Gianfranco Manfredi (26 November 1948 – 24 January 2025) was an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, author, screenwriter, actor and cartoonist.
Life and career
Born in
Senigallia
Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and port town on Italy's Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche, and lies approximately 30 kilometres nor ...
, Manfredi graduated in History of Philosophy at the
University of Milan
The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...
with a thesis on
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
. pp. 275–6.
Manfredi debuted as a singer-songwriter in 1972 with ''La crisi'', an album filled with political and social themes.Enzo Giannelli. "Gianfranco Manfredi". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. pp. 973–4. In 1973 he started working at the Italian Institute of History of Philosophy. Since 1974 he was also active as a songwriter for other artists, including
Mia Martini
Domenica Rita Adriana Bertè (; 20 September 1947 – 12 May 1995), known professionally as Mia Martini (), was an Italian singer, songwriter and musician.James Christopher MongerMia Martini allmusic.comMina, PFM,
Wess
Wesley Johnson known by his stage name Wess (August 13, 1945 — September 21, 2009) was an American-born Italian singing, singer and bass guitarist, perhaps mostly known for representing Italy along with Dori Ghezzi at the Eurovision Song Conte ...
&
Dori Ghezzi
Dori Ghezzi (born 30 March 1946) is an Italian singer who was active as a recording artist between 1966 and 1989. In the 1970s, Ghezzi worked mainly in a duo with American singer Wess, and the couple represented Italy in the 1975 Eurovision Song ...
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...
.
Starting from the early 1980s Manfredi almost completely abandoned the music to focus on writing. He then published over a dozen novels and short stories, collaborated in various roles to several films, TV-series and plays, and created several comic series. He was also active as a musical critic and wrote essays on
Adriano Celentano
Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing.
Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both com ...
,
Lucio Battisti
Lucio Battisti (5 March 1943 – 9 September 1998) was an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. He is widely recognized for songs that defined the late 1960s and 1970s era of Italian songwriting.
Battisti released 18 studio albums from 1969 ...
,
Enzo Jannacci
Vincenzo "Enzo" Jannacci (; 3 June 1935 – 29 March 2013) was an Italian singer-songwriter, pianist, actor and comedian. He is regarded as one of the most important artists in the post-war Italian music scene.
Jannacci is widely considered as ...
;Album
* 1972 – ''La crisi''
* 1976 – ''Ma non è una malattia''
* 1977 – ''Zombie di tutto il mondo unitevi''
* 1978 – ''Biberon''
* 1981 – ''Gianfranco Manfredi''
* 1985 – ''Dodici'' (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 ...