One of the most important Italian songwriters of his generation, Gino Paoli was born in Monfalcone, in the province of Gorizia, on September 23, 1934, and grew up in Genoa. He worked in a variety of odd jobs before turning to singing, where he frequented a number of groups, until he was noticed by the Ricordi label, which signed him to a contract. In 1960, his first single "La Gatta" was an immediate success, followed by many others, some of which have become classics of Italian song, such as "Il cielo una stanza", "Vivere ancora" and "Sassi", with hundreds of cover versions. In 1962, another iconic song, "Sapore di sale", was arranged by Ennio Morricone. That same year, scarred by his affair with Ornella Vanoni, he put an end to their break-up and put an end to his life by shooting himself in the heart, interrupting his career to devote himself to discovering young talents such as Lucio Dalla and Fabrizio De André. The suicide of his youthful friend Luigi Tenco in 1967 plunged him back into depression, and it was not until 1971 that Gino Paoli returned to song with the album Due facce dell'amore, followed by I semafori rossi non sono dio (1974), Il mio mestiere (1977) and Ha tutte le carte in regola (1980). Back on stage for a tour with Ornella Vanoni in 1985, the singer entered politics after recording L'ufficio delle cose perdute (1988). Elected deputy for the Italian Communist Party from 1987 to 1992, he recorded Matto come un gatto (1991), then returned to music with King Kong Paoli (1994). In 2002, he reappeared at the Sanremo Festival, performing "Un altro amore", taken from the album Se. Two years later, the duet album Ti ricordi? No non mi ricordo, followed by Storie (2009), Un incontro in jazz with Flavio Boltro and Danilo Rea (2011), Napoli con amore (2013), 3 (2017), Appunti di un lungo viaggio (2019) and Groovin' with Paoli (2021). On March 24, 2026, Gino Paoli died at his home in Genoa at the age of 91.
