Domenico Modugno

Born January 9, 1928, died August 6, 1994. Italian singer and songwriter, husband of Franca Gandolfi and father of Massimo Modugno.
Best known as co-writer of "Nel blu dipinto di blu" together with Franco Migliacci. In 1958 he participated with Johnny Dorelli in the Sanremo Music Festival, winning the contest with Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Italy 1958) (opens in a new tab). It became a worldwide success. It received two Grammy Awards with sales far over a million copies, and represented Italy in the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third.
He also won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1959 with "Piove" (also known as "Ciao, ciao bambina"), and came second in 1960 with "Libero". He represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1959. In 1962, Modugno won the Sanremo Music Festival a third time with "Addio..., addio...". Four years later, he again represented Italy at Eurovision with "Dio, come ti amo".
In 1986, Modugno entered politics as member of the Italian Radical Party and was elected congressman for Turin in June 1987. He died from a heart attack in Lampedusa, Italy, in August 1994.