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At the age of 9, his family moved toSan Pietro Vernotico, in theProvince of Brindisi,[4] where his father was transferred for a new job position.[5] Here Domenico attended primary school and learned San Pietro Vernotico's dialect, which belongs to the linguistic area ofSalentino dialect, similar toSicilian. He attended secondary school in Lecce.[1]
In 1958, Modugno took part inAntonio Aniante's comedyLa Rosa di Zolfo at the Festival della Prosa inVenice. Also in 1958, he discovered the Italiancomedy duo ofFranco and Ciccio, became their manager and got them into a long-running film career.[6] The turning point of his career came in that year, when he also participated in theSanremo Music Festival, presenting, together withJohnny Dorelli, the song "Nel blu dipinto di blu." Co-authored by Modugno andFranco Migliacci, the song won the contest and became an enormous success worldwide. It received twoGrammy Awards[7] with sales above 22 million copies, and represented Italy in the1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third.[1]
Modugno reportedly used the money gained with "Nel blu dipinto di blu" to purchase aFerrari; however, his car was totalled in an accident, which included his fenders being smashed. This was mentioned in theAllan Sherman song "America's a nice Italian Name".
In 1959, Modugno won the Sanremo Music Festival for the second time in a row, with "Piove" (also known as "Ciao, ciao bambina"), and received second place in 1960 with "Libero". This was a successful period of time for Modugno who again represented Italy in theEurovision Song Contest of 1959. Later his hit song "Io" was sung byElvis Presley in English with the title "Ask Me".[1]
In 1962, Modugno won the Sanremo Music Festival a third time with "Addio..., addio...." Four years later, he again represented Italy atEurovision with "Dio, come ti amo".Sergio Franchi recorded it in Italian (titled "Oh How Much I Love You (Dio, come ti amo!)) on his 1967 RCA Victor album,From Sergio-with Love.Jack Jones recorded it in English for his 1967 album,Our Song, under the title "Oh How Much I Love You".[1]Shirley Bassey also recorded it with the titleOh God How Much I Love You, on her albumKeep the Music Playing in 1991.
Modugno was an actor in 44 movies (such asAppuntamento a Ischia), and was a film producer of two (Tutto è musica of 1963 was his own biographical production).[1]
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.[1]
In 1984, Modugno suffered a severe stroke and remained partially paralyzed; this forced him to abandon his artistic career and devote himself to rehab.[1]
From 1986, he worked for the rights of disabled people, and in June 1987, he was elected congressman forTurin in the Italian Parliament, in the ranks of theRadical Party, a liberal-social political group.[1] In the past he had supported the campaigns of theItalian Socialist Party and one for divorce, in addition to criticizing the human rights violations by the regime ofAugusto Pinochet, that cost him a denial of entry inChile, where he had been scheduled to hold a concert.[1] In this last stage of his life, instead, he was very active in social issues, fighting against the inhumane conditions of patients in theAgrigentopsychiatric hospital.[1]
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 wasDelfini (Dolphins), in 1993 with his son, Massimo.[1]
On 6 August 1994, Modugno died of a heart attack at the age of 66, on the island ofLampedusa, south of Sicily, while he was in his home by the sea.[1] 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.[8][9]
