Farewell to Francesco Guccini: from Vasco Rossi to Capossela, from Vecchioni to Finardi, colleagues remember him

The death of Francesco Guccini, who passed away today at the age of 86, has sparked a wave of grief across the world of music and entertainment. Within a few hours, social media filled up with messages of affection, photographs, personal memories and tributes from colleagues and friends paying their respects to one of Italy's greatest singer-songwriters. From artists of his own generation to musicians who grew up on his songs, the shared memory is that of a master, a poet and a point of reference who left an indelible mark on the history of Italian songwriting.

Among the first to pay tribute was Vasco Rossi, also linked to Guccini by their shared roots in Emilia. The rocker from Zocca posted a photograph of the singer-songwriter along with a message of deep admiration: “Ciao Francesco. You had a life full of music and art; you were never "fashionable," but always relevant and true to your songs. Di generazioni diverse, tu eri il grande Maestro, io l’allievo alle prime armi. Abbiamo respirato la stessa aria. Between Via Emilia... and Il Roxi Bar. Resterai per sempre nei nostri cuori”. Shortly after, he also shared a video of himself performing “La locomotiva”, the song he used to close his concerts with, adding one last dedication: “W Francesco Guccini!! Non morirà mai!!!”.
Luciano Ligabue also chose a deeply personal tribute. On social media he posted a photograph of the two of them together, captioning it with “Caro il mio Francesco”, the song he dedicated to him in 2010: I've admired you and I admire you boundlessly, but even more, I've loved you and I truly love you.

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A post shared by Vasco Rossi (@vascorossi)

Antonello Venditti's farewell, meanwhile, came in the form of a lengthy Facebook post, in which he underlined the historical and cultural significance of Guccini's work: “Francesco Guccini ha lasciato questo mondo infame! He leaves us some masterpieces as eternal testimony of a 20th century that dies hard in our hearts and in our lives, in the eternal hope for change typical of our generation. The future, and all of us, will miss you! Grazie Francesco e un abbraccio alla tua famiglia riservata e sincera come la tua terra”.
Gianni Morandi also remembered his friend with simple, affectionate words, recalling the many times they met over the years: "Whenever we met, he always had extraordinary stories to tell, stories of the mountains, of our Emilia, stories of music and life. Se n’è andato un vero poeta. Ciao Francesco”.

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A post shared by Gianni Morandi (@morandi_official)

Zucchero's tribute came via a photograph of a moment they had shared together, along with an intense, poetic line: “Non ti ho mai perduto, con quanto amore, stai soltanto dormendo in fondo al mio cuore”.
Among the most significant tributes is also that of Eugenio Finardi, who placed Guccini among the defining figures of post-war Italian culture: "With Francesco Guccini, one of the most important figures of post-war Italy passes away. Ha raggiunto Fabrizio, Franco, Pino, Ivan e troppi altri che hanno segnato un’era storica straordinaria per la canzone popolare italiana”.
For Tullio De Piscopo, on the other hand, his artistic legacy can be summed up in a few words: “Ciao Francesco. Ci ha lasciato un grande poeta. Musicista e cantautore libero veramente”.

The tribute from Fiorella Mannoia came in a very brief message posted on Instagram, yet one capable of conveying the sense of emptiness left by his passing: “Today we are a little more alone. Goodbye Cirano.”
Also particularly moving was the tribute from Beppe Carletti, founder of Nomadi, the band that more than any other helped bring Guccini's songs to a wide audience. The musician underlined the decisive role the singer-songwriter played in the band's history and in Italian music as a whole: “Guccini was a nomad, because if the Nomadi are still here it's also thanks to his songs. He gave so much as a poet, as a singer-songwriter. What must be said of him is that he was unique, I don't see anyone like him, because people like that come along only once in a while. Life gave him to us, the Nomadi, but also to everyone who loves singer-songwriter music. All I can say is: great Francesco, thanks to you the Nomadi are still here.”

Vinicio Capossela also paid his respects to Francesco Guccini with a long, heartfelt tribute posted on social media. Sharing the cover of “Via Paolo Fabbri 43”, the singer-songwriter recalled how that image had, over time, become the symbolic portrait of Guccini: "This photo, taken from a poster that never changed over the years, fixed in all of us the eternal image of Francesco Guccini. An image that also appears on the cover of an album whose title is the address of the house where he lived. There's a beautiful poem by Bukowski, titled 462-0614, that says: “Ecco perché sono sull’elenco del telefono”. Guccini è andato oltre: ha fornito direttamente l’indirizzo. Perché a tutti fosse noto dove trovarlo”. Capossela then recalled the singer-songwriter's personal generosity: “E molti hanno bussato a quella porta. Among the many, I too experienced the generosity of a giant who bends down to listen to a dwarf. But that matters little: it was just a testimony." Finally, he shared a reflection on Guccini's legacy on social media: "No one, in this country, has offered their life, their work, their home, their mythology, the ritual of becoming family to it, the way Francesco Guccini has. We are all grateful and lost over the simple fact that the Maestrone, like a deity in retreat on the Olympus of Pàvana, was thought to be immortal." And he closed by quoting one of Guccini's most famous songs: "Now that, to quote one of his famous songs, God is dead, the address is no longer certain, and we wander disoriented before a door that, nonetheless, remains open. With deep sadness, but also with boundless gratitude."

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A post shared by Vinicio Capossela (@vcapossela)

Finally, his friend Roberto Vecchioni recalled the moments they shared together in an interview with Corriere della Sera. “I met him over two bottles, he finished his first. My favourite song of his is 'Bisanzio', he envied me for 'Luci a San Siro'... He was a realist, precise, always pervaded by the melancholy of time passing. I, on the other hand, am a dreamer, I have a more fanciful side. And yet the two things complemented each other.” He then added: “In recent years he missed the stage; with the showman's temperament everyone knows he had, he needed someone to talk to. There were the novels he wrote in his later years, yes, but those are a different thing. He needed someone to share his questions with. He was the only one, among the greats, who managed to raise so many questions: about life, about time, about everything, he always had that inclination to ask and answer, ask and answer... He was a seeker of openings, like Montale was for poetry, and also of other worlds, like Borges.”

Messages that differed in tone and style, but united by a common thread: recognition of an artist who, through his songs, told the story, politics, memory and contradictions of Italy, becoming, for entire generations, far more than just a singer-songwriter.

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