Franco Battiato

About Franco Battiato

Franco Battiato was Italy's great musical intellectual, a Sicilian artist who moved from avant-garde experimentation to philosophical art pop without ever dumbing down. His 1981 album La voce del padrone was the first Italian record to sell a million copies, fusing synth-pop hooks with lyrics drawn from mysticism, science, and Sufi poetry. Restlessly curious, he also composed operas and painted, leaving one of the most singular bodies of work in Italian culture.