Rocco Granata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1938-08-16)16 August 1938 (age 86) |
| Nationality | Italian Belgian |
| Occupation(s) | Accordionist, singer-songwriter |
Rocco Granata (born 16 August 1938) is an Italian-Belgian singer, songwriter, andaccordionist.
Granata was born inFigline Vegliaturo,Calabria, southern Italy; but his parents immigrated to Belgium when he was aged ten. Rocco's father was a coal miner, but Granata pursued music instead. He played accordion and toured Belgium with his band, 'The International Quintet'. He then released the songs "Manuela" / "Marina" as a single in 1959; theB-side became an internationalhit, reaching #1 in Belgium and in Germany as well as charting across Europe and in the United States. It sold over one million copies in Germany alone, and was awarded agold disc.[1] It has beencovered many times by artists such asWilly Alberti,Marino Marini,Ilham al-Madfai,Dalida andLouis Armstrong.
After the success of "Marina", Granata toured the world, including dates atCarnegie Hall. A feature film entitledMarina was released in 1960, which set the stage for a string of German hits. He also appeared in Italy at theSanremo Festival in 1961.
Granata later became a successfulrecord producer. He owned therecord labelsCardinal Records andGranata Records, and has producedMarva,Louis Neefs,Miel Cools, andDe Elegasten.
In 1989, Granata commissioned adanceremix of "Marina", which again topped the Belgian charts as well as those of Italy, France and Germany. He has appeared regularly on Belgian television, and served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for theEurovision Song Contest. In March 2000 he was awarded the ZAMU Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry.
Granata has released some 65 singles over the course of his career.
In 2013 his early life was captured in another movie namedMarina.[2]
