Italy has always produced great artists, including musicians. However, few of them were able to achieve international fame. However, I have no doubt that you know them all well :) Here is a list of the most famous Italian performers:
1. Albano
The most famous song in Italian that there can be is Felicità, performed by Albano in a duet in Romina Power.
2. Adriano Celentano
Celentano, who was incredibly popular in his time in the USSR, turned out to be not as popular in his homeland as I thought!
3. Luciano Pavarotti
The great Luciano Pavarotti, a genius not only of Italian but also of world music.
4. Eros Ramazzotti
With this artist, the era of Italian pop music began; he was one of the first to go on tour abroad, which brought him even greater fame.
5. Andrea Bocelli
A famous blind tenor, known for performing both operatic and more commercial compositions.
6. Zucchero
Adelmo Fornaciari, known under the pseudonym Zucchero (Italian sugar), also nicknamed “Italian Joe Cocker.”
7. Nek
The song “Laura non c'è”, which spread all over the world, brought him fame. However, Nack is still working fruitfully! By the way, the real name of the singer is Filippo Nevyani.
8. Mina
Our parents knew this performer since the 60s. A creatively prolific lady with an interesting voice, a kind of Italian Alla Borisovna :)
9. Tiziano Ferro
A modern singer, despite his youth, he has gained fame both in Italy and abroad. His statement last year about his own gay orientation became a scandal.
10. Laura Pausini
Contemporary singer, multiple winner of the international Grammy competition. Laura sings in Italian, Spanish, French, English and Portuguese.
For all lovers of Italian music:
Don't miss our hit parade. Turn up the volume and listen, get charged with Italy!
A study was conducted and the most popular ones were identified, according to listening on the Internet. Panorama.it continues to explore this issue through the most popular social networks. The main space for analysis this time is Last.Fm - the largest online music sharing platform. The system allows you to identify the number of plays of a track, album or specific singer. Let's see which ones made it into the TOP 50 and which ones Italians prefer and willingly listen to and re-listen to.
First place goes to Laura Pausini(11,073,651 plays and 266,651 listeners). And this is just a few weeks after the release of the new disc - a real triumph.
Second place takes Fabrizio De Andre(4,731,200 plays and 121,266 listeners). His cult lives on even in the age of social media, as this silver award proves.
On the third place – Eros Ramazzotti(4454457 plays and 298578 listeners), one of the most popular artists from the ““ category. He recently appeared in a documentary film, where stars and close friends spoke about his career and successes, painting a portrait of a man from Cinecittà, now loved throughout the world.
Fourth place got it Tiziano Ferro(3,781,340 plays and 198,816 listeners). As you may have noticed, the number of listeners increases for those artists who are popular not only in Italy, but also abroad, like him. Tiziano participated in a program on the Spanish channel RTVE in the presentation of Miguel Bosé’s new album “PapiTwo”, as he sang several songs on the disc with him and Malu.
In fifth place – Franco Battiato(2817007 plays and 132488 listeners). Another singer with a capital S. Eight weeks on the list with the album “Open Sesame”, represented by the single “Passacaglia”. Fabio Fazio invited him to Sanremo 2013, but the event coincided with the dates of his European tour.
Positions 6 to 10
Sixth place took Ligabue(2,661,461 plays and 73,451 listeners), one of the most popular artists from the ““ category. An excellent position for rocker Luciano Ligabue, who in his New Year's address predicted (as speculation, of course) a return with a new album. The real sensation is the number of fans.
In seventh place – Vasco Rossi(2,602,488 plays and 131,077 listeners). A relatively low position for Vasco Rossi, but nevertheless he is present in the top ten. Here are his wishes for 2013: “I hope this time the holiday is better than last year...Screw it!” This is a quote from the text “And the Morning.”
Eighth place takes Giovanotti(2,400,809 plays and 146,483 listeners), one of the most popular performers from the ““ category.
A country of art and high culture. Only in this country can one find so many great artists in all its fields. After all, Italy has long been famous for having the best artists in the world, sculptors, and musicians. In this article we will talk about the most famous Italian singers who have repeatedly proven that Italy is a country of song.
Italy can be proud that it is the homeland of many famous contemporary performers. She has produced world-famous opera performers, as well as pop singers. Of all the most popular singers in Italy, there are several that are worth talking about. These are Adriano Celentano, and Cecilia Bartoli, the legendary couple Romina Power and Al Bano, and Toto Cutugno and many other famous singers. Of course, it must be said that the peak of popularity of Italian singers fell in the 80s, but the popularity of these singers does not fall. And their songs are still favorite songs on any holiday or radio. Because a whole generation grew up on these songs. And now we will talk about those who gave the world wonderful and beloved hits.
