Gino Paoli, legendary Italian singer and author of Sapore di sale, has died at the age of 91

Gino Paoli, the singer-songwriter who helped redefine Italian popular music in the 1960s with poetic and introspective songs such as The sky in a room et Salt flavourdied at the age of 91, on the night of Monday to Tuesday, his family announced in a press release cited by the Italian media.

Gino Paoli was a central figure in a school of composers from Genoa in northern Italy, alongside Fabrizio De André and Luigi Tenco, who infused literary ambition into post-war Italian pop music and favored intimate themes. His first big success The sky in a room was released in 1960. Originally performed by the young Mina – who would go on to become Italy’s most famous musical artist – the song was later included in the gangster film’s soundtrack The Freedmen (1990) by Martin Scorsese.

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A suicide attempt in 1963

In a career spanning more than six decades, Gino Paoli remained an influential figure into old age, with many of his timeless songs having been covered by other artists, including Ornella Vanoni, with whom he enjoyed an intense love affair. The author also fed the celebrity press, suffering from alcoholism and only giving up drinking after the death of his brother, victim of the same scourge, recalls The Republic .

Also prone to depression, shortly after writing Salt flavourin 1963, Paoli shot himself in the chest; but his suicide attempt failed and the bullet lodged in the pericardial membrane which surrounds the heart and remained there until the end of his days. “I wasn’t having fun anymore“, he declared in an interview given in 2022 to the daily Corriere della Sera . «Since I had a lot of fun afterwards, it’s a good thing it failed.»

After a slump, Gino Paoli returned in the 1980s with a new success, the song A long love story which puts him back in the spotlight. With Ornella Vanoni, he embarked on a triumphant tour. The 1980s also marked his involvement in politics, elected deputy of the Italian Communist Party from 1987 to 1992 before returning to music.