Fabrizio De André (1940 - 1999) was a leading Italian singer-songwriter. In his works he often told stories of marginalized and rebellious people, above all prostitutes, that were seen by De André as an answer to the bourgeois prissiness. De André was born in Genoa on 18th February 1940. His father was an anti-fascist, and during the war the De André family had to seek refuge in a country farm near Revignano d'Asti, in Piedmont.The family returns in Genoa in 1945. ...show more

Fabrizio De André (1940 - 1999) was a leading Italian singer-songwriter. In his works he often told stories of marginalized and rebellious people, above all prostitutes, that were seen by De André as an answer to the bourgeois prissiness. De André was born in Genoa on 18th February 1940. His father was an anti-fascist, and during the war the De André family had to seek refuge in a country farm near Revignano d'Asti, in Piedmont.The family returns in Genoa in 1945.

Fabrizio studied law at the University of Genoa, but left before graduating. His first instrument was the violin, and then he took up the guitar, playing in local jazz bands. In 1958 he recorded his first two songs: Nuvole barocche ("Baroque Clouds") and E fu la notte ("Then Night Came"). In 1962 he married Puny Rignon, a Genoese woman nearly ten years his senior.

The same year the couple had their first and only son, Cristiano De André, who would follow in his father's footsteps to become a musician and songwriter. Over the years that followed, De André, inspired mainly by George Brassens' works, wrote a number of songs which made him known by a larger public; his song La Canzone Di Marinella ("Marinella's Song") was recorded in 1968 by the famous Italian singer, Mina, and its author was acclaimed as the most important Italian cantautore, or singer-songwriter. The first De Andrè EP, Volume I, was released in 1967, and contain three af the most famous Fabrizio's songs: Via del Campo(literally "Field Street", a famous street of Genoa), Bocca di Rosa and Carlo Martello Ritorna Dalla Battaglia di Poitiers("Charles Martel on His Way Back from Poitiers"). The last one was written with Paolo Villaggio, a famous italian actor and also De André's friend. ...show less