Adriano Celentano
Of course, everyone has probably heard about this great man in the field of art more than once. can safely be called a genius of cinema and music. After all, this man gave unforgettable performances in many films, sang world hits and made a huge contribution to the development of the Italian film industry and music. Adriano Celentano is an Italian director, film actor, singer and composer. He was born in 1938 in the Italian city of Milan. He was the fifth child in a poor family. At the age of 12, Adriano worked in a watch workshop, where he often heard famous rock compositions of that time on the radio. This is how his interest in music manifested itself, after which he and his partner Michele began composing music, inventing songs and performing them. Soon they created their own team, which was called Rock Boys. They began performing at various local festivals, thanks to which they gained popularity. Their songs won competitions and were remembered by people.
Soon Celentano had to leave for military service, after which he decided to seriously take up his favorite business. He decided to open his own recording studio, where hits began to be released one after another. Many songs have been named the best songs of Italy over the past few years. Other famous performers began to sign contracts with Adriano Celentano, which also brought him enormous success. And after starring in several films, Chelintano also discovered his talent as an actor and director. Celentano has dozens of world hits to his name, the popularity of which continues to this day. And such films as “The Taming of the Shrew”, “La Dolce Vita”, “Velvet Hands” and others will forever remain masterpieces of Italian cinema. Therefore, Adriano Celentano can safely be called one of the most influential people in the field of Italian art.
Toto Cutugno
Of course, one cannot help but talk about the great. This man stands among those who glorified Italy as a country of beautiful songs. This man made a huge contribution to the development of Italian music.
Salvatore Cutugno (Toto is a shortened version of his name) was born in the city of Fosdinovo. From childhood, Toto was interested in music, listened to records of jazz performers, and sang songs as a child. His father was excellent at playing the trumpet, and then his little son mastered this instrument. And later Toto mastered playing the drum kit and playing the accordion. Having matured, Toto begins to play the piano and writes his first jazz songs on this instrument. At the age of 19, he contacts guys who share his tastes in music and they go to sing all over Italy. They perform in bars and discos, but having a small number of their songs did not make them popular.
In 1975, Cutugno met many famous producers and composers; this moment can be called the main impetus on Toto Cutugno’s path to world fame. Together with the song “Nel cuore, nei sensi” Toto gained fame throughout Europe, and subsequent hits made his songs loved all over the world. It cannot be said that the singer also had years when he did not write songs or perform and thought about ending his musical career. But as Toto himself later said, “You can’t turn aside from the path and move away from the goal to which you have been going all your life,” and he still returned to the world of music. Toto Cutugno is called the best singer in Italy and one of the most popular and influential singers in the world. And as you can see for yourself, there is confirmation of this; his songs are still loved by many.
It is worth saying a few words about the other famous singers of Italy. Of course, everyone knows the famous song “Felicita”. This song was written and sung by a lovely couple, Romina Power and Al Bano, who impressed everyone with their love story and their marital bliss. And their song truly became a hymn of love and happiness. The whole world sang this song, and it is still a favorite disco song of the 80s.
As for opera performers, here we must say about Cecilia Bartoli. She is the owner of a unique voice, thanks to which she has become popular all over the world and performs on the most prestigious opera stages. Her mezzo-soprano amazes with its sonority and purity. Since 1987 she has been singing on opera stages, and in 1988 she performed the legendary role of Rosina at the Schwetzingen Festival. Her unique voice is her main asset, and her filigree technique delights all listeners.
To sum it up, we cannot help but say that Italian singers are among the most popular in the world. And in the 80s, the songs performed by Italian celebrities did not fly off the top of the hit parades. All this once again shows that Italy is a country of wonderful songs and the birthplace of such excellent singers that we talked about above.
At one time, Italy conquered the world with its singers. True, there were and are more of the first. Italian singers, revered by all, despite some cooling of the world public, still remain quite popular. But here it is worth understanding the difference between opera and pop, although there are also such unique performers who can combine this, not to mention the influence on Italian performers of such an ambitious movement as hard rock, where for some reason the generally recognized leaders are Americans and Germans.
Italian singers: specifics of performance
It is impossible not to touch upon the question of why Italian performers have become so popular. This may seem strange, but it is among them that there are the largest number of tenors.
