Daniela Shualy, wife of the singer and actor Raiz, frontman of Almamegretta, has died after a long illness. It was the musical group who made the announcement, with a post on Facebook on Easter Sunday: "Shocked and lost, we are close to Raiz for the passing of his sweet wife Daniela. We will miss him". Hundreds of messages from fans: "May it shine close to the sun. You are a big family full of love", writes, among others, Sebastiano. Condolences also from many of Raiz's colleagues, from Clementino to Paola Turci.
Daniela's death has painfully made clear the meaning of a dedication full of love that Raiz, aka Gennaro Della Volpe, who will be 57 years old on April 22nd, had published a few days ago on social media on the occasion of the last episode of the fourth series of Mare Fuori, the record-breaking Rai drama in which the singer participated both by signing some songs from the soundtrack and by acting in the role of the Camorra boss 'Don' Salvatore Ricci, father of two of the young protagonists, Ciro and Rosa. Raiz had written: "When I'm old, I don't believe, it doesn't seem too beautiful to me that Quartieri makes love to me. Tonight on #rai2 at 9.00pm season finale for #marefuori4. My personal dedication goes to @danielashualy, mother of my rose Lea and love of a life." The first phrase is a verse from "Fa' ammore cu' me", a 1999 song by Almamegretta.
Daniela Shualy, like Raiz-Gennaro, had Jewish origins. And it was also through his wife, with whom he had his daughter Lea six years ago, that the singer, known for his constant spiritual research, converted to Judaism. Daniela's grandparents were Hungarian Jews, who after surviving the Nazi concentration camps married and then returned to Israel. In Tel Aviv, in the house that had belonged to Daniela's grandparents, the couple spent long periods.
In 2022, Raiz said in an interview with The Wom that he dedicated the song Make it Work, contained in Almamegretta's newly released album, to his wife who was fighting cancer: "Make it Work is an encouragement for my wife and for all the people who are facing the same situation as him, the bad evil... No one has the courage to call cancer by its name: bad evil, as if a good evil actually existed. Like diabetes or a cold, it's right to call him by his name to know who you're dealing with. It's the first thing they teach cancer patients as soon as they become aware of the disease."
"In the song I address the theme of cancer in a very optimistic way, to exorcise it" - the artist continued - "what is broken, fix it. What is cancer? It is something that is not a virus and is not a bacterium... it's something you generate. Maybe one day we'll discover that the genesis of cancer has a lot to do with the psyche."
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