Rocco Granata

Rocco Granata is an Italian-Belgian singer and songwriter, famous for his singing as well as his accordion playing. Born on August 16, 1938, in Figline Vegliaturo, Calabria, southern Italy, Rocco Granata immigrated to Belgium at age 10. He picked up the accordion at an early age, then touring Belgium with his band The International Quintet. In 1959, Rocco Granata released the single “Manuela,” which contained the song “Marina” as a B-side. Unexpectedly, the B-side became a tremendous international success, hitting Number 1 in Belgium and charting all across Europe and even the United States. The single consequently sold over a million copies in Germany, earning a gold disc certification. It quickly became a standard, being covered by artists such as Marino Marini and Louis Armstrong and becoming the basis for a feature film. Rocco Granata continued releasing singles across the following decades, such as 1961’s “Irena,” 1963’s “Buona Notte Bambino,” and 1971’s “Jessica,” maintaining a high profile in the Belgian charts. He also became a successful record producer and record label owner. In 1989, “Marina” achieved another round of popularity as a dance remix of the song topped the Belgian, Italian, German, and French charts. In March 2000, Rocco Granata was awarded the ZAMU Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry. In 2002, he served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for the Eurovision Song Contest.

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