Mike Francis

Mike Francis
Mike Francis performing at "The Place" in Rome, 22 February 2006
Background information
Birth name	Michele Francesco Puccioni
Born	26 April 1961 Florence, Italy
Died	30 January 2009 (2009-01-31) (aged 47) Rome, Italy
Genres	Smooth jazz jazz fusion blue-eyed soul chill-out Italo disco (1980s work)[1]
Years active	1982–2009
Labels	RCA

Francesco Puccioni (26 April 1961 – 30 January 2009), better known under his stage name Mike Francis, was an Italian singer and composer, born in Florence, Italy. Internationally, he was best known for his 1984 hit, "Survivor", and his collaborations with American singer Amii Stewart.

Puccioni formed his first band at age 14 with schoolmates from l'Istituto di Studi Americano in Rome. Under the stage name Mike Francis, he had his first hit with "Survivor" in 1984 and went on to record ten studio albums. Among his best known works is the song "Friends", a duet with Amii Stewart released in 1984 which became a big hit in the UK and the Philippines.

Beginning in 2000, assisted by his brother Mario (Mari-One) and by the Maltese multi-instrumentalist Aidan Zammit, he founded the group Mystic Diversions.^[2] The group's songs were featured on many high-profile chill-out and lounge compilations. In addition to new, original song material, they also performed covers of 1970s and 1980s songs like "Float On" (by the Floaters) and "A Warm Summer Night" (by Chic). Together with the trio, additional musicians for live sets consisted of Agostino Marangolo (drums), Fabio Pignatelli (bass), Marco Rinalduzzi (guitars), Giovanni Imparato (percussion and vocals), as well as Wendy Lewis and Laura Serra (backing vocals).^[3]

Francis' 2007 album Inspired contains several covers^[4] such as "Summer Breeze" (Seals & Crofts), "Time" (Culture Club), "Thinking of You" (Sister Sledge) and "Nothing Can Come Between Us" (Sade), as well as collaborations with Blank & Jones on "Roots", "I Love You", the Van Morrison cover "Someone Like You" and the Labi Siffre cover "Down". "Someone Like You" appears on the compilation album Café del Mar Vol. 12. Francis' website states him as saying: "From that moment many other songs were born[;] in a simple and spontaneous way, simply "inspired"..."^[5]

Puccioni died aged 47 on 30 January 2009 of lung cancer in Rome.^[6] His last compilation album The Very Best of Mike Francis (All Was Missing) was released just days before his death.