He is a seminal figure who has written a number of songs widely regarded as classics in Italian popular music, including: "Il cielo in una stanza", "Che cosa c'è", "Senza fine", "Quattro amici al bar" and "Sapore di sale".

Carla Bruni Sarkozy covered the song (mixing French with her native Italian) in her debut album ("Quelqu'un m'a dit").

[3] "Il cielo in una stanza" success was followed by "Sapore di sale" (1963), arranged by Ennio Morricone and believed to be his most famous song.

During an interview in February 2015, when a journalist cited a famous phrase of an Italian minister saying that taxes are a good thing, Gino Paoli insulted him.

[4] At the time Paoli was under investigation for tax evasion, accused of having brought 2 million € of untaxed income to a Swiss bank.