Mango, stage name of Giuseppe Mango (6 November 1954 � 7 December 2014), was an

Italian singer-songwriter and musician.

He was known for his style which fuses pop, rock, folk, world music and for his
extensive vocal range. He is best known for the song "Oro", from his 1986 breakout
album release Odissea. Other hits include "Lei verr�", "Mediterraneo", "Bella
d'estate", "Amore per te", "Come Monnalisa", "Nella mia citt�" and "La rondine".

Mango has been defined by Italian music author Mario Luzzatto Fegiz as an
"authentic innovator of Italian pop music"[1] and Allmusic considers him an
"Italian rock fusion innovator".[2]

He wrote songs for Italian artists such as Patty Pravo, Loredana Bert�, Andrea
Bocelli, Mietta. Part of his repertoire was performed by Italian and foreign
musicians including Mina, Mia Martini, Leo Sayer, H�l�ne S�gara and Eleftheria
Arvanitaki.

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Beginning and early career
1.2 Breakthrough and success
1.3 Death
2 Personal life
3 Songwriting
4 Cover
5 Discography
5.1 Studio albums
5.2 Live albums
5.3 Compilations
5.4 Albums recorded in Spanish
6 References
7 External links
Biography
Beginning and early career
Mango was born in Lagonegro, province of Potenza. He grew up listening mainly to
soul and hard rock music, his favourite musicians included Aretha Franklin, Led
Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Peter Gabriel. He began his musical activity as a teen,
playing in a cover band with his older brother Michele. Mango was not into Italian
music at the time, stating he only performed some Lucio Battisti's songs.[3] He
started to study sociology at the University of Salerno but he left after deciding
to move to Rome trying to enter the music business.

In 1976 Mango recorded his first album, La mia ragazza � un gran caldo.[4] Two
songs from the album, "Per te che mi apri l'universo" and "Tu pioggia io mattino",
attracted the attention of Patty Pravo, who put them on her album Tanto (1976),
though, the title of the second song was changed in "Per amarti d'amore". Mia
Martini also liked Mango's music and covered the song "Se mi sfiori" on the album
Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto (1976).

He released other records like Arlecchino (1979) and � pericoloso sporgersi (1982).
His first three works did not receive attention by the media, pushing Mango to
abandon the music career but the meeting with lyricist Mogol changed his mind.

Breakthrough and success

His breakthrough came in 1985 with the album Australia, from which the single "Il
viaggio" was performed by Mango at the Sanremo Music Festival of the same year. In
1986 he released Odissea, which was a turning point in his career and contains some
of his most famous songs, "Lei verr�" and "Oro". The album saw the collaboration of
Brian Auger on the keyboards.[5] 1987's Adesso includes the successful single
"Bella d'estate", co-written with Lucio Dalla.

Other notable records are Sirtaki (1990), from which famous singles such as the
title-track, "Nella mia citt�" and "Come Monna Lisa" were extracted, and Come
l'acqua (1992), known for the song "Mediterraneo". The album featured the
involvement of musicians like drummer Manu Katch� and bassist Pino Palladino.[6]
Around this time, Mango also recorded three albums in Spanish: Ahora (1987), Hierro
y Fuego (1988) and a Spanish version of Sirtaki (1991). On 30 April 1988 the single
"Flor de Verano", Spanish version of "Bella d'estate" from Ahora, peaked at number
#1 on the Spain's Los 40 Principales.[7] Mango participated at the 1995 Sanremo
Music Festival with the song "Dove vai", accompanied by world musician Ayub Ogada.

Mango, Acchiappanuvole Tour in Udine (2009)

Credo (1997) contains the single "Luce" which was performed by Mango along with
Zen�ma at the 1998 Sanremo Music Festival; an English version of the song called
"Light" was included in the 1998 reissue. Peter Gabriel's guitarist David Rhodes
and Simple Minds's drummer Mel Gaynor played on the record.[8] The track "Amore per
te", from the album Visto cos� (1999), was used as the Italian theme of the
telenovela El Privilegio de Amar.[9] In 2004 he released Ti Porto in Africa, which
went double platinum.[2] His last work is La terra degli aquiloni, released in
2011. The album featured a Carlos Gardel cover of the song "Volver".

Death
On evening 7 December 2014, Mango suffered a heart attack during a concert in
Policoro, province of Matera. While performing the song "Oro", he raised an arm and
said "excuse me" to the crowd before collapsing. He died before arriving at the
hospital in the early hours of the following day.[10] He was 60.

