Nilla Pizzi

Nilla Pizzi
Pizzi as the winner of the Sanremo Music Festival 1952
Pizzi as the winner of the Sanremo Music Festival 1952
Background information
Birth nameAdionilla Pizzi[1]
Born(1919-04-16)16 April 1919
Sant'Agata Bolognese, Kingdom of Italy
Died12 March 2011(2011-03-12) (aged 91)[2]
Segrate, Italy
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
Years active1940–2011
Labels

Adionilla Pizzi (Italian: [adjoˈnilla ˈpittsi]; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), known by her stage name Nilla Pizzi, was an Italian singer and actress.

Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She is well known for winning the first edition of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1951, singing "Grazie dei fiori". In addition, the following year (1952), she finished first, second, and third with "Vola colomba [it]", "Papaveri e papere", and "Una donna prega" respectively; a presently unbeaten record.[3]

Through her Sanremo performance career, she presented a total of thirty-one songs, as well as participating three more times as a guest and once as a presenter. Endowed with a charismatic, warm voice, she is considered the most successful Sanremo singer of all time.

  1. ^ Giannotti, Marcello (2001). L'enciclopedia di Sanremo (in Italian). Rome: Gremese. ISBN 9788884403797.
  2. ^ "Nilla Pizzi". The Independent. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Anno per anno la storia del Festival". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 14 August 2023.