David Riondino has died: singer-songwriter, actor and director. He also wrote the hit "Maracaibo"

David Riondino, an atypical and wide-ranging figure on the Italian cultural scene who moved effortlessly between music, theatre and storytelling, has died at 73. He passed away on Sunday 29 March at his home in Rome, after years of battling a serious illness.

Born in Florence on 10 June 1952, Riondino had charted a course far from the more conventional paths of the singer-songwriter tradition since his earliest days. In the 1970s he founded Collettivo Victor Jara, a project rooted in the political and cultural activism of the era, with which he released two albums aimed at alternative circuits. The group's name paid tribute to Victor Jara, an icon of Latin American protest song.

The turning point came between 1978 and 1979, when Fabrizio De André and Premiata Forneria Marconi chose him as opening act for their landmark tour. From there his career took on an increasingly varied shape, leading him to release albums, write for other performers and maintain a steady presence across radio, television and theatre. He also became a household name thanks to several appearances on the Maurizio Costanzo Show, where he performed his own songs and satirical sketches.

His name also remains tied to "Maracaibo", the song that brought success to Lu Colombo (born Maria Luisa Colombo) in 1981 and became one of the emblems of Italian pop in the 1980s. Behind its light, danceable surface, the song concealed a darker plot involving intrigue, politics and shady characters. Over the years, the authorship of the track itself became a source of tension between Riondino and Colombo, resurfacing even recently, evidence of an artistic story never fully settled.

Alongside his musical output, Riondino developed a personal language blending oral poetry, irony and civic storytelling. He collaborated with a wide range of figures including Paolo Rossi, Dario Vergassola, Sabina Guzzanti and Stefano Bollani, confirming a versatility rare on the Italian scene.

In 1995 he took part indirectly in the Sanremo Festival as the author of the song "Troppo sole", performed by Sabina Guzzanti together with Riserva Indiana.

Among his more recent works, the album "Bocca baciata non perde ventura, anzi rinnova come fa la luna", released in 2017, reworked texts from the Decameron in a personal musical key.

In his final years he had focused his energies on Scuola dei Giullari, a project devoted to passing on song as a form of oral and collective expression, suspended between tradition and the present day. An initiative left unfinished, yet one that precisely sums up the spirit of his career: holding together popular culture and research, lightness and awareness.

The funeral will be held in Rome, at the Chiesa degli Artists in Piazza del Popolo.

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