Early years

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Vannelli is one of three sons (Joe, Gino, and Ross) born to Russ and Delia Vannelli. Russ, his father, was a big band musician. As a child, Gino's greatest passion was music, and he began playing percussion at an early age. By the age of 15, Vannelli began writing songs. Just out of high school, he signed his first recording contract with RCA under the pseudonym Vann Elli, but went on to study music at McGill University.

1970s

After a stint in New York City, Vannelli and his brother Joe went to Los Angeles in a financially distraught and desperate state to wait outside trumpeter Herb Alpert's locked gate for an audition. Alpert was Vannelli's last hope prior to heading back to Montreal the next day. Alpert liked what he heard and two days later signed Vannelli with A&M Records, releasing his first album in 1973. Vannelli's brother, Joe, served as arranger and keyboardist for most of his recording career. At a time when polyphonic synthesizers were non-existent, Joe overdubbed multiple parts to create a texture of sound that was progressive for the early 1970s. It is not widely known, but Vannelli played drums on the entire Crazy Life album. In fact, Gino and Joe performed all of the instruments except for flute and marimba.

In 1974, "People Gotta Move" made it to No. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 (#21 in Canada). On February 15, 1975, Vannelli became the second Caucasian performer to appear on Soul Train (Dennis Coffey appeared on January 8, 1972). This was his television debut. With his records climbing the charts, Vannelli toured as the opening act for Stevie Wonder. In 1978, the song "I Just Wanna Stop" earned Vannelli an American Grammy Award nomination and was a number No. 1 single in Canada (#4 in United States). Vannelli's album Brother to Brother was certified platinum in early 1979. Vannelli won Canada's Juno Award for Best Male Artist. Vannelli also won Juno Awards in 1976 and 1979. Vannelli's additional recordings of the 1970s include: "Crazy Life," "Powerful People," "Storm at Sunup," "The Gist of the Gemini" & "A Pauper in Paradise".

Vannelli and his wife Patricia met in 1974 and were married soon after.

1980s

In April 1981, "Living Inside Myself" was on Billboard's Top 100 at number 6. Canadian comedy legend Eugene Levy satirized Vannelli in Episode 4 of SCTV/Network 90 also in 1981. The Vannelli brothers shared the Juno Award for Recording Engineer of the Year in 1986 for "Black Cars". The Juno Award for Recording Engineer of the Year was again shared by the Vannelli brothers in 1987 for "Wild Horses" and "Young Lover". Gino's additional recordings of the 1980s era include "Nightwalker" and "Big Dreamers Never Sleep". Vannelli's second album for Arista was to be released in 1982. Entitled "Twisted Heart", it was ultimately shelved due to label disagreements, although a single was released. "The Longer You Wait" b/w "Bandito", an uptempo instrumental written by Joe Vannelli. Anton Vannelli, Gino's only son was born during the recording of "Big Dreamers Never Sleep" in 1986.

Vannelli lives and works in Amersfoort, Netherlands, and in the United States. His music is also heard on popular European television and radio commercials. When not in concert, Vannelli is actively working on various projects and teaching Master classes. In March 2007, Vannelli performed in Las Vegas to sold-out shows. By request, encore performances were given two months later at the Flamingo Showroom. In November 2007, Vannelli gave three sold out performances in New Orleans, Louisiana. The concerts were a humanitarian effort with proceeds benefiting local charities. By popular demand, Vannelli continues to tour globally.

In 2008, Vannelli became a symbol of sorts for the National Basketball Association championship run by the Boston Celtics. After each blowout home victory during the 2008 season, the video crew at the TD Banknorth Garden played a clip from Dick Clark's American Bandstand that featured a bearded disco dancer clad in a tight Gino Vannelli T-shirt. The tradition became known in Boston as "Gino Time" and Gino T-shirts became common at Celtics games. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2008 that the dancer in the Gino shirt was a young man named Joseph R. Massoni, and that he had died from pneumonia in 1990. He was only 34 years old.

In October 2007, Vannelli performed in a small setting with Dutch sextet Uropa in the small yet renowned music cafe "De Noot" in Hoogland near Amersfoort.

On May 13, 2014, Vannelli's the "Live in LA" CD/DVD compilation was released by the Sono Recording Group. The presentation was recorded live onstage at the historic Saban Theater in Los Angeles on November 8, 2013, which represented Vannelli's first performance in Los Angeles in more than 15 years. The recording also marks the first on-stage collaboration in many years between the three Vannelli brothers (including Ross Vannelli as producer, editor, and mixer).

Discography

Albums

Year	Album
1973	Crazy Life
1974	Powerful People
1975	Storm at Sunup
1976	The Gist of the Gemini
1977	A Pauper in Paradise
1978	Brother to Brother
1981	Nightwalker
1985	Black Cars
1987	Big Dreamers Never Sleep
1990	Inconsolable Man
1991	Live in Montreal
1995	Yonder Tree
1998	Slow Love
2003	Canto
2006	These Are the Days
2009	A Good Thing
2009	Stardust in the Sand
2010	The Best And Beyond
2014	Live in LA

Singles

Year	Song	Canada Singles	US Hot 100	US A.C.
1970	"Gina Bold" (Vann-Elli)	92	-	-
1974	"People Gotta Move"	21	22	17
1975	"Powerful People"	34	—	—
	"Love Me Now"	75	—	—
1976	"Keep On Walking"	82	-	—
	"Love of My Life"	55	64	—
1978	"I Just Wanna Stop"	1	4	4
1979	"Wheels of Life"	31	78	24
	"The River Must Flow"	80	—	—
1981	"Living Inside Myself"	13	6	5
	"Nightwalker"	—	41	—
1982	"The Longer You Wait"	—	89	—
1984	"Appaloosa"	—	—	—
1985	"Black Cars"	6	42	—
	"Hurts to Be in Love"	14	57	6
	"Just A Motion Away"	79	—	—
1987	"Wild Horses"	7	55	33
	"In the Name of Money"	29	—	—
	"Persona Non Grata"	—	—	—
1990	"The Time of Day"	11	—	—
1991	"Cry of Love"	41	—	—
	"If I Should Lose This Love"	46	—	49
1993	"Wheels of Life" with Martine St. Clair	—	—	—
1995	"I Die A Little More Each Day"	60	—	—
2006	"It's Only Love"	—	—	—

[ Source: Wikipedia ]