Trivia

When his song "Nel blu dipinto di blu" (aka "Volare") hit the #1 slot on the US charts in 1958, it became the only Italian song ever to do so. It went on to win the very first "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" categories at the Grammys when the recording industry's awards show premiered that year. When English lyrics were later added, artists such as Dean Martin, Nelson Riddle, Bobby Rydell, Al Martino, The McGuire Sisters, Alan Dale, Barry White, Linda Ross, Jesse Belvin each released their own covers of the song.

His hit song "Io" was sung by Elvis Presley in English with the title "Ask Me".

He is considered the first Italian cantautore (= he Italian expression corresponding to singer-songwriters).

He had supported the campaigns of the Italian Socialist Party and one for divorce, in addition to criticizing the human rights violations by the regime of Augusto Pinochet, that cost him a denial of entry in Chile, where he had been scheduled to hold a concert.

He discovered in 1958 the Italian comedy duo of Franco and Ciccio, became their manager and got them into a long-running film career.

Pop singer

Father of Marco Modugno, Marcello Modugno and Massimo Modugno.

He made over 200 recordings and sold 60 million records, in the process becoming Italy's most successful performing artist. Modugno had begun his career as a small part supporting actor in films.

Derived the idea for his 1958 hit song 'Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu' "while thinking of a painting by Chagall, of a man, with half of his face painted blue, looking out of a window".

In later life turned to politics and, in 1987, became an MP for Italy's Radical Party.

The turning point of his career came in1958, when he also participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, presenting, together with Johnny Dorelli, the song "Nel blu dipinto di blu" (= Volare). Co-authored by Modugno and Franco Migliacci, the song won the contest and became an enormous success worldwide. It received two Grammy Awards with sales above 22 million copies, and represented Italy in the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third.

, Modugno won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1959 for the second time in a row, with "Piove" (also known as "Ciao, ciao bambina"), and received second place in 1960 with "Libero".

In 1970, Modugno focused on more classic music genres and profiles, as a singer and as a musician, adapting poetry, acting on television and in lead singing roles in modern operas.

His beach villa was put up for sale in 2020. It is located on Rabbits' Islet beach, the location is part of a natural protected reserve with limestones and crags.

According to data reported by SIAE (= Italian Society of Authors and Publishers), his song "Volare" or 'Nel blu dipinto di blu' has been the most performed Italian song in the world from 1958 to today.

Modugno died at the age of 66, from a heart attack, on the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, while he was in his home by the sea.

Modugno suffered in 1984 a severe stroke and remained partially paralyzed; this forced him to abandon his artistic career and devote himself to rehab.

Domenico Modugno was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament.

From 1986, he worked for the rights of disabled people.

Modugno reportedly used the money gained with his song "Nel blu dipinto di blu" (= Volare) to purchase a Ferrari, however, his car was totalled in an accident, which included his fenders being smashed. This was mentioned in the Allan Sherman song "America's a nice Italian Name".

In 1957, his song "Lazzarella", sung by Aurelio Fierro, came second in the Festival della Canzone Napoletana, bringing him his first taste of popularity.

Modugno returned to the music scene, definitively (he already held a concert for former inmates of Agrigento's mental asylum, in 1989), in 1992-1993. His last song was Delfini (Dolphins), in 1993 with his son, Massimo.

In 1958, Modugno took part in Antonio Aniante's comedy La Rosa di Zolfo at the Festival della Prosa in Venice.

At the age of 9, his family moved to San Pietro Vernotico, in the Province of Brindisi,[4] where his father was transferred for a new job position. Here Domenico attended primary school and learned San Pietro Vernotico's dialect, which belongs to the linguistic area of Salentino dialect, similar to Sicilian.

In his last stage of his life, he was very active in social issues, fighting against the inhumane conditions of patients in the Agrigento psychiatric hospital.