Riccardo Cocciante

Riccardo Cocciante (born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the United States as Richard Cocciante, is an Italian and French singer and songwriter.

Cocciante was born on 20 February 1946 in Saigon, French Indochina (now Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam), to an Italian father from Rocca di Mezzo, L'Aquila, and a French mother. At the age of 11, he moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended the Lycée français Chateaubriand. He has also lived in France, the United States, and Ireland.

Cocciante has been married to Catherine Boutet since 1983. They have one child together.

An R&B enthusiast, Cocciante began his musical career as an organ player, and in the late 1960s began performing as a singer at L'Approdo, a Roman club for foreign students. After forming the band GL6 with Marco Luberti and Paolo Casella, in 1971 he started his professional career with the French name Richard Cocciante and recorded three English language songs for the soundtrack of the Carlo Lizzani's film Roma Bene. In 1972, he released his first album, titled MU in Italy and Atlantì in France.

After the fair commercial results of his 1973 album Poesia, Cocciante had his breakout one year later with "Bella senz'anima", which turned became a major hit, but was also controversial, being considered sexist and was censored on Italian television. In 1976, he got another number one spot on the Italian hit parade with "Margherita", his signature song. The same year, he covered the Beatles song "Michelle", featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, for the musical documentary All This and World War II, and he released his sole English album in the US, with the single "When Love Has Gone Away" peaking at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1980, Cocciante began a decade-long collaboration with the lyricist Mogol, who had just stopped his professional association with Lucio Battisti; their first hit was "Cervo a primavera". In 1983, Cocciante was the first Italian artist to be signed to Virgin Records, andreleased his album "Sincerità", produced and arranged by the American composer James Newton Howard. Following several more hits, notably the 1985 duet with Mina "Questione di feeling", in 1987 he moved to Florida, and except for a live album he took a long artistic break.