On Wednesday, Italian rock legend Vasco Rossi received Rome’s highest honour, the Golden She-Wolf Award, or 'Lupa Capitolina', for his services to Italian culture.
Mayor Roberto Gulatieri, a keen amateur guitarist, accompanied the 70-year-old ‘Il Blasco’ in a performance of one of his most iconic songs, ‘Albachiara’, in the Capitol offices.
Rossi has released 30 albums and written over 250 songs in his 50 year career; a career that truly took off when he came last in the 1982 Sanremo Song Festival with another classic, ‘Vado al Massimo’.
“Receiving this precious statuette is a great honour, I have conquered you Rome,” said Rossi.
“I want to dedicate this award to my father. He drove a lorry and delivered fruit to the market ― he left for Rome at two or three o’clock in the morning (from Modena, near Rossi’s home town of Zocca).
Rossi greeting fans after receiving the Lupa Capitolina from the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri. (Photo: AAP)
“He never saw all this, this extraordinary adventure that I have lived. I’m doubly proud.”
The rock star rebel also paid tribute to his late political mentor and close friend, Radical Party leader Marco Pannella, who spearheaded civil rights campaigns in Italy, saying “I’m the Pannella of song.”
