Jimmy Fontana

Jimmy Fontana
Fontana in the 1960s
Born	Enrico Sbriccoli (1934-11-13)13 November 1934 Camerino, Italy
Died	11 September 2013(2013-09-11) (aged 78) Rome, Italy
Occupation	Singer; music composer; actor
Known for	"Che sarà"; "Il mondo" (music)

Jimmy Fontana (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013) was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are "Che sarà", performed also by José Feliciano with Ricchi e Poveri and "Il Mondo".

Born Enrico Sbriccoli in Camerino, Italy, he went to Rome, after graduating from school, to study Economics and Accounting, while teaching himself the bass and attending local jazz venues. Eventually, he would devote himself completely to music. Early on in his career, he adopted the stage name Jimmy Fontana, taking the name of one of his idols, American musician Jimmy Giuffre, and the surname "Fontana" arbitrarily, as he related, out of the phone book.

He started his own jazz band, Fontana and his Trio, with piano, bass and drums, and around that time he met Leda, who would become his wife and with whom they would have four children, Luigi, Roberto, Andrea and Paola.

At the end of the 1950s, he turned to light music and began his solo career. His first success was "Diavolo" ("Devil") that won him third place in the Festival of Barcelona. With his song "Bevo" ("Drink"), in 1960, he won the Burlamacco Gold, a music competition in Viareggio. His first participation in the Festival of Sanremo came in 1961 with "Lady luna" ("Lady moon"), written by Armando Trovajoli and Dino Verde. His first single with RCA is "Non te ne andare" ("Don't go"), released in 1963 and written by Gianni Meccia and Lilli Greek.