Giuni Russo

Giuni Russo (born Giuseppa Romeo, 10 September 1951 – 14 September 2004) was an Italian singer who specialised in experimental music after a short successful stint as an art-pop singer in the early 1980s. With her five-octaves range, she could produce extremely high notes and experimental sounds. She sang in Italian, English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian and Latin. Giuni Russo was born in Palermo, Sicily, on 7 September 1951. Busy with several family matters (Giuni is the eighth of nine siblings) her father Pietro Romeo registered her three days later, on 10 September.As a child, singing was more important to Russo than playing or studying. She was often asked to perform at school.

Her teacher offered her own desk to Giuni to be used as a stage, but Giuni was so shy she preferred to perform while hiding behind the classroom door.

Her first public appearance was on a small stage actors from the Politeama Theatre in Palermo.

Without her family's knowledge, Russo took singing lessons from Master Ettore Gaiezza, paying him with the money earned from her local shows.

At age 15, she sang at the Castrocaro festival, reaching the semifinal. The following year she won the festival by unanimous vote, singing "Hurt" by Timi Yuro and "A chi" by Fausto Leali. The following year she competed in the Sanremo Festival under the name of Giusy Romeo, singing "No amore".She released two singles during 1968, "No amore" and "L'onda". After her participation at Un Disco per l'Estate, Cantagiro and Festivalbar with the song "L'onda", she recorded the cover version of "Smoke in your eyes" and the cover of "I Say A Little Prayer" of Aretha Franklin in 1969. That year, she moved to Milan to collaborate with musician and songwriter Maria Antonietta Sisini.