Dante Luca Pieretti (born 12 May 1940), better known as Gian Pieretti, is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer, mainly successful in the second half of the 1960s.

Life and career

Born in

Ponte Buggianese Ponte Buggianese () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pistoia in the Italian region Tuscany, located about west of Florence and about southwest of Pistoia. Ponte Buggianese borders the following municipalities: Buggiano, Chie ...

, in 1963 Pieretti released his first single "Perduto Amor" as Perry, before adopting the name Gian Pieretti for his second single "Ciao", released the same year.Cotto, Massimo (1990). "Pieretti, Gian". Castaldo, Gino (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore. pp.1339-40. In 1964, he started performing accompanied by I Grifoni, a band consisting of future

Premiata Forneria Marconi Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) (translation: ''Award-winning Marconi Bakery'') is an Italian progressive rock band founded in 1970 which continues to the present day. They were the first Italian group to have success internationally. The group ...

members

Franco Mussida Franco Mussida (born 21 March 1947) is an Italian guitarist, composer, and singer. Biography He is best known as a founder and prominent member of the Italian progressive rock band Premiata Forneria Marconi Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) ( ...

, Giorgio Piazza and

Franz Di Cioccio Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) (translation: ''Award-winning Marconi Bakery'') is an Italian progressive rock band founded in 1970 which continues to the present day. They were the first Italian group to have success internationally. The group ...

. In 1966, he had his breakout with "Il vento dell'est", a song co-written with

Ricky Gianco Ricky Gianco (born Riccardo Sanna on 18 February 1943), formerly known as Ricky Sann, is an Italian singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, considered one of the founders of Italian rock music. Career Born in Lodi, Gianco started ...

and influenced by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

's and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's style; the same year, he served as supporting act in a series of

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...

s held by

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

in Rome, Milan and Naples. In 1967, Gian Pieretti took part in the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...

with "Pietre", a

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. ...

co-written with Gianco; the song became a massive hit in the more light heart version of

Antoine Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is most common in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada ...

. The same year, he released his first album, '' Se vuoi un consiglio''. In 1969, he got a significant success with "Celeste", lead single of the album '' Il viaggio celeste di Gian Pieretti''. His following works became more politically and socially engaged, touching sensitive themes such as homosexuality and alienation, but failed to achieve positive results in terms of sales, leading to his semi-retirement in 1975. He returned to release a new work in 1989 with ''Don Chisciotte''.

Discography

;Album * 1967 - ''Se vuoi un consiglio'' * 1969 - ''Il viaggio celeste di Gian Pieretti'' * 1973 - ''Il vestito rosa del mio amico Piero'' * 1975 - ''Cianfrusaglie'' * 1989 - ''Don Chisciotte'' * 1992 - ''Bang'' * 1993 - ''Il vento dell'Est'' * 1997 -'' Caro Bob Dylan...'' * 2011 - ''Tatanka Yotanka'' * 2013 - ''Cinquant'anni da poeta'' * 2019 - ''Nobel''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pieretti, Gian People from the Province of Pistoia 1940 births Living people Italian male singer-songwriters 20th-century Italian singer-songwriters 20th-century Italian male singers Italian male composers 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century male composers