Gino Vannelli - Songs

ABOUT

Gino Vannelli (b. June 16, 1952) is a Canadian soft rock/soul singer-songwriter with a flair for romantic ballads who became famous during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Born in Montreal, Quebec into a musical family, he played the piano, guitar, and drums as a child and also began his study of music theory which he later continued at McGill University. While in high school, Vannelli launched his career as a drummer in a local pop group and landed his first contract in 1969 (with RCA of Canada), releasing a single under the name, Vann-Elli. In 1972, he relocated to Los Angeles with his older brother, Joe Vannelli, who later became a top composer and record producer. Through sheer determination, the brothers won Gino a contract with A&M by waiting in the parking lot outside A&M Studios for co-owner Herb Alpert to emerge and handed him a demo tape while being chased off by security guards. Vannelli was signed soon after to A&M and in 1973, he released his debut album, "Crazy Life."

Gino Vannelli debuted on the charts in 1974 with the funky, jazz-infused "People Gotta Move," which made the Pop/Rock Top 40 and Adult Contemporary Top 20. After several minor hits, his fame took off in 1978 with the Grammy-nominated "I Just Wanna Stop," a soulful romantic ballad which topped the Canadian charts, became a Top 5 hit on both the U.S. Pop/Rock and Adult Contemporary charts, and made the R&B Top 40. Written by Ross Vannelli, Gino's younger brother, this smash was included on the critically acclaimed album, "Brother To Brother" (1978), co-produced by all three Vannelli brothers. Gino Vannelli's other biggest hit came in 1981 with the lush soft rock classic, "Living Inside Myself," which made the Adult Contemporary Top 5 and Pop/Rock Top 10. His long string of hits also included "Love Of My Life" (1976), "Wheels Of Life" (1979), "Nightwalker" (1981), "The Longer You Wait" (1982), "Black Cars" (1985), "Hurts To Be In Love" (1985), and "Wild Horses" (1987, not to be confused with the same-named 1971 hit by The Rolling Stones). Vannelli had his final charting song in the U.S. in 1991 on the Adult Contemporary chart with "If I Should Lose This Love."

In addition to teaching music, Gino Vannelli has continued to record and perform actively to the present day. His more recent releases include the 2019 album, "Wilderness Road." A four-time Grammy nominee, he is the recipient of numerous Juno Awards.

LINKS

MERCHANDISE

Disclosure: The following links will take you to various online merchants outside of allbutforgottenoldies.net that sell recordings and other merchandise for the performing artist featured on this page. Please note that these are referral or affiliate links from which allbutforgottenoldies.net may receive, at no additional cost to you, a commission if you should make any purchases through them.

SONGS

To listen to a song clip, click any song title that has a speaker icon. This will take you to a list of links to CD and/or MP3 product pages from one or more online merchants that have sound samples.

Gino Vannelli

Jump to:
Previous Artist | Next Artist