Born in Ponte Buggianese, in 1963 Pieretti released his first single "Perduto Amor" as Perry, before adopting the name Gian Pieretti for his second single "Ciao", released the same year.
[1][2] In 1964, he started performing accompanied by I Grifoni, a band consisting of future Premiata Forneria Marconi members Franco Mussida, Giorgio Piazza and Franz Di Cioccio.
[1][2] In 1966, he had his breakout with "Il vento dell'est", a song co-written with Ricky Gianco and influenced by Donovan's and Bob Dylan's style;[1][2] the same year, he served as supporting act in a series of happenings held by Jack Kerouac in Rome, Milan and Naples.
[1] In 1967, Gian Pieretti took part in the Sanremo Music Festival with "Pietre", a protest song co-written with Gianco; the song became a massive hit in the more light heart version of Antoine.
[1] His following works became more politically and socially engaged, touching sensitive themes such as homosexuality and alienation, but failed to achieve positive results in terms of sales, leading to his semi-retirement in 1975.