Mina (singer)
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Anna Mina Mazzini (born March 25, 1940) (known more popularly by her stage name, Mina), is a popular Italian singer noted for her strong vocal talent. She currently lives in Switzerland.
[edit] Biography
Although born in Busto Arsizio, Lombardy, she grew up in Cremona: hence her nickname "The Tiger of Cremona" given by her friend, the journalist Natalia Aspesi.
She began her career in the late 1950s singing pop songs with a "jazzy" feel to them. Her first stage name used to be Baby Gate. After a 1958 concert at La Bussola, a nightclub on the Tuscan Riviera famous for hosting artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, she became the most acclaimed singer in Italy. Her first television appearance was in 1959. In the following two years she took part in the Sanremo Music Festival.
In 1963 her TV and radio career for Rai was abruptly brought to an end, as she refused to hide the fact that she was pregnant (she had a relationship with actor Corrado Pani, who was married with Renata Monteduro). However, her huge popularity, largely unscathed by the event, later moved Rai's management to call her back. Mina subsequently appeared in numerous TV shows, mostly as a TV host, during the late 1960s and the 1970s. Thanks to her powerful voice and her great femininity she enchanted the audience with songs like "Il cielo in una stanza", "Se telefonando", "E se domani", "Grande, grande, grande", "Parole parole", "L'importante è finire".
Mina gained also wide popularity abroad, singing also in French, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, English and Japanese. "Il cielo in una stanza" (sung in the original Italian and titled "This World We Love In" for the U.S. market) charted for a week on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, her only song to reach the American pop charts. This song was also featured in the film "Goodfellas" although inexplicably it was omitted from the soundtrack album. In 1966 Mina moved her residence to Lugano, Switzerland, obtaining Swiss citizenship in 1989.
Her most famous songs were written by the prolific duo Mogol-Battisti. It was Lucio Battisti who wrote the music for many of her hits including, "Amor Mio", "Io e te da soli", "Insieme", "La mente torna".
Though she retired from public appearances in late 1978 after her last live concert, she has continued to release albums on a yearly basis [also she dedicated monographic albums to The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Renato Zero, and Napoli, Holy Music, usually making it to the top of the charts with each new single release.
In 2001 Mina released some successful videos from her Studio in Lugano broadcasted on internet. In the last years Mina's releases have included duets with Simply Red, Fabrizio de André, Adriano Celentano and others.
[edit] External links
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