Born in 1951 in Rome, singer/songwriter Francesco De Gregori grew up listening to and being inspired by American musicians Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as well as Italian artist Fabrizio De André. It was the latter who heard De Gregori recording songs at a famous studio in Rome, and was impressed enough to began helping the young singer. In 1972, after De Gregori signed to IT, Theorius Campus, an LP with Antonello Venditti, was released. Unfortunately, critics were unimpressed with the album, a sentiment that continued through De Gregori's 1973 solo debut, Alice Non Lo Sa, and its 1974 self-titled follow-up. Success finally came with the next year's Rimmel, which showed off the musician's maturing, reflective, and intelligent lyrics over musical help from Lucio Dalla, among others.
