The Beginning Fiorella Mannoia's father Luigi was an Italian film stuntman, and Fiorella, her brother Maurizio and sister Patrizia began work in this area as children. Fiorella Mannoia's first film role as a stuntwoman was at the age of 13 in the film
Non cantare, spara! ("Don't Sing, Shoot!") (1968). She often acted as a stand-in for
Monica Vitti, e.g., in
Amore mio aiutami ("Help Me, My Love"), and was also a stand-in for
Candice Bergen in
The Hunting Party. She debuted in the world of music at the
Castrocaro Music Festival in 1968, singing
Un bambino sul leone ("A Child on the Lion") by
Adriano Celentano. Although she didn't win, she obtained a record contract with
Carisch, with whom she recorded her first 45,
Ho saputo che partivi ("I Found Out You Were Leaving"), which had on the B-side
Le ciliegie ("The Cherries"), written by the young guitarist
Riccardo Zappa. In the Spring of 1968, she participated in
Un disco per l'estate ("A Record for Summer"), a Summer song festival broadcast on
RAI, with the song
Gente qua, gente là ("People Here, People There"), the music for which was written by
Bruno De Filippi, while the lyrics were written by her producer,
Alberto Testa. Her third 45 featured
Mi piace quel ragazzo lì ("I Like That Boy Over There"), whose text is dedicated to
Adriano Celentano, with
Occhi negli occhi ("Eyes Into Eyes") on the B-side, reused from the previous record. These discs, while still being influenced by certain "beat" sounds, presented evidence of Mannoia's vocal qualities, although they did not sell well. The tracks are available in the collection
I primi passi ("The First Steps")(1998), containing songs by Fiorella Mannoia and Carla Bissi, published by
On Sale Music. In 1970 she got to know the singer and guitarist
Memmo Foresi, who had put out some 45s as a solo act and with whom she formed a relationship. After signing a contract with the label
It founded by
Vincenzo Micocci, in 1971 she cut a 45 of a song written by
Enzo Perrotti and a Foresi track on the B-side; this too went unnoticed. The next year, the collaboration with
Memmo Foresi led to the release of the album
Mannoia Foresi & co. for
RCA Italiana. The track
Ma quale sentimento ("But What Feeling") was retitled
Prologo ("Prologue") for release as a single. In 1974, her new single
Ninna nanna (with
Rose on the B-side) was censored (and so withdrawn from sale) because of the lyrics by
Marco Luberti, which were considered too raw. Fiorella Mannoia then decided to leave RCA and go to the label
Ricordi, with whom she released three 45s,
Piccolo ("Little", lyrics by
Sergio Bardotti and
Ruggero Cini),
Tu amore mio ("You Love of Mine") and
Scaldami ("Warm Me Up"). In the early 70s, she had minor roles in the
spaghetti Westerns Un colt in mano del diavolo ("A Colt in the Hand of the Devil") (1972),
E il terzo giorno arrivò il corvo ("And on the Third Day, the Crow Arrived") (1973) and
Sei bounty killers per una strage ("Six Bounty Killers for a Massacre") (1973).
Sanremo Music Festival On leaving the label
Ricordi, Mannoia signed with
CGD. Her first recording for the new label was not for a record of her own but for an album by
Pierangelo Bertoli, entitled
Certi momenti ("Certain Moments"). She sang a duet with
Bertoli on
Pescatore ("Fisherman") and the great success of this single and of the album, also helped to make her name known. In 1981, she performed at the
Sanremo Music Festival with
Caffè nero bollente ("Boiling Black Coffee"), (written by
Mimmo Cavallo and arranged by
Antonio Coggio) which made her widely known in Italy. That year she also had a moderate hit with ''E muoviti un po' '' ("And Move a Little"), written by the Torinese singer-songwriter
Valerio Liboni, with whom she took part in
Festivalbar. She continued recording albums and 45s produced by
Mario Lavezzi. She again changed record companies, moving to
Ariston. She entered the
Sanremo Music Festival once more in 1984 with
Come si cambia ("As One Changes"), written by
Renato Pareti, which had a certain amount of sales success. She won the final of
Premiatissima with the song
Margherita by
Riccardo Cocciante. In 1985, ''L'aiuola
("The Flowerbed") was a big hit for her and the album Premiatissima '84, which included Margherita'', was released.
