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Fabrizio De André

Italian songwriter, composer, guitarist, writer, and activist. Born: February 18, 1940, in Genova Pegli. Died: January 11, 1999, in Milan. He started writing songs in 1960 ("La Ballata di Michè", composed with [a2450529] is his first song), heavily influenced by French songwriters like [a278663]. In 1962, he married Enrica “Puny” Rignon, and his son [a=Cristiano De André] was born. Encouraged by friends, including [a319978], he began to perform in public in Genova, and between 1963 and 1966, the label [l43240] released some singles that were collected in [m=286895] in 1966. However, success did not come suddenly, and De Andrè seriously thought about leaving his musical career to work in his father's law firm until 1968, when [a319972] recorded "La Canzone di Marinella", which became a great success. From that moment on, he became one of the most appreciated Italian songwriters. In 1974, he met [a=Dori Ghezzi], with whom he had a daughter ([a1301851] (1977)), and established the label [l116194] (1980). Since the 1980's, De Andrè has also sung using dialects like Genova's, the dialect of Gallura (northern Sardinia), and Neapolitan.  He died in 1999 in Milan from lung cancer, diagnosed the year before.