An Italian comedy rock and song parody singer born in Trani (Bari) on April 18, 1938, in his twenties Leone di Lernia moved to Milano, where he became a radio, TV, and music comedian. His first album, Leone Lernia e la Sua New Rock Band, appeared in 1975, and his most recent, Squich, was released in 2007. Overall, he has released over 30 LPs and a myriad of compilations, typically exploiting his "dirty old man from the south" persona in lewd parodies of dance music hits, sung in a mixture of Italian and Barese dialect. Di Lernia's fame increased significantly between 1999 and 2005, when he was part of the cast of the satirical radio show Lo Zoo di 105. In 2006 he participated in the hit reality show L'Isola dei Famosi. He is considered one of the main exponents of the Italian musica demenziale genre.
