It's well known that northern Italy is blessed with everything you could wish for. With the richness of nature and the beauty of the landscape, with sunny summers, good wines and people who are able to make the best of every challenge. However, one thing was in short supply in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century: dance clubs. This was a serious problem for Giovanni Giorgio Moroder, the son of a Ladin family who grew up in Ortisei in Val Gardena in 1940 and spoke three languages (German, Italian and Ladin). After all, music is his passion and, as it turns out, his whole life. So he gets in the car and heads north with his guitar.

Retro or futuristic? The “Super & Giorgio Moroder” glasses change from gold to silver. © Getty Images

In Europe, Moroder travels from club to club with a band. He first lived in Berlin, where he achieved his first chart success with a song for Ricky Shayne in 1967. From 1970, he made his home in Munich as a composer and producer. During this time, he had an idea that would revolutionize pop music: The synthesizer is the sound of the future. This idea marked the birth of electro-pop, and Moroder's first synth hit was “Arizona Man”, sung by Mary Roos. From 1973, Moroder worked with Donna Summer, whose “Love To Love You Baby” became a super hit in 1976. Summer's lascivious moans put the BBC to shame and the British broadcasters boycotted the song. But the rest of the world is infected - with disco fever.

Moroder gave the world immortal (film) music, such as “Flashdance”. © Getty Images

The rest, as they say, is history. In 1974, Moroder opened his own studio in Munich with “Musicland”. Donna Summer's “I Feel Love”, which she and Moroder recorded here in 1977, is now regarded as a beacon on the path to electronic dance music and a precursor to house music. Initially, however, the song was another huge success for the producer and the showgirl. The song conquered the charts worldwide, because physically it was almost impossible to sit still when listening. Moroder is celebrated as the “Godfather of Disco”. Queen and Freddie Mercury, the Stones, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple - they all come to Munich and want to record. But the north Italian is soon on the move: at the end of the seventies, he follows Donna Summer to California. He actually only wanted to stay for a few months before turning to film music in Hollywood and again, he gains dizzying success.

Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder sent the world into disco fever - he wrote the soundtrack of the 1970s and embodied their attitude to life. © Getty Images

For his first project, the soundtrack to “Midnight Express” by Alan Parker, Moroder immediately collected an Oscar for best film music. “American Gigolo” with Richard Gere, the dance melodrama ‘Flashdance’, ‘Scarface’ with Al Pacino and ‘Top Gun’ with Tom Cruise are enhanced by Moroder's music. “Flashdance - What a Feeling” and ‘Take my Breath Away’ from ‘Top Gun’ won Oscars for Best Song in 1983 and 1987 respectively. Moroder worked with Blondie and Olivia Newton-John and wrote songs for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and Seoul and the World Cup in Rome.

He only plays a little piano and tricks on the computer, Moroder once modestly explained in an interview. But it is not quite so easy to hold your own in the music business for decades and become a legend in the process. Moroder not only created electronic pop music, he also reinvented himself time and again. In 2013, for example, the French electro-pop duo Daft Punk invited him to talk about his eventful life - into a microphone. The result is the nine-minute piece “Giorgio by Moroder”. Further releases followed, including the album “Déjà Vu”, which features Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue among others, and a tour of fifteen European countries in 2019.

Giorgio Moroder was born in Ortisei in Val Gardena on April 26, 1940© Getty Images

Although his main residence is Beverly Hills, he always spends time in Ortisei. In 2016, he got the whole valley dancing as a DJ. Most recently, he received the “David di Donatello”, Italy's answer to the US Oscar, an award for his life's work: the composer of more than 700 songs was honored in Rome as an “exceptional artist known throughout the world”. “Over the course of his career, he has worked with some of the biggest names in music history, including Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Cher and David Bowie,” said the jury. Three Oscars, four Golden Globes, three Grammys and over 100 gold and platinum records have already adorned his trophy collection - as well as the Grand Order of Merit of the Province of northern Italy, which he received in 2010. It's therefore fair to say that Moroder is one of the greatest sons of his homeland.