Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the United States as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian and French singer and songwriter.

Early and personal life

Cocciante was born on 20 February 1946 in

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

(now Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam), to an Italian father from Rocca di Mezzo,

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of the Province of L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region in Italy. , it has a population of 69,902. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the A ...

, and a French mother. At the age of 11, he moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended the Lycée français Chateaubriand. He has also lived in France, the United States, and Ireland. Cocciante has been married to Catherine Boutet since 1983. They have one child together.

Career

An R&B enthusiast, Cocciante began his musical career as an organ player, and in the late 1960s began performing as a singer at L'Approdo, a Roman club for foreign students. After forming the band GL6 with Marco Luberti and Paolo Casella, in 1971 he started his professional career with the French name Richard Cocciante and recorded three English language songs for the soundtrack of the Carlo Lizzani's film '' Roma Bene''. In 1972, he released his first album, titled ''MU'' in Italy and ''Atlantì'' in France. After the fair commercial results of his 1973 album ''Poesia'', Cocciante had his breakout one year later with " Bella senz'anima", which turned to be a major hit but also raised controversities, being considered sexist and being censored on Italian television. In 1976, he got another number one spot on the Italian hit parade with " Margherita", his signature song. The same year, he covered the

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

song " Michelle", featuring the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, for the musical documentary '' All This and World War II'', and he released his sole English album in the US, with the single "When Love Has Gone Away" peaking at No. 41 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. In 1980, Cocciante began a decade-long collaboration with the lyricist Mogol, who had just stopped his professional association with Lucio Battisti; their first hit was "

Cervo a primavera Cervo may refer to: Places Italy * Cervo, Liguria, a comune in the province of Imperia in the region of Liguria * Cervo (river), a tributary of the River Sesia in the Piedmont region Portugal * Cervo (Ribeira de Pena), a civil parish in the munici ...

". In 1983, Cocciante was the first Italian artist to be signed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, andreleased his album "Sincerità", produced and arranged by the American composer James Newton Howard. Following several more hits, notably the 1985 duet with Mina " Questione di feeling", in 1987 he moved to Florida, and except for a live album he took a long artistic break. Cocciante made his comeback in 1991, winning the 41st edition of 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 the song " Se stiamo insieme", and getting a significant success with both the single and the following album ''Cocciante''. In 1994, he recorded an English-language version of his hit song "Pour elle" as a duet with Francesca Bellenis, under the title " I'd Fly", and included it in his album ''Un uomo felice''; a Spanish version "Por ella" and an Italian version "Per lei" were also recorded. In 1996, Cocciante was chosen as the singer for the Italian versions of the songs in the ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...

'' movie, singing "Un amico in me", "Che strane cose" and "Io non volerò più". In 1997, his friend

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

invited him to sing at Domingo's annual Christmas in Vienna concert, together with

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made ...

and Helmut Lotti. In 1998, Cocciante composed ''

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

'', a musical adaptation of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's ''

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (, originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. The title refers to the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which features prominently throughout the novel. I ...

''; the musical, with lyrics by

Luc Plamondon Luc Plamondon (born March 2, 1942) is a French Canadians, French-Canadian lyricist and music executive. His work includes the musicals Starmania (musical), ''Starmania'' and Notre-Dame de Paris (musical), ''Notre-Dame de Paris''. He is the brot ...

in its French version and by Pasquale Panella in its Italian version, proved to be a worldwide success, and the relevant CDs sold about 10 million copies. Other two successful musicals followed: ''Le Petit Prince'', and '' Giulietta e Romeo''. He also made a Chinese-language adaptation of

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

's opera ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'', which was directed by

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 14 November 1950) is a Chinese filmmaker.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retrieved 21 August 2008. A leading figure of China's Cinem ...

. In 2013, Cocciante was a coach for the first season of ''

The Voice of Italy ''The Voice of Italy'' is a reality singing competition and Italian version of the international syndication '' The Voice'' based on the reality singing competition launched in the Netherlands, created by Dutch television producer John de Mol Jr ...

'';

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition in the Albanian-speaking ...

, one of the contestants he coached, won the show. Cocciante's oeuvre includes recordings in Italian, French, English, and Spanish. It was announced that Cocciante is scheduled to perform a retrospective of his career at the Lucca Summer Festival July 2025.

Discography

* ''Mu'' (1972) *''Poesia'' (1973) *''Anima'' (1974) *''L'alba'' (1975) *''Richard Cocciante'' nglish version of ''Anima''(1976) *''Concerto per Margherita'' (1976) *''Riccardo Cocciante'' (1978) *''...E io canto'' (1979) *''Cervo a primavera'' (1980) *''Q Concert'' (1981) *''Cocciante'' (1982) *''Sincerità'' (1983) *''Il mare dei papaveri'' (1985) *''Quando si vuole bene'' (1986) *''La grande avventura'' (1988) *''Viva!'' (1988) *''Cocciante'' (also known as ''Se stiamo insieme''; 1991) *''Empreinte'' (1993) *''Eventi e mutamenti'' (1993) *''Il mio nome è Riccardo'' (1994) *''Un uomo felice'' (1994) * ''Je chante'' (1995) *''Innamorato'' (1997) *''Istantanea'' (1998) *''Notre-Dame de Paris live Arena di Verona'' (2002) *''Songs'' (2005)

Musicals

*''

'' (1997; lyrics by

) *''

Le Petit Prince ''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English language, English and French language, French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock i ...

'' (2002; lyrics by Élisabeth Anaïs) *'' Giulietta e Romeo'' (2007; lyrics by Pasquale Panella)

References

External links

RICCARDO COCCIANTE Official Web Site

Biography of Richard Cocciante
from

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...