Franco Simone


Francesco Luigi "Franco" Simone is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer and television host, known as il poeta con la chitarra for the poetical value of his lyrics.

Background

Born in Acquarica del Capo in the province of Lecce, Simone started his career winning the Castrocaro Music Festival in 1972. In 1974 he entered the competition at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Fiume grande", obtaining his first success in the Italian hit parade. "Fiume grande" also had a significant international success in its French and Spanish version.
In 1976, with the LP Il poeta con la chitarra, Simone got his main success in Italy with the song "Tu e così sia", which peaked fourth in the Italian hit parade. In the following years Simone grew his international popularity, especially in Latin America, where he gradually focused his career.
In 1977 his LP Respiro was a great success, and Respiro, the song that gives the title to the album, is still the best known and loved by the Italian public. The following year he released the album Paesaggio which will obtain a resounding success in Latin America and in particular in Argentina, where, with the following albums, he will repeatedly reach the first position of the charts in the hit parade. The song Paisaje will become one of the most popular songs in the Spanish language with dozens of coves like those of Gilda and Vicentico.
In 1993 his LP La Ley del Alma , containing the Spanish versions of his songs, reached the 13th position in the USA Billboard Hit Parade, first LP of the parade not sung in English.
From 2008 to 2011 he gave singing lessons at "Star Rose Academy" in Rome where he taught to sister Cristina Scuccia, the winner of The Voice of Italy 2014.
In 2011 he won the Globo d'oro for Best Song for the song "Accanto" included in the film Native.
In 2013-2014 he composed the symphonic-rock opera Stabat Mater sung together with the rocker Michele Cortese end the Anglo-Italian tenor Gianluca Paganelli.
In 2015 his song "Per fortuna", sung by Michele Cortese, won the 56th edition of the Chilean Festival of Viña del Mar.
In 2018 he writes and sings the song "Ballando sul prato" in a duet with Rita Pavone and in 2020 he writes and sings the song "Come gira il mondo" in a duet with Paolo Belli.
In 2020 he began his collaboration with Andrea Morricone with whom he wrote 2 songs included in the album Franco è il nome, released in 2021 which contains, in addition to his hits revisited and rearranged by Alex Zuccaro, the cover of Lucio Dalla's Caruso and the translation of "Hello" by Lionel Richie, together with the duets with Rita Pavone and Paolo Belli, and other unpublished pieces, including those sung in duet with Cinzia Marzo and with Zeta.
In 2022 he celebrated his 50 years of career with the nomination of Mario Draghi as Cavaliere, a triumphal tour in Chile and the release of a new album, Simone è il cognome, which contains, in addition to his successes rearranged by Alex Zuccaro, covers of "Povera patria" by Franco Battiato and Mina's "L'ultima occasione" and other new songs such as "Figlia, acqua e luce", and duets with Paola Arnesano and Antonio Amato.

Discography

  • 1972 - Se di mezzo c'è l'amore
  • 1974 - La notte mi vuole bene
  • 1976 - Il poeta con la chitarra
  • 1977 - Respiro
  • 1978 - Paesaggio
  • 1979 - Franco Simone
  • 1980 - Racconto a due colori
  • 1982 - Gente che conosco
  • 1984 - Camper
  • 1986 - Il pazzo, lo zingaro ed altri amici
  • 1989 - Totò
  • 1990 - Vocepiano - dizionario dei sentimenti
  • 1995 - Venti d'amore
  • 1996 - Una storia lunga una canzone
  • 1998 - Notturno fiorentino
  • 2001 - Eliopolis - La città del sole
  • 2003 - Dizionario dei sentimenti - VocEpiano
  • 2010 - Nato tra due mari
  • 2011 - C'era il sole ed anche il vento... - Skizzo distribuzione Self, ICEBOX 10/06
  • 2011 - La musica del mare
  • 2014 - Stabat Mater, symphonic rock opera featuring Michele Cortese e Gianluca Paganelli, special guest Rita Cammarano
  • 2016 - Carissimo Luigi
  • 2018 - Per fortuna “Per fortuna” vincitrice “Festival di Viña del mar” 2015 miglior canzone internazionale.
  • 2021 - Franco è il nome
  • 2022 - ''Simone è il cognome''