Lucio Dalla

Lucio Dalla, (1943 – 2012) was a popular Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards.

Dalla was born in Bologna, Italy. He began to play the clarinet at an early age and became a member of a local jazz band called Rheno Dixieland Band, together with future film director Pupi Avati. Avati said that he decided to leave the band after feeling overwhelmed by Dalla's talent. He also acknowledged that his film, Ma quando arrivano le ragazze? (2005), was inspired by his friendship with Dalla. In the 1960s the band participated in the first Jazz Festival at Antibes, France.

Dalla was the composer of "Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian tenor Enrico Caruso which has been covered by numerous international artists such as Luciano Pavarotti and Julio Iglesias. The version sung by Pavarotti sold over 9 million copies, and another version was a track on Andrea Bocelli's first international album, Romanza, which sold over 20 million copies worldwide.

Lucio Dalla was outed as gay after his funeral (at which his longterm associate and partner Marco Alemanno, with whom he had shared a house, spoke), although he had not publicly acknowledged this during his life, saying in a 1979 interview "Non mi sento omosessuale" ("I do not feel gay"). This outing sparked debate about Italian society's attitudes towards homosexuality.

There are few pictures of him not wearing a beret, or a knitted wool beanie that strongly resembles a beret.