Giuseppa Marcella Bella (born 18 June 1952), known as just Marcella Bella or simply Marcella, is an Italian pop singer with a career spanning six decades. Her repertoire includes several songs composed by her brother

Gianni Gianni is an Italian name (occasionally a surname), a short form of the Italian Giovanni and a cognate of John meaning God is gracious. Gianni is the most common diminutive of Giovanni in Italian. People with this given name * Gianni Agnelli (19 ...

Life and career

Born in

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

into an artistic family (her brothers Antonio and Salvatore are musicians, and her brother

is a singer-songwriter), Bella started her career at very young age, and in 1965 she won the , a victory that was not validated because she was two years younger than the rules required.Lalla Cantore. "Marcella (Marcella Bella)". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. pp. 990-1.Enrico Deregibus. "Marcella Bella". ''Dizionario completo della Canzone Italiana''. Giunti Editore, 2010. p. 54. . She made her record debut in 1969, with the single "", using the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

Marcella. Bella got her first success in 1971, with the single "". In 1972, she had her breakthrough taking 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 "", a semi-autobiographical song penned by her brother Gianni which turned to be a massive commercial hit. She later performed in other musical events, being a finalist in the 1973 edition of with "", and winning the

Festivalbar The Festivalbar () was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by ...

with "". Other significant successes of the decade include "", later covered by

Boney M. Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...

in an English version titled "Take the Heat off Me" and included in their eponymous album, "", which she presented out of competition at the 1977 Sanremo Festival, and her cover version of

Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song " Nel blu dipinto di blu", for which he received the fir ...

's classic "". After a period of relative tarnish, in the early 1980s Bella began recording under her full name, and achieved an impressive success in 1983 with "", a song penned by Mogol together with her brother Gianni. Other hits followed across the whole decade, mainly linked to her participations to the Sanremo Festival, notably "" (third place at Sanremo 1986), "" ( Sanremo 1987), "" ( Sanremo 1988) and "" (a duet with Gianni Bella presented at Sanremo 1990). In the 1990s she slowed her activities. She ran in the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but elect ...

with National Alliance party, being not elected. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, she returned to the Sanremo Festival after a fifteen-year absence with the song "", ranking second in the "classics" tournament. In 2024, Bella, with the song "Chi siamo davvero", competed in the final of '' Una voce per San Marino 2024'', the Sammarinese national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2024 The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Tattoo (Loreen song), Tattoo" by Loreen. Organised by the European Br ...

. In December 2024, she was announced as one of the participants in the

Sanremo Music Festival 2025 The Sanremo Music Festival 2025 (), officially the 75th Italian Song Festival (), was the 75th edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held at the in Sanremo, organised and broadcast by (RAI). It was held betwe ...

. She placed last in a field of 29 with the song " Pelle diamante". On 24 December 2024, Bella was awarded by His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Georgia David Bagration of Mukhrani the title of Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Eagle and the Seamless Tunic of Our Lord Jesus Christ in recognition to her long and successful career, spanning over 50 years.

Personal life

Marcella is the younger sister of singer-songwriter Gianni Bella^{/sup>.

In 1973 she had an affair with Red Canzian, who had just joined Pooh as bassist : the romance lasted one year^{/sup>.

In 1979 she met Milanese entrepreneur Mario Merello, whom she married in 1989 and by whom she had three children: Giacomo (1980), Carolina (1991) and Tommaso (1992)^{/sup>.

Discography

Albums

*1972:
*1973:
*1974:
*1975:
*1976:
*1977:
*1979:
*1981: ''Marcella Bella''
*1982:
*1983:
*1984:
*1986:
*1987:
*1988: 88''
*1990:
*1990:
*1991:
*1993:
*1995:
*1998:
*2002:
*2005:
*2007: ''Forever'' (with Gianni Bella)
*2012:
* 2017:
* 2019:
* 2023:

Singles

*1969: ""
*1969: ""
*1971: ""
*1972: ""
*1972: ""
*1972: ""
*1973: ""
*1973: ""
*1974: ""
*1974: ""
*1975: ""
*1975: ""
*1976: ""
*1976: ""
*1977: ""
*1978: ""
*1979: ""
*1979: ""
*1980: ""
*1981: ""
*1981: ""
*1981: "*
*1982: ""
*1983: ""
*1984: ""
*1985: "" (with Gianni Bella)
*1986: ""
*1987: ""
*1988: ""
*1990: "" (with Gianni Bella)
*1998: "" (with Gianni Bella)
*2002: ""
*2007: "Forever "
*2012: "Malecon"
*2012: ""
*2025: ""

References

External links

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bella, Marcella
1952 births
Living people
Musicians from Catania
20th-century Italian women singers
21st-century Italian women singers
Spanish-language singers of Italy}}}