Grande grande grande

"Grande Grande Grande", which has since been recorded by a varierty of international stars including Vikki Carr, Celine Dion with Luciano Pavarotti, Mireille Mathieu, Julio Iglesias, and Shirley Bassey (who had a No. 8 hit with the English version "Never Never Never" in the United Kingdom, No. 48 in the United States), was released in early 1972 and entered the Top 10 the week of February 26. ^[1]

After a steady climb to No. 2 (behind "Imagine" by John Lennon) the week of March 11, the song seemed to have run out of steam after falling 2 places to No. 4 to new hits by Delirium, Nicola Di Bari, and Nada ("Imagine" had dropped to No. 5).

By April 1, the song had once again climbed to its peak No. 2 position were it remained the whole month of April before finally reaching No. 1 on April 29.

"Grande Grande Grande" ruled the charts the first three weeks of May until "I giardini di marzo" by her collaborator Lucio Battisti and her own hit "Parole Parole" knocked her out of the top spot down to No. 3 the week of May 27.

"Grande Grande Grande" proved to be aptly titled, as it remained in the top 10 until the week of July 8, often trading places with "Parole Parole". By the year's end, only "Il Padrino" by Santo and Johnny had enjoyed a longer life on the charts and Mina had to settle for the runner up position.