Neapolitan music has an extraordinary history, filled with melodies, lyrics, and masterpieces of the musical world. Naples is a city where emotions play a central role, and they have often been expressed through popular songs that are part of its history and are still sung and played today by both the young and the old. But this music dates back many years.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Naples experienced a cultural explosion. Some local musicians had the insight to blend traditional Neapolitan folk music with the genres that were popular in the United States at the time, like jazz and blues. In the 1980s, the Neapolitan music scene was revolutionized by a streetwise kid from Naples: Pino Daniele. It’s hard to find someone who’ll tell you they don’t love Pino Daniele’s music — and not just in Naples. This year marks two major anniversaries: 70 years since his birth, and 10 years since his passing.

Why blues? He explained it himself in this quote: "Since I’ve been old enough to understand the world, nothing has changed — in fact, things in Naples have gotten worse. But I don’t want to believe that hope is gone. Hope unfortunately only flares up when someone new comes along: once it was Maradona, once Massimo Troisi, once Pino Daniele. Sadly, we’re a people that always needs a king. Or a Masaniello.”

Blues is music of the people — a sorrowful cry sung by African Americans while they worked in the fields. And so, unexpectedly, blues became closely connected to the Neapolitan people, who for centuries have sung to exorcize their own misfortunes. Pino Daniele became the voice of this new movement, using music to express both his anger and his deep love for Naples during the years of youth protests.

Pino created a unique and hybrid style that he himself called "tarumbò", a name symbolizing the union of traditional Neapolitan tarantella and blues. He made this blended sound into a high art form — sophisticated compositions disguised as catchy, singable melodies that would go on to become some of the most familiar tunes in modern Italian music. His work is a mix of Neapolitan music and Mediterranean rhythms, where English and Neapolitan lyrics merge into a perfect melodic relationship.

He also stood out for his eclectic songwriting: he could alternate between soulful ballads, ironic and danceable tracks, and songs of social protest, often filled with original metaphors and paradoxes.

Pino Daniele was born and raised in a working-class neighborhood of Naples.
His childhood was marked by poverty: the son of a dockworker and a homemaker who cleaned houses sporadically, he lived in a tiny vascio — the traditional one- or two-room ground-floor homes of Naples — with his parents and five siblings.

He taught himself to play guitar during the social upheavals of 1968, which heavily influenced his early songs, filled with anger and sorrow for his homeland. At just 18, he wrote “Napule è,” a masterpiece that is now considered one of the greatest Italian songs of all time.

In 1976, he joined the band Napoli Centrale, featuring standout musician James Senese. Together they created pivotal albums like Pino Daniele (1979), Nero a metà (1980), and Vai mo’ (1981). His breakout hit came with the album Terra Mia.

In 1980, he opened for Bob Marley in Milan, and a year later, 200,000 Neapolitans filled Piazza del Plebiscito for his concert — something the city had never seen before. From that day on, Pino could no longer walk through Naples’s narrow streets without being recognized and embraced by locals in their typically exuberant way. But he was a shy man and not entirely comfortable with the overwhelming affection he received.

What Pino had called Tarumbò, others began calling “Neapolitan Power” — a style of music that mixed Neapolitan tradition with blues, jazz, funk, and rock. You hear it in songs like “Yes I Know My Way,” “Viento ’e terra,” and “Notte che se ne va.” His greatest album, Nero a metà, was named in tribute to the late singer Mario Musella, who had a Neapolitan mother and Native American father. The album, which fuses Neapolitan melodies with blues and jazz, ranks among Rolling Stone Italy’s list of the 100 greatest Italian albums of all time.

During the 1990s, Pino’s popularity continued to grow. One of his most beautiful songs from this period is “O saje comme fa o core”, written by another brilliant Neapolitan artist and close friend, Massimo Troisi, for whom Pino composed film soundtracks — right up until the actor-director’s sudden and tragic death. In these years, Pino gradually moved away from the Neapolitan dialect, embracing a more pop-oriented sound, often blended with oriental and North African influences. Still, his love songs remained central.

In 2008, he reunited with his old friends and bandmates — including Tullio De Piscopo, James Senese, Enzo Avitabile, Tony Esposito, Joe Amoruso, and Rino Zurzolo — to release Ricomincio da 30, celebrating thirty uninterrupted years of musical success and paying homage to Massimo Troisi. The tour that followed was unforgettable, taking fans back to the early days when “Tarumbò” was raw and vibrant. It would be his last gift to those who loved him.

Pino Daniele passed away on January 4, 2015, due to heart complications. Naples’s reaction was immediate and emotional: the very next day, people were singing his songs in the subway, breaking into spontaneous, moving choruses. On the night of January 6, over 100,000 people gathered in Piazza del Plebiscito, singing his songs together. Two funerals were held — one in Rome, and one in Naples’s iconic square. His ashes were displayed for 10 days in the Maschio Angioino so the city could say goodbye, before being moved to Magliano, where he had been living.

A street in Naples has been named after him, and a permanent exhibit dedicated to him has been opened at the Museum of Peace.

Pino Daniele’s importance to Naples was immense. He revolutionized Neapolitan music by bringing in a fresh sound and an original style, merging tradition with modern influences like blues, jazz, and funk. He promoted the Neapolitan dialect, turning it into a respected artistic language recognized across Italy. He sang about his love for Naples, its people, and its story — becoming a powerful symbol of Neapolitan pride and identity.

His music reached far beyond Naples, earning both national and international acclaim. Songs like Napule è became unofficial anthems of the city. He left behind a remarkable musical and cultural legacy. His songs are still widely listened to and appreciated, and his influence is alive today — especially in genres like rap and contemporary Italian pop. His ability to write songs that told the story of Naples and its people made his work timeless and iconic.

Today, Pino Daniele is considered a legendary figure in Naples’s cultural identity — on the same level as Totò or Diego Armando Maradona. As you walk through the city, it’s not unusual to come across murals dedicated to him — like the one at the end of Via dei Tribunali, where he’s depicted almost like a saint. On San Gregorio Armeno, the famous street of nativity figurines, you’ll see hundreds of statuettes made in his honor.