He is 80 years old, that is, how many songs he wrote Julio Iglesias, Author of texts Gianni Belfour.

Her story is like a fairy tale from the past. What Ingisias has defined the legendary “one of the greatest writers who ever lived in Italy”, was born in Genoa to Sicilian parents on February 1, 1941.

Immediately after graduation from the Naval Institute of Genoa, Belfort becomes a captain of the long path aboard prestigious ships Like Victoria, the owner of the ship Cherny, which makes 150 cruises in the Caribbean. The Italian shipping company, the owner of famous maritime lines across the Atlantic, is recruiting him, and so does Belfort It begins to move between Europe and America On Atlantic routes, including through the Panama Canal, to reach the coasts of Chile in South America.

On board Victoria began his musical activity In cooperation with J. Fred Coates, author of Love Letters in the Sand and Santa Claus Coming to Town, and later with Will Holt, author of The Lemon Tree. Due to his musical inclination, Purser became a showman, entertainer. It is a very suitable role for him and with his own ideas he was able to bring innovations to the performances on board cruise ships, which remain the backbone of the entertainment on board today.

Belfort immediately realizes the priority of air transportation over large ships that are quickly losing their competitiveness, so he made his debut as a composer in the world of music with the famous Sicilian folk singer. Rosa Balestieri. The turning point in her career was the release of the album “Amore Senza Amore”, which was sung by Rosa Balestieri in the Sicilian dialect. A record that Gianni Belfior still considers “more beautiful” than his production as a lyricist.

He had not yet left the shipworld when, in February 1975, he met Julio Iglesias, one of the passengers on board the Rossini ship. Iglesias is already a South American musical idol, but he is still “unknown” in Europe and “undervalued” in Spain.

Collaborating with Julio begins with the phrase, “If you leave me, this is not valid.”, The song which, despite initial difficulties upon its release in Italy, will still be an extraordinary hit around the world today.

The Belfiore-Iglesias duo turned out to be prolific. More than 80 songs in Italian, most of them international exciting songs, such as “Hey” and “Pensami” which certainly contributed to the launch of Julio Iglesias as well in the United States. Gianni Belfior also writes lyrics for three LPs singing it out Raphaela Cara. Among them are the songs “Fatality” and “I don’t live without you”.

He is also the author of Eva Zanishi, Fred Bongusto and Bobby Solo, Among other things, it imposed its classic style throughout the world. Someone identified him as the songwriter who “speaks to women’s hearts” better than anyone.