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Fausto Leali
Fausto Leali in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Faustino Leali
Born	(1944-10-29) 29 October 1944 (age 80)
Origin	Nuvolento (Brescia), Lombardy, Kingdom of Italy
Genres	Pop soul blues
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1960–present
Labels	Music Jolly Ri-Fi Philips Records CBS CGD Itaca Dischi Ricordi
Website	faustoleali.com

Faustino (Fausto) Leali (born 29 October 1944 in Nuvolento, Brescia) is an Italian singer.

Early life

Leali began his musical career as a singer in several bands in his native Brescia. His first guitar teacher was Tullio Romano, of the band Los Marcellos Ferial.

Career

Leali's first release was a 1962 promotional single as "Fausto Denis", for the magazine Nuova Enigmistica Tascabile. He then joined the Novelty, a Beat band formed by Franco Piacibello (saxophone), Delio Ombrella (drums), Silvio Pesce (bass) and Piero Braggi (guitar) in Alessandria that had already released an EP in 1961. With the group he managed to obtain a recording contract with the Music record label, and release a few singles, including two covers of Beatles –"Please Please Me" and "Lei ti ama" ("She Loves You"). Leali's big opportunity came in 1966 when A&R executive Ezio Leoni moved from Music record label to Ri-Fi, bringing Leali and the Novelty with him.

Leali and The Novelty's first success was "A chi" ("To whom"), in 1967, an Italian version of a 1954 American song "Hurt", written by Roy Hamilton. "A chi" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. In the same year, Leali took part for the first time in the music festival Un disco per l'estate, with the song "Senza di te" ("Without you"), but did not progress beyond the first round.

In 1969, 1971, and 1974, he appeared again in Un disco per l'estate with the songs "Tu non meritavi una canzone" ("You did not deserve a song"), "Si chiama Maria" ("Her name is Maria"), and "Solo lei" ("Only you"). He returned to the hit parade in 1976 with the single "Io camminerò" ("I will go"), which reached the top of charts, and in 1980 with a performance of Totò's song "Malafemmena" ("Bad woman" in Napolitan).

In the late 1980s, he made several appearances at the Sanremo festival; in 1987, with "Io amo" ("I love"), that came in 4th; in 1988, with "Mi manchi" ("I miss you") at 5th; and in 1989, in the duet with Anna Oxa "Ti lascerò" ("I'll leave you") that won 1st place.

The same year, Oxa and Leali represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest with "Avrei voluto" ("I wanted to"). The song was voted in the 9th place. Leali returned to Sanremo in 2002, with "Ora che ho bisogno di te" ("Now that I need you"), a duet with Luisa Corna, and the next year with "Eri tu" ("It was you"), which eventually went platinum.

After taking part in 2006 in the Rai Due reality show, Music Farm, where he reached the finals, Leali released a new album, Profumo e Kerosene (Perfume and Kerosene), with ten new songs, all in a new for him musical style.

Due to his naturally hoarse singing style, Leali was nicknamed by the Italian media Il negro bianco, "the white negro", also the title of his 1968 album.

Personal life

Ιn 1968, Leali married the singer Milena Cantù, who was with the record company founded by Adriano Celentano. They had a daughter, Deborah, so named after the success of the eponymous song of that year's Festival di Sanremo, sung at the competition in a duet with Wilson Pickett (it came in fourth place).

Selected discography

Albums

• 1964 Fausto Leali
• 1966 Fausto Leali e i suoi Novelty
• 1968 Il negro bianco
• 1975 Amore Dolce, Amore Amaro, Amore Mio
• 1976 Io camminerò
• 1977 Leapoli
• 1981 Un attimo di blu
• 1992 Saremo promossi
• 1994 Anima nuda
• 2002 Secondo me ... io ti amo
• 2006 Profumo e Kerosene
• 2016 Non sono Leali

Singles

Filmography

• I ragazzi dell'Hully Gully (1964)
• Escort in Love (2011)

References

1. "Speciale Festival Artisti". Radio 105 Network.
2. "Biografia". iMusic.
3. ^ "FAUSTO LEALI". Libero.
4. ^ "Biografia". faustoleali.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
5. "Francesco De Gregori". Rockol.
6. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 224. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
7. "Settimana 8 Aprile 1967". hitparadeitalia.it.
8. "Fausto Leali". sanremostory.it. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
9. "Sanremo 1987 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
10. "Sanremo 1988 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
11. "Sanremo 1989 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
12. "Eurovision Song Contest 1989 Italian Entry". esc-history.com.
13. "Sanremo 2002 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
14. "Sanremo 2003 Classifica Sezione Unica/Big/Campioni". festivaldisanremo.com.
15. "Hit Parade della 7a settimana". musicfarm.rai.it. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
16. "Fausto Leali, il 'negro-bianco' compie 70 anni" ("Fausto Leali, the 'white negro', is 70 years old"), Corriere Brescia, 25 October 2014 (in Italian)
17. "Auguri a Fausto Leali, il 'Negro Bianco' compie 70 anni" ("Felicitations to Fausto Leali, the 'White Negro' is 70 years old"), ANSA, 25 October 2014 (in Italian)
18. "Fausto Leali, i 70 anni del Negro Bianco Archived 21 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine" ("Fausto Leali, the 70 years of the White Negro"), Brescia Oggi, 25 October 2014 (in Italian)
19. For the use of the term negro in Italian, see here

External links

• Official website (in Italian)
• Fausto Leali at IMDb

• 1944 births
• Living people
• Musicians from the Province of Brescia
• Italian male singers
• Italian pop singers
• Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Italy
• Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1989
• Sanremo Music Festival winners
• CBS Records artists
• Philips Records artists