Ornella Vanoni (born September 22, 1934 in Milan) is an Italian singer. She started her artistic career in 1960 as a theatrical actress of Bertolt Brecht works under the direction of Giorgio Strehler. At the same time, she started singing, recording for a high-class public. The folklore and popular songs she reinvented in her recordings of this period, especially ones connected with organized crime, gave her the nickname of cantante della mala (literally translated as "singer of the bad life")