Francesco Guccini, one of the masters of Italian songwriting and culture, has died aged 86 in Pavana. The funeral will be private, with a public ceremony in September.
The singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini died on Thursday morning in the hamlet of Pavana, in the municipality of Sambuca Pistoiese, at the age of 86.
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His family announced his death in an official statement, confirming that the artist passed away surrounded by the love of his wife Raffaella, his daughter Teresa and his relatives.
In accordance with the artist's wishes, the funeral will take place in the coming days in the strictest privacy.
"In asking that this moment of grief may be lived in the utmost intimacy, we would like to thank in advance all those who will share in their mourning with affection, discretion and respect", read the family's message.
A ceremony will be held in September to commemorate the man who has been described as one of the most influential singer-songwriters in Italian music.
One of the most influential singer-songwriters in Italian music
Born in Modena on 14 June 1940, Guccini was deeply attached to his roots and in particular to the land of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
He spent his childhood in Pavana, his paternal grandparents' village, because of the Second World War. That deep bond with his native land and with the Apennines would go on to shape all of his poetry and his literary output.
After his first musical experiences in the 1950s and a spell as a young reporter at the Gazzetta di Modena, he moved to Bologna in 1961.
His career took off in the 1960s, initially as a songwriter for performers such as Caterina Caselli, Equipe 84 and I Nomadi, for whom he wrote benchmark tracks including 'Auschwitz', 'Dio è morto', 'Per fare un uomo' and 'Noi ci saremo'.
His official recording debut came in 1967 with the album Folk beat n. 1. In 1972 he released Radici, a record that included landmark songs such as 'La locomotiva', 'Incontro', 'Il vecchio e il bambino' and 'Piccola città'.
But commercial success arrived in 1976 with the album Via Paolo Fabbri 43, a blues record that evokes Bologna's nights and the atmosphere of the time.
The track 'L'avvelenata', included on the same album, spits anger and pride and responds to the criticism levelled at him in those years by other singer-songwriters.
Then came Amerigo in 1978, featuring the celebrated Eskimo, which earned him the nickname "the singer-songwriter with the eskimo".
In 1981 he released Metropolis, followed by live projects such as Opera buffa and Fra la via Emilia e il West.
At his concerts, music and songs were interwoven with monologues and the tone of the finest cabaret.
His music and writing are rich in cultural references, ranging from Italian poetry to international poetics and essay writing, and to the Bible.
After the release of L'ultima Thule in 2012, Guccini announced that he was retiring from active music-making to devote himself to writing.
He subsequently released Canzoni da intorto in 2022 and Canzoni da osteria in 2023.
Over the course of his career he received numerous awards, including several Targa Tenco and Premio Tenco awards.
A career beyond music
A versatile artist and a leading figure in Italy's world of auteur culture, Guccini was also a writer of non-fiction and novels.
His narrative debut came in 1989 with Cròniche epafàniche, followed by the publication of numerous books, including Vacca d'un cane and the series of novels co-written with Loriano Macchiavelli.
Guccini also taught Italian at Dickinson College in Bologna from 1965 to 1985, and worked as a screenwriter and comic-book writer, as an actor and as a scholar of dialectology.
In 2002 the University of Bologna awarded him an honorary degree in Education Sciences.
In 2020 he was among the finalists for the Premio Campiello with his novel Tralummescuro.
