Du schwarzer zigeuner rocco granata biography

Italian-Belgian musician

Rocco Granata (born 16 August ) is an Italian-Belgian singer, songwriter, and accordionist.

Granata was born in Figline Vegliaturo, Calabria, southern Italy; but his parents immigrated to Belgium when he was aged ten. Rocco's father was a coal miner, but Granata pursued music instead. He played accordion and toured Belgium with his band, 'The International Quintet'.

He then released the songs "Manuela" / "Marina" as a single in ; the B-side became an international hit, reaching #1 in Belgium and in Germany as well as charting across Europe and in the United States. It sold over one million copies in Germany alone, and was awarded a gold disc.^[1] It has been covered many times by artists such as Willy Alberti, Marino Marini, Ilham al-Madfai, Dalida and Louis A