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🇮🇹 Italy · 1966–2012

Lucio Dalla

Lucio Dalla, born in Bologna in 1943, moved through the world of music with insatiable curiosity, exploring everything from the roots of jazz to the deepest singer-songwriter traditions. His path was not that of a conventional musician; he began by playing the clarinet in jazz groups in Rome, influenced by the energy of rhythm and blues and the voice of James Brown, even experimenting with scat improvisations. Although his early training was rooted in jazz, his career expanded, encompassing various genres and collaborating with a wide range of artists, from Francesco De Gregori to Luciano Pavarotti. What is interesting is how, over time, he transitioned from being primarily a melody composer to also writing lyrics, becoming an influential figure in 20th-century Italian music. Throughout his nearly fifty years of activity, he never stopped playing the piano, saxophone, and clarinet, instruments he had mastered from a young age.

His musical journey can be divided into several stages. Initially, between 1966 and 1972, he was associated with the group "Idoli", exploring the beat scene. Then, between 1973 and 1976, he had a collaborative period with Roversi. From 1977 until 1993, he consolidated his artistic maturity, later entering a more pop-oriented phase in his final years, without abandoning his forays into classical music. One of his most famous songs, Caruso, crossed borders, selling millions of copies and becoming a benchmark of Italian music worldwide. This success, along with other tracks like 4/3/1943 or Canzone, showcases his ability to connect with audiences through melodies and lyrics that explored both the personal and the social, even addressing themes such as communism and Catholicism in his work.

singer-songwriter Pop Blues Jazz Rock 1940s

4 Albums

41 Songs

224K Listeners/mo

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Essential songs

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Canzone

Il giorno aveva cinque teste

Il coyote

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

4:35 03

L'operaio Gerolamo

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

3:34 04

Passato, presente

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

4:32 05

E lì

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

4:31 06

Alla fermata del tram

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

3:59 07

L'auto targata TO

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

4:29 08

Grippaggio

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

4:07 09

La bambina (L'inverno è neve, l'estate è sole)

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

3:00 10

Pezzo zero

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

2:58

The full catalog on DoReSol

All songs

Alla fermata del tram

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

Amici

Canzoni · 1996

Anna e Marco

Lucio Dalla · 1979

Ayrton

Canzoni · 1996

Ballando ballando

Canzoni · 1996

Barcarola

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

Canzone

Il giorno aveva cinque teste

Canzone

Canzoni · 1996

Come è profondo il mare

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

Corso Buenos Aires

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

Cosa sarà

Lucio Dalla · 1979

Cosa vuol dire una lacrima

Canzoni · 1996

Disperato erotico stomp

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

Disperato erotico stomp

Canzoni · 1996

Domani

Canzoni · 1996

E lì

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

Goodbye

Canzoni · 1996

Grippaggio

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

Il coyote

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

Il cucciolo Alfredo

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

L'auto targata TO

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

L'operaio Gerolamo

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

La bambina (L'inverno è neve, l'estate è sole)

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

La canzone di Orlando

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

La signora

Lucio Dalla · 1979

L’anno che verrà

Lucio Dalla · 1979

L’ultima luna

Lucio Dalla · 1979

Milano

Lucio Dalla · 1979

Notte

Lucio Dalla · 1979

Nun parlà

Canzoni · 1996

Passato, presente

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

Pezzo zero

Il giorno aveva cinque teste · 1973

Prendimi così

Canzoni · 1996

Quale allegria

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

Stella di mare

Lucio Dalla · 1979

Sul mondo

Canzoni · 1996

Tango

Lucio Dalla · 1979

Treno a vela

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

Tu non mi basti mai

Canzoni · 1996

Vieni, spirito di Cristo

Canzoni · 1996

…e non andar più via

Come è profondo il mare · 1977

4 album|s · 1973 — 1996

Full discography

1996 ★ Essential

Canzoni

13 song|s · singer-songwriter

1979 ★ Essential

Lucio Dalla

9 song|s · singer-songwriter

1977 ★ Essential

Come è profondo il mare

8 song|s · singer-songwriter

1973 ★ Essential

Il giorno aveva cinque teste

11 song|s · singer-songwriter

Details, awards, members and more

More about Lucio Dalla

Biography

Dalla’s life was shaped by early experiences that molded his artistic vision. The death of his father when he was seven, and his mother’s subsequent decision to send him to a boarding school, left him with a deep sense of loneliness that he described as something he learned to organize and live as a moment of well-being, necessary for understanding existence. His mother, a peculiar figure, believed in his innate talent for performance and never opposed his desire to pursue music, even taking him to aptitude tests. His time in school was not straightforward; he preferred music to formal studies, and by the age of seventeen, he was already in Rome creating music. His debut at Cantagiro in 1965 was not easy; his musical proposal and transgressive style for the time earned him adverse reactions, such as the throwing of vegetables. Despite these early obstacles, his career continued, exploring different sounds and consolidating a unique style that set him apart.