Peppino di Capri died this morning on his beloved island. He was 87 years old and died after a long illness. This is reported by Il Mattino on the Internet. An interpreter of great Italian music, a sophisticated pianist, he left behind his children Nico from his first wife, Edoardo and Daria from Giuliana Gagliardi.
One of the last great heroes of Italian song of the twentieth century passes away. A sophisticated pianist, an elegant interpreter and a writer of songs that have entered the collective memory, he lived in music for more than sixty years, managing to appeal to different generations without ever abandoning his own style.
LIFE AND CAREER
Fifteen participations in the Sanremo Festival (with two victories in 1973 and 1976), four participations in the Neapolitan Song Festival (with one victory in 1970) and nine participations in Canzonissima. Once again a series of unforgettable hits such as “Big Love and Nothing More”, “Twist Saint-Tropez”, “Roberta”, “Luna Caprese” and “Champagne” are perhaps the best known and most ballad-like. This and much more was Peppino Di Capri, who passed away at the age of 87 after a career that lasted more than sixty years and began at just four years old, because Giuseppe Faiella, that is his real name, performed in public at a very young age, playing the piano for American troops during the Second World War. He died on his beloved island, Villa Castiglione, after a long illness. Music was in his blood thanks to his family: his grandfather, a member of the Capri musical ensemble, and his father, the owner of a musical instrument store, who in his free time liked to play the clarinet, saxophone, double bass and cello.
At the age of six he began studying piano, and at the age of 14 he began performing in nightclubs in Capri and Ischia with his friend Ettore Falconieri. They are called the Caprese duo and they also appear on television in the program “Primo Applause”, hosted by Enzo Tortora. Along with Falconeri and other friends, he also formed the Capri Boys in the late 1950s, inspired by rock music coming out of America. It was on one of these evenings that the group was noticed by the head of the Milanese record company Carisch: the first contract arrived, and Giuseppe, at the suggestion of guitarist Mario Cenci, Giuseppe changed his name to Peppino, as his friends called him, and his last name to Di Capri, as a tribute to the island on which he was born on July 27, 1939. Peppino Di Capri and his rockers were born, and within a few years they achieved significant success. Now it’s the sixties, and Peppino is also becoming an actor, taking part in unforgettable musicals. In the meantime, he married Roberta Stoppa, from whom he separated in 1970, shortly after the birth of his first child, Igor.
Peppino Di Capri (Ansa)
In 1973, after several years of break (and the breakup of the group), they won their first victory at the Sanremo festival with the song “Un grande amore e niente più”. From this point on, Peppino’s career and success never stopped. New songs appear, such as “E mo’ e mo'” and “Il dreamer”, as well as dozens and dozens of television appearances, including at the 2023 Sanremo festival. He was also present at the festival in 1995 as part of Trio Melody, a trio created for the occasion: in addition to Peppino, it included Gigi Proietti and Stefano Palatresi; the proposed piece was called “But What Do You Know… (Unless You’ve Been to a Piano Bar).”
Peppino Di Capri (Ansa)
On 26 May 2005, the then President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, awarded him the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 2019, he lost his second wife, Giuliana Gagliardi, with whom he had been with for over forty years and with whom he had two other children, Edoardo and Dario.
Peppino Di Capri (Ansa)