# Jimmy Fontana > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jimmy_Fontana > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jimmy_Fontana.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Fontana > Source revision: 1346023493 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter Jimmy Fontana Fontana in the 1960s Born Enrico Sbriccoli (1934-11-13)13 November 1934 Camerino, Kingdom of Italy Died 11 September 2013(2013-09-11) (aged 78) Rome, Italy Occupations Singer music composer actor Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) **Enrico Sbriccoli** (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013), known professionally as **Jimmy Fontana**, was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter.[1][2] Two of his most famous songs are "[Che sarà](/source/Che_sar%C3%A0)", performed also by [José Feliciano](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Feliciano) with [Ricchi e Poveri](/source/Ricchi_e_Poveri), and "[Il mondo](/source/Il_mondo_(song))".[3] ## Biography Fontana with wife Leda and son Roberto in [Treia](/source/Treia), Italy, ca.1970 Enrico Sbriccoli was born in [Camerino](/source/Camerino), [Marche](/source/Marche). After graduating from high school, he moved to [Rome](/source/Rome) to study Economics. In his spare time, Fontana taught himself bass and attended local [jazz](/source/Jazz) venues.[1] Eventually, he dedicated himself completely to music and adopted the stage name Jimmy Fontana in homage to one of his heroes, American musician [Jimmy Giuffre](/source/Jimmy_Giuffre) (the surname [Fontana](/source/Fontana_(surname)) was arbitrarily chosen out of the phone book).[1] In the early 1950s, he started his own jazz band, *Fontana and his Trio*, with piano, bass and drums, and around that time he met Leda, who became his wife and with whom they had four children: Luigi, Roberto, Andrea, and Paola.[1] At the end of the 1950s, he turned to [light music](/source/Easy_listening) and began his solo career. His first success was "Diavolo" ("Devil"), which won him third place in the Festival of [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona). With his song "Bevo" ("I Drink"), in 1960, he won the Burlamacco Gold, a music competition in [Viareggio](/source/Viareggio). His first participation in the [Sanremo Music Festival](/source/Sanremo_Music_Festival) came in 1961 with "Lady luna" ("Lady moon"), written by [Armando Trovajoli](/source/Armando_Trovajoli) and [Dino Verde](/source/Dino_Verde).[1] His first single with RCA is "Non te ne andare" ("Don't go"), released in 1963 and written by [Gianni Meccia](/source/Gianni_Meccia) and Lilli Greco. In 1965, Fontana had his major success with "[Il mondo](/source/Il_mondo_(song))" ("The world"), a song composed by Fontana and Carlo Pes, and arranged by [Ennio Morricone](/source/Ennio_Morricone), with lyrics by [Gianni Meccia](/source/Gianni_Meccia), which reached the top of the charts in Italy[4] and other countries in Europe and charted in Latin America as well.[1] The same year, he made his debut as an actor, appearing in two *[musicarelli](/source/Musicarelli)*, which are movies heavily featuring musical numbers, titled *Viale della canzone* ("Avenue of song") and *008 Operazione ritmo* ("008 Operation rhythm"). Jimmy Fontana's hits include "La mia serenata" which won the [Un disco per l'estate festival](/source/Un_disco_per_l'estate) in 1967.[3] At the 1968 [Cantagiro](/source/Cantagiro) summer festival, Fontana sang a cover version of the [Tom Jones](/source/Tom_Jones_(singer)) hit "[Delilah](/source/Delilah_(Tom_Jones_song))", titled "La nostra favola".[3] The song reached 2nd place in the Italian hit parade.[4] In 1971, the song "Che sarà", composed by Fontana with lyrics by [Franco Migliacci](/source/Franco_Migliacci), was performed by [José Feliciano](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Feliciano) with the [Ricchi e Poveri](/source/Ricchi_e_Poveri) group at that year's Sanremo Music Festival, winning 2nd prize. It eventually became one of the biggest pop music hits of the era in Italy and abroad.[5] After "Che sarà", Fontana stopped writing songs, but continued to tour around Italy for another decade. In 1982 his son Luigi wrote the first part of the music for a new song and this fact brought Jimmy back to compose and create again: he completed the song "Beguine" and sang it at 1982 Sanremo Music Festival, joining the 6th place; Luigi was on stage with his father in Sanremo and from that moment on they were performing together around Italy and abroad until Jimmy died. They were joined in 1992 by Andrea (Jimmy's 3rd son), creating some beautiful and emotional "family shows". Fontana also continued appearing on TV shows until his old age. He died peacefully at his home in Rome, at age 78, while still planning concert tours.[1] ## Discography ### Albums - *Arrivederci* (1996) - *Il Mondo* (1997) - *I Grandi Successi Originali* (2001) ## Filmography ### Actor - *Il Sole è di tutti* (1968) - *Quando dico che ti amo* (1968) - *[Viale della canzone](/source/Viale_della_canzone)* (1965) - *Canzoni in bikini* (1963) - *[La voglia matta](/source/Crazy_Desire)* (1962) - *Io bacio, tu baci* (1961) ### Soundtrack composer - *[The Three Fantastic Supermen](/source/The_Three_Fantastic_Supermen)* (1967) - *[Le belle famiglie](/source/Beautiful_Families)* (1964: "Caro amore mio") - *Io bacio, tu baci* (1961: "Diavolo") ### Soundtrack singer - *Io bacio, tu baci* (1961: "Diavolo"; "Il tempo si è fermato"; "Mare di dicembre"; "Cha cha cha dell'impiccato") ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Fontana_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Fontana_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Fontana_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Fontana_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Fontana_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Fontana_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Fontana_1-6) ["Addio a Jimmy Fontana, voce degli anni '60"](http://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2013/09/11/news/e_morto_jimmy_fontana-66343874/). *[La Repubblica](/source/La_Repubblica)* (in Italian). 11 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["RCA's Three Firsts Head Remo Fest"](https://books.google.com/books?id=_QgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. 13 March 1971. p. 3. Retrieved 16 September 2015. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-music_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-music_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-music_3-2) Eddy Anselmi (2009). *Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana* (in Italian). [Panini Comics](/source/Panini_Comics), 2009. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-8863462296](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-8863462296). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-hitparade_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-hitparade_4-1) Dario Salvatori (1989). *Storia dell'Hit Parade* (in Italian). Gramese, 1989. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [8876054391](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/8876054391). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [International hits](https://books.google.com/books?id=sAgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22che+sara%22+international+hit&pg=PA48), *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*, 26 June 1971 ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Jimmy Fontana](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jimmy_Fontana). - [Jimmy Fontana](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0284921/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Italy Czech Republic Spain Korea Israel Finland Artists MusicBrainz People Deutsche Biographie Other IdRef --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jimmy Fontana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Fontana) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Fontana?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.