Peppino di Capri died in Capri at 87 after a long illness, and world news from Italy now turns to the end of a career that helped shape twentieth-century song. His funerals were scheduled for today at 17:00 in the Piazzetta di Capri.
Born Giuseppe Faiella on 27 July 1939, he began performing in public at age four, playing piano for American troops during the Second World War. He later studied piano at six and built the early path that made his name recognizable far beyond Capri.
Capri, Ischia and the first record deal
At 14, he was already performing in nightclubs in Capri and Ischia with Ettore Falconieri, then formed the Duo Caprese and later the Capri Boys at the end of the 1950s. After one of those performances, Carisch noticed him and signed his first record contract. Mario Cenci suggested the stage name Peppino Di Capri.
That arc matters because it shows the split at the center of his career: he was described as an elegant interpreter who never renounced his style, yet his rise also ran through rock-influenced groups and the twist era. Songs such as Champagne, Roberta, Luna caprese, St Tropez twist, Un grande amore e niente più, E mo' e mo'' and Il sognatore carried that mix into the mainstream.
Festival di Sanremo and Canzonissima
His public profile widened through repeated television and festival appearances. He had 15 appearances at the Festival di Sanremo, won it in 1973 with Un grande amore e niente più, won again in 1976, and appeared at Sanremo 2023. He also won the Festival della Canzone Napoletana in 1970, took part in that festival four times, and appeared nine times on Canzonissima.
In 1995, he returned to the Festival di Sanremo as part of Trio Melody, alongside Gigi Proietti and Stefano Palatresi, with the song Ma che ne sai.... The older material never fully left the picture, but the festival circuit kept recasting him for new audiences across decades.
Roberta Stoppa and his children
His private life was also part of the public story. He married Roberta Stoppa, separated from Roberta Stoppa in 1970, and his first son, Igor, was born shortly before that separation. He left behind Nico, Edoardo and Daria.
The funeral schedule gives Capri today its final public marker of a life that ran from Giuseppe Faiella's first piano notes during the Second World War to a long catalogue of performances, recordings and festival returns. What illness caused his death was not stated in the material available, and the last formal moment now belongs to the Piazzetta di Capri at 17:00.
