Italian singer Milva, popular in the 1960s and 1970s, has passed away, aged 81, Italian media report.

Her daughter Martina Corgniati told Italian news agency Ansa that the singer had been ill for several months.

Milva was born on 17 July 1939 and lived in Milan with her secretary Edith and her daughter. Apart from Italy, she was also popular in Germany.

The last album she produced was in 2010.

She was known as La Rossa (Italian for "The Redhead"), and as La Pantera di Goro ("The Panther of Goro"), which stems from the Italian press having nicknamed the three most popular Italian female singers of the 1960s, combining the names of animals and the singers' birth places.

She performed on musical and theatrical stages the world over, and received popular acclaim in her native Italy, and particularly in Germany, where she has often participated in musical events and televised musical programmes. She has also released numerous albums in France, Japan, Korea, Greece, Spain and South America.

She collaborated with European composers and musicians such as Ennio Morricone in 1965, Francis Lai in 1973, Mikis Theodorakis in 1978, Enzo Jannacci in 1980, Vangelis in 1981 and 1986, Franco Battiato in 1982 and 1986.