Don Backy

Don Backy — Biography

Born Aldo Caponi on 21 August 1939 in Santa Croce sull'Arno, Tuscany, Don Backy taught himself guitar as a boy and, while working days at a leather tannery, began performing in the evenings with a group of friends. In 1960 he self-produced his debut 45 rpm single in Rome, and soon turned to writing his own material; in 1967 he appeared at the Sanremo Festival with "L'immensità," a song later adapted into Ukrainian for singer Sofia Rotaru.

As a songwriter, Don Backy also contributed to Adriano Celentano's album Azzurro, cementing his place among Italy's best-known pop composers. From the late 1960s through the mid-1970s he built a film career as well, appearing in Federico Fellini's Satyricon (1969) and in productions such as Poppea (1972), Le calde notti del Decameron (1972), Helen, Yes... Helen of Troy (1973), and Mario Bava's Rabid Dogs (1974).