Domenico Modugno: The Legacy of Mr. Volare

On the anniversary of Domenico Modugno's death, we revisit the life and career of the Italian singer-songwriter who revolutionized Italian pop music with his 1958 hit 'Nel blu dipinto di blu', universally known as 'Volare'. The song, performed at the Sanremo Music Festival, defied the conventions of the time, as famously criticized by Maestro Gorni Kramer. Written with Franco Migliacci, it won the festival, beating favorite Nilla Pizzi, and became a global phenomenon, selling over 22 million copies. Modugno, born on January 9, 1928, in Polignano a Mare, Bari, was also an actor, studying at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, where he met his wife Franca Gandolfi and collaborator Riccardo Pazzaglia. He won Sanremo four times, sharing the record with Claudio Villa, and collaborated with literary figures like Salvatore Quasimodo and Pier Paolo Pasolini. His international success included performing at the Ed Sullivan Show and Carnegie Hall, and his single topped the US charts for 13 weeks. Modugno passed away in 1994, after years of health issues and involvement in politics with the Radical Party. The article also highlights his song 'Meraviglioso', which was unjustly rejected from Sanremo in 1968.