performers abroad. Shirley Bassey carried Mina's ballad "Grande grande grande" to charts in the U.S., UK, and other English-speaking countries in 1973. Mina's easy listening duet "Parole parole" was turned into a worldwide hit by Dalida and Alain Delon in 1974. Mina gave up public appearances in 1978 but has continued to release popular albums and musical projects on a yearly basis to the present day. Early life Anna Maria Mazzini was born into a working-class family in Busto Arsizio, Lombardy. The family moved to work in Cremona in her childhood. She listened to American rock and roll and jazz records and was a frequent visitor at the Santa Tecla and the Taverna Messicana clubs of Milan, both known for promoting rock and roll. After finishing high school in 1958, she attended college where she majored in accounting. Career Queen of Screamers (1958–1961) While on summer holiday in Versilia on 8 August 1958, Mazzini gave an improvised performance of the song "Un'anima tra le mani" to amuse her family after a concert at the La Bussola night club. During the following nights, Sergio Bernardini, the owner of the club, held her back in her attempts to get back on stage. In September, she started her solo career with the backing of the band Happy Boys. Her concert in September 1958, before an audience of 2,500 people at the Theatre of Rivarolo del Re, won enthusiastic approval from local critics. She soon signed with Davide Matalon, owner of the small record company Italdisc. Her first single, "Non partir"/"Malatia", was produced under the stage name Mina for the Italian audience. Simultaneously, "Be Bop A Lula"/"When" was issued under the name Baby Gate for the international audience. Baby was chosen as a contrast to her 178 cm height (5 ft 10 in) – exceptionally tall for an Italian woman – and Gate as a tribute to The Golden Gate Quartet. In December, her performance at the Sei giorni della canzone festival of Milan was described by the La Notte newspaper as the "birth of a star". It was Mina's last performance with the Happy Boys, as her family refused to let her skip college for a scheduled tour of Turkey. Less than a month after the breakup with her previous band, Mina co-founded a new group called Solitari, which consisted of a singer, a saxophonist, a pianist, a contrabassist, and a guitarist. Her