Gianfranco Michele Maisano, best known as Michele (born 22 June 1944) is an Italian singer and occasional actor.
Background
Born in
Vigevano
Vigevano (; ) is a (municipality) in the province of Pavia, in the Italian region of Lombardy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing agricultural district. Vigevano ...
, as a child Maisano moved to
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, where he attended the Nautical Institute. He recorded his first single at age 14. Abandoned the name Michele Maisano, he obtained his first success as Michele in 1963 with the song "
Se mi vuoi lasciare", which won the musical contest
Cantagiro and ranked first in the Italian hit parade.
In the sixties Michele then achieved some further successes including some cover versions to songs by
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
.
[ After a less successful period, in 1971, he got one another main success with the song "Susan dei Marinai", with an uncredited contribution to the lyrics by Fabrizio De André.]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 the song "L'addio", followed two years later by another participation with the song "Forestiero".[ During his career Michele was also a music producer and an occasional actor.
]
Discography
Selected singles
Studio albums
*1963 ''Michele''
*1966 ''Se sei sola''
*1970 ''Ritratto di un cantante''
*1971 ''Vivendo cantando''
*1973 ''Cantautori''
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michele
1944 births
People from Vigevano
Italian pop singers
Living people