Francesco Califano, known as Franco Califano, was an italian songwriter, lyricist, record producer, composer, poet, writer, actor.
Nicknamed Il Califfo or Il Maestro, during his career he has published 32 albums and written a total of over 1,000 works among poems and songs, as well as numerous texts for other artists, many of which have become real hits placed at the top of the Italian charts and International.
In the seventies and eighties the media often placed more emphasis on some aspects of his private life than on his artistic life, due to his unruly and eccentric lifestyle and due to some legal events that involved him.
He is among the Italian artists who have sold the largest number of records with over 20 million copies. In his career he has collaborated with numerous artists such as Mia Martini, Mina, Iva Zanicchi, Ornella Vanoni, Edoardo Vianello, Alberto Laurenti, Wilma Goich, Peppino di Capri, Ricchi e Poveri, Stefano Rosso, Jo Chiarello, Renato Zero, Loretta Goggi, Caterina Caselli, Donatella Rettore, Ernest John Wright, Carla Vistarini, Umberto Bindi, Giampiero Artegiani, Michele Pecora, Francesco Nuti, Pippo Franco, Gabriella Ferri, Frank Del Giudice, Gianluca Grignani, Federico Zampaglione of the Tiromancino and Toto Cutugno.
