interview
Gianna Nannini
“Two or three more babies”
Gianna Nannini
© Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images
Shortly before her 70th birthday, Italian rock singer Gianna Nannini talks to GALA about her dreams and the struggles with her rebellious teenage daughter.
She has a very special place in the hearts of Germans. Because she provided the song for a great moment in football history. “Un’ Estate Italiana” (“An Italian Night”) was the tournament anthem of the 1990 World Cup Franz Beckenbauer’s team won the title in Rome, the fans hugged each other to Gianna Nannini’s song.
Things have now become quieter around the woman with the grating voice. But now, shortly before her 70th birthday in June, she wants to know it again – and how! It’s been five years since their last album, and now with “Sei Nell’ Anima” (“You are in the soul”) not only a new one is coming onto the market. A Netflix biopic about her life will also be released on May 2nd under the same title. And in November she will also be performing in eight German cities during her European tour.
Gianna Nannini: She never shied away from provocation
What a woman! Gianna has always had her own mind and doesn’t care what others think of her. She comes from a renowned family of pastry chefs – but Gianna wasn’t up for baking small rolls. Instead of going to the bakery, when she was 17 she moved to the stage. First she studied piano, then also literature and philosophy. She never shied away from provocation. In 1979, the feminist swapped the torch of the Statue of Liberty with a vibrator on the cover of her single “America” - a huge cause for outrage in Catholic Italy at the time. Her later maternity shoot also caused a stir – at the age of 54, she had her first child in 2010. She keeps the father of her daughter Penelope a secret.
How does she feel about her late motherhood today? “I didn’t become a mother that late, after all, I was only born in 1983,” she replies to GALA. And what he means is that you can choose your own age. Nannini feels like she’s in her early 40s. “And I feel the power of this year.”
She also enjoys the difficult times
Speaking of strength: daughter Penelope is now a teenager. “It’s a difficult time,” admits Gianna. “She has her own character and knows exactly what she wants. I often have to discuss the smallest things.” Actually, that’s exactly what she wants as a mother, because: “It’s important to me to let my daughter know that she is independent and free.” Just like Gianna shows her. And so it’s little wonder that Penelope has no ambitions for music. The family, which includes Nannini’s current wife, but about whom the singer does not speak, commutes between her home in Milan and London. She records her songs there.
Has she ever thought about what she would have done if her music career hadn’t worked out? “I decided on this path when I was 17. If I hadn’t had this opportunity, I would express myself differently today, perhaps through sport,” explains the enthusiastic triathlete, who last competed in Barcelona in October.
Gianna wishes: “Two or three more babies and learn to play the violin”
Top fit at 70 – also a secret to your happiness in life? Is she happy when she looks back now, so close to her big birthday? “I never thought about what I could achieve in life,” says Nannini modestly, “but let my instinct guide me to find my new songs. There is no goal in music, it is a constant research. And I’m happy with that.”
When asked what dreams she now wants to fulfill, she says: “Two or three more babies and learning to play the violin.” A typical Nannini answer – not entirely serious. But if anyone can do it, it’s her.