Giuliano Illiani (born 11 September 1947), best known as Donatello, is an Italian singer, mainly successful in the first half of the 1970s.

Background

Born in

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a '' comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Histor ...

, Illiani started his musical career as a member of the band Wanted’s between 1962 and 1966. In 1968 he became guitarist in the

Gianni Morandi Gianni Morandi (; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer. Early life Gian Luigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father Renato was active within the ...

's backing band. In 1970 Illiani adopted the stage name Donatello and entered the competition at the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...

with the song "Io mi fermo qui", presented in a double performance with the band Dik Dik. The same year Donatello got his first commercial success with the song "Malattia d'amore" which charted tenth on the Italian hit parade. Between 1971 and 1973 he entered the main competition at the

three more times, always being a finalist. In the same years he got two top ten hits with the songs "Com'è dolce la sera" and "Ti voglio". After the 1974 single "Irene", which he presented at

Un disco per l'estate Un disco per l'estate (translation "A Record for the Summer") was an Italian Summer festival held from 1964 to 2003. It was organized and sponsored by the Italian record industry association, AFI, and by RAI, except for the editions between 1995 ...

, Donatello left Dischi Ricordi and started pursuing a more personal musical path, characterized by the recovery of traditional sounds.

Discography

;Album * 1970 - ''Donatello'' * 1975 - ''Il tempo degli dei'' * 1978 - ''A mio nonno ambulante'' ;Singles * 1970 - Io mi fermo qui * 1970 - 100 volte lei * 1970 - Malattia d'amore * 1970 - Tu giovane amore mio * 1971 - Com'è dolce la sera * 1971 - Alice è cambiata * 1971 - Anima mia * 1972 - Ti voglio * 1972 - Gira gira sole * 1974 - Irene * 1975 - Uomo di città * 1976 - Un uomo in più *

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1947 births People from Tortona Italian pop singers Italian folk singers Italian male singers Living people