He debuted as a singer-songwriter in 1972 with La crisi, an album filled with political and social themes.[1][2] In 1973 he started working at the Italian Institute of History of Philosophy. Since 1974 he was also active as a songwriter for other artists, including
Mia Martini,
Mina,
PFM,
Wess &
Dori Ghezzi,
Drupi,
Heather Parisi,
Donatello.[2][1]
Starting from the early 1980s Manfredi almost completely abandoned the music to focus on writing. He has then published over a dozen novels and short stories, collaborated in various roles to several films, TV-series and plays, and created several comic series.[2][1] He is also active as a musical critic, and wrote essays on
Adriano Celentano,
Lucio Battisti,
Enzo Jannacci and other Italian music artists.[2][1]
He lives with his wife Mirella in Italy. His first daughter
Diana Manfredi is a film director.