Singer Celentano celebrates 80 years

(by Paolo Biamonte) (ANSA) - Rome, January 2 - Italian singer, composer, producer, comedian, actor, film director and TV host Adriano Celentano celebrates his 80th birthday on Saturday as his eclectic career continues to go from strength to strength. 'Tutte le migliori', a CD box set bringing together his duets with Italian singer Mina, is at third place in the charts and he is busy filming 'Adrian', a TV series due to be screened by private broadcaster Mediaset. Celentano began his career on May 18, 1957 when he took part in a festival of rock'n'roll in his native Milan, winning the competition and his first record contract. Things really took off two years later with the song "Il tuo bacio è come un rock" (Your kiss is like rock), and the shake-up of Italian pop began. Celentano soon became known as the "Molleggiato" (the flexible one) because of his unique style of dancing.
    In 1961 he made his first appearance at the Sanremo Song Festival with '24 mila baci' (24 thousand kisses), and is remembered for his revolutionary performance with his back to the audience. From that moment on he became one of the leaders of Italian popular music, carving out for himself a role as revolutionary and preacher in support of environmental issues with songs such as 'Il ragazzo della via Gluck and 'L'albero di 30 piani', and taking a more conservative standpoint with 'Tre passi avanti', 'Pregherò', 'Chi non lavora non fa l'amore' (which won Sanremo in 1970), 'La coppia più bella del mondo" and masterpieces such as 'Una carezza in un pugno', 'Azzurro' (music by Paolo Conte) and 'Storia d'amore'. He has also been ahead of the curve in managing his career, seeking independence from the record production companies and founding his own record label, il Clan.
    In 1964 he married actor and later producer Claudia Mori and in the 1970s and 1980s he tried his hand at film direction with 'Yuppi Du' and 'Joan Lui'. Television subsequently provided the ideal vehicle for his 'preaching', which now also finds space on his blog.
    His shows have sparked endless discussion and controversy to the extent that increasingly his music has taken second place. In 1998 the album recorded with Mina including the song 'Acqua e sale' sold 1.6 million copies. His last public performance was in 2012, when he sang live in two dates at the Verona arena broadcast by Canale 5 to great public acclaim.