Fausto Leali © to the owners
Italian blue-eyed soul and pop star Fausto Leali gained and maintained prominence as a singer and songwriter in Italy and abroad for decades now by virtue of his distinctive singing style, his ability to connect with audiences and his more than twenty studio albums released.
His powerful yet soulful vocals encompass a variety of music genres, from rock to pop, from R&B to soul – and beyond.
Over a career spanning 60 years, Fausto Leali shared the stage with The Beatles, dueted with R&B soul singer Wilson Pickett and Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, took part in the Eurovision Song Contest, won a Sanremo Music Festival, performed live shows in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia and managed to sell over a million copies of A chi, a cover of the 1950s American song Hurt by Roy Hamilton.
Throughout the 1960s, his unique vocal timbre and remarkably husky voice earned him the nickname the white negro in Italy, as he started his career performing exclusively in English, influenced and inspired by Ray Charles and James Brown.
Fausto Leali and the Novelty in the 1960s © to the owners
Around the same time, he joined the Novelty, a Beat band with whom he released two covers of The Beatles’ Please Please Me and She Loves You; when The Beatles eventually landed in Italy in 1965 to play live, Fausto Leali and his mates were chosen as an opening act and shared the stage with John Lennon & company for three times in Milan, Genoa and Rome.
One of Fausto Leali’s signature songs, Deborah, originally performed as a duet with American R&B soul singer Wilson Pickett at the Sanremo Music Festival in 1968, was re-released in the United States by the latter under the title I’m a Midnight Mover, and entered both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart that year, marking the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two artists.
In 2026, Fausto Leali was honoured with a Music Award at the Filming Italy Los Angeles festival, which offered the opportunity for this interview about the past and present of music and the many achievements he is proud of.
Fausto, what achievements are you most proud of, at this stage in your career?
Fausto Leali awarded at the Filming Italy Los Angeles © to the owners
Let me just say that the gifts that my career has given me are all wonderful, including the accolade I received at Filming Italy Los Angeles. It’s as if the further I go, the more I realise that it never really ends, and this is such a beautiful story to tell.
What do you think of the current state of music, particularly rock, compared to back in the day?
Well, it is fair to have things that continuously change in the music industry. Young people see things differently, listen to music differently, so it’s okay that there’s a bit of everything in music today. You know, music can’t stay the same as it was in the past; otherwise, it would get stale, and you won’t understand where it is going anymore. Of course, young people have their own views and their own tastes, and perhaps they aren’t writing songs that will last over time, probably – I say “probably”, but well, in the meantime, they’re having fun.
Are there any memories from your time opening The Beatles’ gigs in Italy in 1965 you would like to share?
Fausto Leali, the Novelty, Peppino di Capri and The Beatles in 1965 © to the owners
Oh, it was such a thrilling, exciting experience for me, so much so that I couldn’t even move a finger, really! And then no one even brought a camera to take some pictures together with The Beatles! Luckily, someone eventually took one in Rome at the end of the tour, after we finished all the concerts in Milan, Genoa, and Rome, and so they took this one picture of The Beatles with me and my group, called the Novelty, singer Peppino di Capri and everyone else who opened before The Beatles started playing. They had a very limited repertoire; they would only do 12 songs in total, so clearly we needed to fill this void for the people who travelled from all over Italy to come and see them, and I was honoured to be a part of that.
Is your music perceived differently abroad than in Italy?
In 2025, I took part in the Filming Italy Sardegna festival in Sardinia by Tiziana Rocca [the global events entrepreneur who also created Filming Italy Los Angeles], and there were lots of American actors and actresses attending; when I performed my signature song, Mi Manchi, they suddenly all stood up and gave me a standing ovation, and everyone who met me afterwards would ask what “mi manchi” means, and it’s “I miss you”, and so they all nodded! It was such a great event which left me delighted.
Is there a music genre or a song you would like to experiment with, but you haven’t had the chance to do yet?
I’m not even thinking about it right now. I’m making a hits album, but it’s more for me than for anyone else, since I’ve already made five or six compilations of my songs throughout my career.
How did you feel the first time you were dubbed the white negro?
This nickname came naturally as, at the time, I exclusively performed in English, so my music was heavily influenced by Ray Charles and James Brown, and the colour of that music became my voice, my vocal range. I tried to sound like these great artists as much as possible, and journalists apparently found something good in me, and so they nicknamed me the white negro, a word that has now been banned.
How do you feel when you hear one of your songs playing on the radio?
It’s always exciting! If I’m driving around and I change the radio station and then I hear myself singing at that moment, I’m just like, uh, what a coincidence, ha ha!
Unless stated otherwise, pictures provided are from Fausto Leali’s collection, © belongs to their respective owners