) is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 singer.

Early career

Riccardo Fogli was born on 21 October 1947 in Pontedera

Pontedera

Pontedera is an Italian industrial town in Tuscany, Italy, in the administrative province of Pisa. It is the headquarters of the Piaggio company, which in the 1930s was a major aircraft manufacturer and which now manufactures motor vehicles such as the Vespa and the Ape...

. He was fond of music since his childhood. In the 1960s, he became a fan of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, which also influenced his decision to start his career as a singer.

In 1964, at the age of 17, Fogli joined Slenders. Two years later, in 1966, he became the lead singer of Pooh

Pooh (band)

Pooh is an Italian pop band formed in 1966. They are referred to in the plural as i Pooh .-Current lineup:*Roby Facchinetti , Vocals and keyboards from 1966...

. In 1973, he left Pooh and started his solo career; however, later on he performed many songs together with Pooh, most notably Giorni cantati "The Days Sung Together".

In 1973, Riccardo issued his first album Ciao amore come stai (Hello, Love, How Are You?), which was followed by his second album Riccardo Fogli in 1976; the song "Mondo" ("World") from this album became a hit. However, it was not until the early 1980s that Fogli eventually worked out his style of performance.

1980s

The 1980s were a pinnacle of success for Riccardo Fogli. In this period, the lyrics of his songs became more philosophical and his singing manner became more emotional. It was in the 1980s that Fogli gained overwhelming popularity both within and outside Italy. In 1981, Fogli performed one of his most famous and lyrical song, "Malinconia" ("Melancholy"), and in 1982 he was a winner at Festival di Sanremo

Festival della canzone italiana

The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...

 with his another hit "Storie di tutti i giorni" ("Everyday Stories"), where he out-did even the duet of Al Bano and Romina Power

Al Bano and Romina Power

Al Bano and Romina Power were an Italian pop music duo formed by then-married couple Albano Carrisi and Romina Power. They are best known for their songs "Felicità", "Sempre sempre", "Nostalgia Canaglia", and "Libertà"...

 with their hit "Felicità" ("Happiness"). Since then, Riccardo Fogli became world famous; his 1982 album Collezione (Collection) was issued in nearly a million copies in Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and the USSR

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, where he became particularly popular.

Riccardo Fogli participated in Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

 with the entry "Per Lucia

Per Lucia

"Per Lucia" was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed in Italian by Riccardo Fogli.The song is a ballad, with Fogli singing about the lengths he wants to go to in order to impress Lucia, his lover...

" ("For Lucia") in 1983, where he finished in 11th place and received 41 points. Also, he was married to an Italian singer Viola Valentino

Viola Valentino

Viola Valentino is an Italian singer.-Biography:Virginia Minnetti was born in 1953. She started her career as a singer in 1968 under the name Virginia and later began to sing with her then husband in a duet named Renzo & Virginia. Some time later Virginia was noticed by Giancarlo Lucariello, a...

 but then divorced.

Albums

• Ciao amore, come stai (1973)
• Riccardo Fogli (1976)
• Il sole, l'aria, la luce, il cielo (1977)
• Io ti porto via (1978)
• Che ne sai (1979)
• Alla fine di un lavoro (1980)
• Campione (1981)
• Collezione (1982)
• Compagnia (1982)
• Il primo Riccardo Fogli (Collection) (1982)
• Torna a sorridere (1984)
• 1985 (1985)
• Le infinite vie del cuore (1987)
• Storie di tutti i giorni (Collection) (1987)
• Amore di guerra (1988)
• Non finisce così (1989)
• Sentirsi uniti (1990)
• A metà del viaggio (1991)
• Canzoni d'amore (Collection) (1991)
• Teatrino meccanico (1992)
• Mondo (Collection) (1992)
• Nella fossa dei leoni (1994)
• Fogli su Fogli (Unplugged) (1995)
• Romanzo (1996)
• Greatest Hits (1997)
• Ballando (1998)
• Matteo (Recordings of 1976) (1999)
• Il mondo di Riccardo Fogli (Collection) (1999)
• Storie di tutti i giorni (Live) (2002)
• Il Vincitore - Musicfarm (2004)
• Storie d'amore (Anthology + 3 unreleased) (2004)
• Ci saranno giorni migliori (2005)
• Riccardo Fogli (Book + CD) (2008)

Singles

• "Zan zan" \ "I 10 comandamenti dell'amore" (1970)
• "Due regali" \ "Oh Mary" (1973)
• "Strana donna" \ "La prima notte senza lei" (1973)
• "Complici" \ "Strana donna" (1974)
• "Amico sei un gigante" \ "Una volta di più" (1974)
• "Guardami" \ "Gente per bene" (1975)
• "Mondo" \ "Finito" (1976)
• "Ti voglio dire" \ "Viaggio" (1976)
• "Stella" \ "Anna ti ricordi" (1977)
• "Ricordati" \ "Paola" (1977)
• "Io ti porto via" \ "Si alza grande nel sole, la mia voglia di te" (1978)
• "Che ne sai" \ "Come una volta" (1979)
• "Pace" \ "Che amore vuoi che sia" (1979)
• "Ti amo però" \ "È l'amore" (1980)
• "Scene da un amore" \ "Angelina" (1980)
• "Malinconia" \ "La strada" (1981)
• "Storie di tutti i giorni" \ "L'amore che verrà" (1982)
• "Compagnia" \ "Piccoli tradimenti" (1982)
• "Per Lucia" \ "Altri tempi" (1983)
• "Torna a sorridere" \ "Diapositive" (1984)
• "Sulla buona strada" \ "Greta" (1985)
• "Voglio sognare" \ "Tempi andati" (1985)
• "Dio come vorrei" \ "Buone vibrazioni" (1985)
• "Amore di guerra" (1988)
• "Non finisce così" \ "Delicata" (1989)
• "Ma quale amore" \ "È tempo per noi" (1990)
• "Io ti prego di ascoltare" \ "A metà del viaggio" (1991)
• "In una notte così" \ "Un'altra volta te" (1992)
• "Voglio le tue mani" \ "Se il cuore non contasse niente, uomini col borsello" (1992)
• "Storia di un'altra storia" (1993)
• "Quando sei sola" (1994)
• "Ci saranno giorni migliori" (2005)

External links

• Biography of Riccardo Fogli
• Russian fan-site