Raffaella Carra, iconic Italian pop star, dies at 78
Italian singer, actor, dancer and TV host Raffaella Carrà — who over the course of a 60-year career became a national pop culture sensation, sold millions of records across Europe and Latin America — has died at 78, Italian media outlets have reported.
Born in Bologna, Carrà started in showbiz as a child, first appearing at age 8 in the 1952 melodrama “Tormento del Passato.”
In 1965, Carrà co-starred with Frank Sinatra in Canadian director Mark Robson’s World War II drama “Von Ryan’s Express.”
In the 1970s, Carrà rose to fame in Italy as a singer and dancer as co-host of the variety show “Canzonissima” - wearing a risquè outfit that marked the first time a woman dared to expose her midriff on TV in Italy.
In 1976, she sang her first major international hit, “A Far l’Amore Comincia Tu” (Making Love Starts With You) - popularized in Spanish-speaking countries as “Explota, explota mi corazón.”
She became very popular in Spain and Latin America - recording “La hora de Raffaella Carrà” for Spanish Television in 1976 and starring in an Argentine musical comedy, “Bárbara,” in 1980.
Carrà released 25 studio albums during her career. A Spanish musical film based around her songs titled “Explota Explota” was released in 2020.
At: https://variety.com/2021/music/news/raffaella-carra-dead-1235011893/
Italian entertainer Raffaella Carrà performing her 1976 Spanish-language hit, Explota, explota mi corazón.