Singer and author Gino Paoli, star in Italy, died at 91

The Italian singer, author and composer Gino Paoli, presented by the serious Corriere della Serra as one of the greatest of his art in Italy, died on the night of Monday to Tuesday in his hometown of Genoa, Italian media report.

He is notably the author of “Sapore di Sale”, released in 1963, or of “Il cielo in una stanza” sung in 1960 by the artist Mina. He became known in the 1960s before achieving great success. He was one of the figures of the “Genoese school”, as presented by the Italian television channel Sky tg24.

According to Il Giornale, he became known thanks to his song “La gatta”, published in the 1950s. Before achieving real success thanks to “Sapore di Sale”. “For me, this success meant becoming a real star, with girls ripping my clothes off. I swear,” he confided on this subject a few years later, according to Il Giornale.

A bullet in the chest for sixty years

Except that shortly after, in July 1963, he attempted suicide: “I shot myself in the chest with a Derringer because I had everything and I no longer felt anything. The women, the cars, the applause, the crowds everywhere I went. I dreamed of a rocket to fly towards the sun and warm me again,” he explained.

He survived and lived his entire life with a bullet in his chest, with doctors deeming the operation to remove it too risky. He was also a deputy of the Italian Communist Party between 1987 and 1992.