I. guitarist Massimo Zamboni produced the live recording Nada Zamboni L'Apertura (2005), followed by the 2006 anthology Le Mie Canzoncine 1999-2006 and Luna in Piena in 2007.