Gianna Nannini is an Italian rock singer-songwriter from Siena, Italy. She studies piano in Turin and composition in Milan, and later graduates in philosophy from the University of Siena in 1994.

Career

Her first album appears in 1976. She breaks through in 1979 with the single “America” and the album California, which succeeds in several European countries. Wider recognition in Italy follows in 1984 with her sixth album, Puzzle, which reaches the top 10 in the Italian, German, Austrian and Swiss charts.

Nannini performs “Fotoromanza”, a song with a videoclip directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, and receives several music awards. She also tours Europe and appears at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1986, “Bello e impossibile” becomes a major success and brings further awards in Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Her 1987 compilation Maschi e altri sells more than a million copies. In 1990 she performs “Un'estate italiana”, the official song of the Football World Cup 1990, with Edoardo Bennato. In 2006, the album Grazie is released and includes the single “Sei nell'anima”, which reaches number one in Italy.

Personal life and activities

She is the older sister of former Formula 1 driver Alessandro Nannini. In 1995, she takes part in a Greenpeace protest at the French embassy in Rome against French nuclear testing at Mururoa.