Francesco De Gregori /

Francesco De Gregori (born April 4, 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter. De Gregori is popularly known as "Il Principe Poeta" ("The Poet Prince"), the nickname refers to the elegance of his lyrics. De Gregori was born in Rome to a middle-class family, and spent some of his youth in Pescara before returning to the capital. His elder brother, Luigi, was a musician and later had a personal career with the name of Luigi Grechi (Grechi is De Gregori's mother surname, later chosen in order to avoid confusion with the more famous Francesco). Influenced by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and the Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio de André, De Gregori started to perform his songs (mainly personal translations of American folk songs) at the Folkstudio, in Rome, which was already frequented by his brother. On one occasion De Andrè himself is said to have listened to De Gregori's work and appreciated it. Later De Gregori formed a band with his friends Antonello Venditti, Mimmo Locasciulli and Giorgio Lo Cascio, who all had success as singer-songwriters in the following years. De Gregori made his debut as a professional singer in 1972 with Theorius Campus, in collaboration with Venditti.