Italy’s culture minister Dario Franceschini said Milva’s versatile voice “stirred deep emotions in entire generations”.
No cause of death was given.
Milva also starred as a stage actress, with a repertoire heavily based on the works of German playwright Bertolt Brecht.
She often worked with Milan theatre director Giorgio Strehler, who directed her in one of Brecht’s signature works, The Threepenny Opera, a musical drama.
The singer, pictured in 1965 (AP)
Born in 1939 as Maria Ilva Biolcati in Goro, a Po River delta town, she adopted the one-word stage name Milva.
Along with Italian singers Ornella Vanoni and Mina, another performer who used a first name only, Milva was considered one of the greatest Italian popular female singers.
Milva Dead: Beloved Italian Singer Dies at 81
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Indominable : Milva, beloved Italian singer, dies at 81
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