Italian music journalist Ernesto Assante dies at 66

Ernesto Assante, a leading Italian music journalist and critic, died of a stroke on February 26, 2024, at age 66. Born in Naples in 1958, Assante began his career in Roman rock radio stations before moving to Radio 1 and Sterenotte. He worked as a music critic for Il manifesto and joined la Repubblica in 1979, where he became a music critic and later editor-in-chief. He co-founded the music insert Musica de la Repubblica and contributed to Computer Valley, Computer, internet e altro, L'espresso, Rolling Stone, and Rockol. He served as director of Kataweb and McLink. From 2011, he was artistic director of the Medimex festival in Puglia, and from 2012, of the Collisioni festival in Barolo. He curated exhibitions including On the Road (2004) at Auditorium Arte in Rome, featuring Jack Kerouac's original manuscript, and DMX Digital Music Experience (2015) at MAXXI in Rome on electronic music history. On television, he worked as a music consultant for Domenica in and Doc, and authored Sanremo Rock and Cantagiro. He created the Premio Italiano per la Musica (PIM), which ran for seven editions from 1996 to 2002 on Italia 1, hosted by Serena Dandini and Linus. He co-hosted Webnotte with Gino Castaldo from 2013 on Repubblica.it, Facebook, and Radio Capital TV. Castaldo, his close friend and colleague, wrote a tribute in la Repubblica, calling Assante a brother. Linus remembered him on Radio DEEJAY as the credible, noble part of their collaborations.