On 9 December, his older brother Giovanni felt sick during the wake and died at the
hospital, aged 75. He is believed to have also died from a heart attack.[11]

Personal life
A very reserved person who rarely appeared in mass media, Mango was married to
Laura Valente, known for her tenure as vocalist with the pop band Matia Bazar. From
their marriage two children were born: Filippo and Angelina.[12]

Songwriting
Mango wrote songs that were performed by other artists:

Artist Song Year Album

Mietta Per esempio� per amore 2003 Per esempio... per amore
Abbracciati e vivi
Fare l'amore 2000 Tutto o niente
E no (Cosa sei) 1991 Volano le pagine
Soli mai
Oltre te
Mia Martini Se mi sfiori 1976 Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto
Patty Pravo Per amarti d'amore 1976 Tanto
Per te che mi apri l'universo
Goodbye my love 1986
Sentirti 1978 Miss Italia
Loretta Goggi Io nascer� 1986 C'� poesia
C'� poesia
Loredana Bert� Re 1986 Fotografando... i miei successi
Fotogrando
Andrea Bocelli L'attesa 2004 Andrea
Scialpi L'Io e l'Es 1983 Es-tensioni
Hallelujah
Andrea Mir� Non � segreto (single) 1988
Laura Valente - 1985 Tempo di blues (LP)
Helena Hellwig Di luna morirei 2006 Di luna morirei (CD Single)
Geranio
Dennis Fantina Se non con te 2002 Dennis
Non � il cuore
Gloria Bonaveri Joe 1996 Gloria
Anna Bussotti Nessun dolore (single) 1986
Cover
Some of his songs were rearranged by Italian and foreign artists, including:

Artist Song Year Album

Mia Martini Se Mi Sfiori 1976 Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto
Patty Pravo Per Te Che Mi Apri L'Universo
Per amarti d'amore (Tu pioggia io mattino) 1976 Tanto
Patty Pravo Sentirti 1978 Sentirti/Notti Bianche
Scialpi Nero e blu 1983 Es-tensioni
Loretta Goggi Lei verr� (featuring Mango) 1986 C'� poesia
Leo Sayer The Moth And The Flame (Tu...si) 1990 Sanremo Music Festival
Mina Oro 1994 Canarino mannaro
H�l�ne S�gara Tu peux tout emporter (Amore per te) 2000 Au nom d'une femme
Mietta Sentirti 2003 Per esempio... per amore
Eleftheria Arvanitaki Min Orkizesai (Come Monna Lisa) 2007 Dinata 1986�2007
Neri per caso Bella d'estate (featuring Mango) 2008 Angoli diversi
Wender Lei verr� (featuring Saretta) 2010 Alpacaaaa
Antonella Lo Coco Disincanto 2012 Cuore scoppiato
Alessio Scarlata featuring Zen�ma Luce 2015 1st Posthumous Tribute Single
Discography
Studio albums
La mia ragazza � un gran caldo (1976)
Arlecchino (1979)
� pericoloso sporgersi (1982)
Australia (1985)
Odissea (1986)
Adesso (1987)
Inseguendo l�aquila (1988)
Sirtaki (1990)
Come l'acqua (1992)
Mango (1994)
Credo (1997)
Disincanto (2002)
Ti porto in Africa (2004)
Ti amo cos� (2005)
L�albero delle fate (2007)
La terra degli aquiloni (2011)
Live albums
Dove vai (1995)
Gli amori son finestre (2009)
Compilations
Visto cos� (1999)
Tutto Mango: oro e platino (2006)
Albums recorded in Spanish
Ahora (1987)
Hierro y Fuego (1988)
Sirtaki (1991)
References
Mario Luzzatto Fegiz. "Mango, la voce divenuta strumento che ha rinnovato la
musica leggera" (in Italian). corriere.it. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
 Evan C. Gutierrez. "Mango - Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
Ernesto Assante. ""L'amore � invisibile", il nuovo Mango. "U2, Sting, De Andr�...
canto quello che mi piace"" (in Italian). repubblica.it. Retrieved 16 December
2014.
Notice of death of Pino Mango, repubblica.it; accessed 9 December 2014.
Ambrosia Jole Silvia Imbornone. "Un infarto ha stroncato l'Usignolo di Lagonegro
durante un concerto" (in Italian). lisolachenoncera.it. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
"Manu Katch�: discography". manu-katche.com. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
"N�mero 1 de 30/04/1988" (in Spanish). los40.com. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
"Credo" (in Italian). discografia.dds.it. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
"Libera di amare" (in Italian). telenovelasmania.it. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
"Italian Singer "Mango" Death live at concert". liveleak.com. 8 December 2014.
Retrieved 14 December 2014.
"Mango's brother dies a day after star's death". thelocal.it. 9 December 2014.
Retrieved 14 December 2014.
"Buon viaggio, Mango" (in Italian). vanityfair.it. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
External links