娱乐英语新闻:Italian songwriter Pino Daniele dies of heart attack

ROME, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Pino Daniele, an Italian master of blues, rock, soul, funk and traditional Neapolitan music, died of a heart attack on Sunday night at the age of 59, local media reported on Monday.

The sudden death of the songwriter, first announced by fellow singers on social networks, was later confirmed by Daniele's agent and family.

Daniele felt sick at his residence in Tuscany, a region in central Italy, and was rushed to a hospital in capital Rome. His conditions, however, were desperate and there was nothing doctors could do, health authorities at the hospital told Rai State television.

Italian leaders called Daniele's death a huge loss for the country. "I still have in my ears his music from New Year's Eve (celebrations)," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was quoted by ANSA news agency as saying.

Renzi defined Daniele's voice as "incredible" and accompanied by a "rare sensitivity" which "with passion and melancholy, will continue to narrate Italy throughout the world."

"I learnt with painful surprise of the death of Pino Daniele, a songwriter who was able to give an original contribution to the musical tradition of his city," Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said in a statement.

"There is sadness for Pino Daniele. His love for Naples - the art city in southern Italy where the songwriter was born - and his curiosity for the rhythms of the world have been able to move the entire Italy," Lower House President Laura Boldrini said in her words posted on a social network.

Tributes were flowing from authorities in many parts of Italy. Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris said the day of Daniele's funeral, which will be held in Rome on Wednesday, will be declared a city-wide day of mourning.

Daniele was born in 1955 in the historic center of Naples. A self-taught guitarist, he began his career in the 1970s as guitar player and then as bass player in two bands, before releasing his first album in 1977.

His talent was confirmed when he scored his greatest success in 1980, with the album Nero a meta (Half-Black Skinned), which was noted by some authorities as the hallmark of the rebirth of Neapolitan song.

During his more than 35 years of artistic career, Daniele shared the stage and recording studio with internationally famous musicians including Italian opera legend Luciano Pavarotti and American guitarist Richie Heavens.

In 2009, Daniele had the honor to play at Apollo Theatre in New York, the first Italian artist being invited to perform at the Temple of American Soul.