Ornella Vanoni

Born on September 22, 1934, into a Milanese household, Italian vocalist Ornella Vanoni divided the greater part of her twenties between stage work and song. Her first appearance came in 1957, when she performed in Federico Zardi’s I Giacobini, after which she began interpreting “le canzoni della mala,” the ballads of the criminal underworld. An encounter with Gino Paoli in 1960 led the pair to compose “Senza Fine,” one of her signature successes, and prompted a shift toward the softer, more romantic textures of pop. Once she chose to focus exclusively on music, “Tu Si ’Na Cosa Grande” captured first prize at the Festival di Napoli in 1964, while “Casa Bianca” placed second at Sanremo in 1968. Although several earlier singles had already found favor—“Tristezza” and “La Musica é Finita” in 1967, followed by “Mi Sono Innamorata di Te” in 1969—her standing as the First Lady of Italian Music solidified only in the years that followed. In 1974 she established her own Vanilla label and relocated to Rome for a four-year period.

Regarded simultaneously as a sex symbol and an embodiment of the emerging Italian woman at a moment when the feminist movement reached the country only in the seventies, Vanoni drew admiration from designers such as Gianni Versace for her evolving image. She soon expanded her reach beyond national borders, turning to Brazilian repertoire and delivering Italian-language renditions of songs by Vinicius de Moraes and Toquinho, as well as Erasmo Carlos’s “Sent Ado A’beira Do Caminho,” which she retitled “L’Appuntamento.” The latter track gained renewed attention in the United States after its appearance in the 2001 film Ocean’s Eleven. She has also collaborated with jazz musicians including Herbie Hancock, Gil Evans, and Beppe Quirici. In 1985 Vanoni rejoined Paoli for a series of sold-out concerts and for the twelve-track album Ti Ricordi? No Non Mi Ricordo, issued two days after she turned seventy.