albano carrisi (born 20 may 1943) is an italian singer, actor and winemaker. his stage name is al bano or al bano carrisi.
he was born in the town of cellino san marco (province of brindisi, puglia in southern italy), where he still lives. his mother named him albano because, when he was born, his father was fighting in albania for the italian army during world war ii.
he made his debut in 1966 both as a singer, at the festival delle rose, and on television. he won the disco per l’estate, an italian song contest, with “pensando a te” in 1968. he recorded some major hits such as “la siepe” and “nel sole” at that time. “nel sole” sold 600,000 copies in italy within three months of release, and eventually over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc in july 1968. soon afterwards, he started a musical collaboration with romina power (daughter of the american actor tyrone power), whom he married in 1970. [wikipedia]