Success Great success came when she changed labels to
DDD and subsequently won the Critic's Prize at the
Sanremo Music Festival for two years in a row. In 1987, she won with
Quello che le donne non-dicono ("What Women Don’t Say"), her first number-one hit, written specifically for her by
Enrico Ruggeri and
Luigi Schiavone. She won again in 1988 with
Le notti di maggio ("The Nights of May"), written by
Ivano Fossati. In 1988, the album
Canzoni per parlare was released, which included these and other songs by leading Italian songwriters, including
Ron and
Riccardo Cocciante. This was also her first record produced by the musical director and guitarist
Piero Fabrizi, who has played an important role in all of her subsequent work. The album
Di terra e di vento, on which she collaborated for the first time with
Francesco De Gregori, was released in 1989. This album also contains an Italian version of the song
O Que Será ("Oh What Will Be") by the great Brazilian singer-songwriter
Chico Buarque de Hollanda, sung as a duet with
Ivano Fossati, who also translated the lyrics from
Portuguese. In 1992, Fiorella Mannoia released the pivotal album
I treni a vapore, which, as well as the title track by
Ivano Fossati, also contains the popular tracks ''Il cielo d'Irlanda
("The Sky of Ireland") by Massimo Bubola, Tutti cercano qualcosa
("Everybody Is Looking for Something") by Francesco De Gregori and Inevitabilmente (Lettera dal carcere)
("Inevitably (Letter from Jail)") by Enrico Ruggeri and Luigi Schiavone, which was used on the soundtrack of the film Caro diario'' by
Nanni Moretti. Her next album
Gente comune was released in 1994. Highlights include the songs
Crazy Boy, written for her by
Samuele Bersani and
Piero Fabrizi,
Il culo del mondo ("The Arse of the World") written by the Brazilian singer-songwriter
Caetano Veloso, who sang with her on this number, and '' Giovanna d'Arco '' ("
Joan of Arc"), written for her by
Francesco de Gregori. On
Belle speranze (1997) she collaborated with younger songwriters including
Daniele Silvestri and
Gianmaria Testa. This album also contained the ironic
Non sono un cantautore ("I Am Not a Singer-Songwriter") written by
Piero Fabrizi.
Certe piccole voci (1999), the first live album of her career, contained the
Vasco Rossi song
Sally, one of her most popular numbers. This double CD was a huge hit in Italy, reaching number one a couple of months after release, and, ultimately, double platinum status.
2000s In 2000, Fiorella Mannoia was invited to the 50th
Festival of Sanremo as Italian Super Host. During the early to mid-2000s, she did a lot of touring, initially with
Pino Daniele,
Francesco De Gregori and
Ron, and more recently solo. After the studio album
Fragile (2001), Fiorella Mannoia released the live album
In tour (2002) with Daniele, De Gregori and Ron. Returning to her cinema roots, she played a cameo role in the film
Prima dammi un bacio ("First Give Me a Kiss") (2003), a romantic comedy written and directed by
Ambrogio Lo Giudice. In 2003, she dueted with
Niccolò Fabi, recording the song "Offeso", included in his album
La cura del tempo. In 2004, the solo live album
Concerti (2004) was released, together with
Due anni di concerti, a DVD recorded at the visually stunning Teatro Valli di
Reggio Emilia. In 2005, she sang three songs at the
Live 8 concert, Rome:
Sally,
Clandestino (written by
Manu Chao), and
Mio fratello che guarda il mondo ("My Brother Who Looks at the World"), written by
Ivano Fossati. ,
Cremona, 11 December 2017 During her career, Fiorella Mannoia has won the prestigious
Targa Tenco (Tenco Prize) for Italian singers five times. She is the only performer to have won the
Targa Tenco in this category more than once. On 2 June 2005 the President of Italy,
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, conferred on Fiorella Mannoia the rank of Ufficiale (Officer) in the
Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy). In 2006 she released the single
Cravo e canela (“Clove and Cinnamon”), written by
Milton Nascimento (with whom she sings on the recording) and
Ronaldo Bastos. This was followed by the album
Onda tropicale, from which the single was taken. The tracks on the album, six translated into Italian by
Piero Fabrizi and five in the original
Portuguese, are all from the rich
carioca repertoire of Brazil. All of the tracks are duets with well-known Brazilian artists (
Milton Nascimento,
Caetano Veloso,
Chico Buarque,
Chico César,
Gilberto Gil,
Djavan,
Carlinhos Brown,
Lenine,
Jorge Benjor and
Adriana Calcanhotto). This was the first time anyone had succeeded in bringing all these important Brazilian artists together in a single project. Her longtime collaborator
Piero Fabrizi, guitarist, musical director, arranger and songwriter, again played an important role on this album. Mannoia competed in the
Sanremo Music Festival 2017 with "Che sia benedetta", ultimately coming second. She competed in the
Sanremo Music Festival 2024 with "Mariposa".
Other ventures Fiorella Mannoia has also devoted herself to social issues, lending her attention to subjects such as abortion and divorce, and has also expressed her solidarity with the aid association
Emergency. During her career, Fiorella Mannoia has sung in a number of languages including French, Spanish,
Portuguese and English, as well as
Neapolitan and her native Italian. == Discography ==