Even the world famous opera La Scala is located in Italy. But at the same time, not only opera stars, but also all those whom many disparagingly call “pop” can perform in grandiose productions. So why then did Italian singers become so popular?
The answer is simple! Originally an opera. The second is the festival in San Remo, which has become a kind of alternative to Eurovision. And the voices heard in the Italian resort town were too good for the performers to be recognized first every year. But! There are also some nuances.
Italian opera singers: where do they start?
As has already been said, La Scala is a world stage where almost all self-respecting tenors strive to get to.
In the world of operatic vocals, it is this stage that gives, as they say, a start in life. But Luciano Pavarotti once sang with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. Perhaps no one will surpass them in terms of performance in the next fifty years.
By the way, if anyone remembers the soundtrack of one of the versions of “The Three Musketeers”, Sting, Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart sang there. And with Adams at a meeting of friends, Pavarotti sang this song, although in an operatic performance, but no worse than the honored rockers.
Italian pop music of the 80s
In 1981-1982 The rise of the Italian stage began, which is now commonly called Italo Disco. The pioneers, at least known to our listeners, were the Italian singers Adriano Celentano, Al Bano, Umberto Tozzi, Pupo, Toto Cutugno, Riccardo Fogli, Andrea Bocelli, etc. Only after such a well-known performer as Eros Ramazzotti appeared, who, by the way, published one of his hits paired with mega-star Tina Turner. And today the songs of Italian singers are known to any listener of that generation.
But first, the hearts of the world were won by the compositions L'Italiano, Soli, Storie di tutti giorni, Felicita, etc. What is most interesting, as it later turned out, the “family” duet of Al Bano and Romina Power turned out to be a purely commercial project in which they invested money Romina's father (watch the video, you don't even have to pay attention to the vocals). And Al Bano still successfully tours as an opera singer, visiting the stage only occasionally.
Unfortunately, Italian pop singers of the 80s no longer gather such audiences as before. They are more often invited to concerts in post-Soviet countries, but on condition that they perform hits from 20 years ago. Unfortunately, there’s nothing new to note.
Contemporary performers
Italian singers, established in the opera or disco scene, have felt the competition since the late 80s. This was due not only to the fall in demand for disco, but also to the intensified direction of music, today called Metal.
One of the most famous and influential bands of our time performing completely technical Power Metal is the Italian team Rhapsody. There is not only performance technique, but also musical material, mostly based on epic sagas, tales or legends.
Instead of a conclusion
What to add? Disco is a thing of the past, although memories of it still linger in many hearts, which at that time beat in unison with popular compositions. We must also give credit to the fact that the development of music continues, and we really want to hope that modern Italian music will eventually be replaced by something else, no less fascinating and conquering the world.
But if you look into the future a little, there is no need to create anything special here. Judge for yourself, because in the musical canons there is already the concept of the “Italian square” in different interpretations and with different sequences of chord changes without changing the tonality. However, who knows...
On October 12, 1935, the famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti was born. He is called one of the superstars of the twentieth century opera stage. We decided to remember other famous lyric tenors from Italy
Enrico Caruso
When Enrico came to study at a music school, his teacher was sure that the boy had neither hearing nor voice. Now it is customary to say that Caruso is a symbol of bel canto, which made Naples famous throughout the world. His debut is considered to be the role of Enzo from the opera La Gioconda. Enrico has toured all over the world and worked at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 years. During his performances in America, world fame and fame came to him. He was the highest paid opera singer of his time. When Caruso participated in the play, the management increased ticket prices at its own discretion. After the death of the opera singer in 1921, a wax candle was made at the expense of fans, which for 500 years should be lit once a year in front of the face of the Madonna in memory of the singer.
Beniamino Gigli
Italian opera singer and film actor, considered the “successor” of Enrico Caruso. As a boy, he studied singing in the cathedral, then performed in church masses, and later played the saxophone as part of the city orchestra. In 1914, his debut performance took place - it was the role of Enzo from the opera La Gioconda. Gigli was invited to work in many theaters in Italy. Like Enrico Caruso, Gigli worked at the Metropolitan Opera. He acted in films a lot. Mostly they were about music: “Ave Maria”, “Giuseppe Verdi”, “Pages from operas”.
Franco Corelli
He made his debut in 1951, and 2 years later he performed at the Florentine Spring festival, where he performed the role of Pierre Bezukhov in the Italian premiere of Prokofiev's War and Peace. He has the best roles in the operas “The Pirate” by Bellini and “The Huguenots” by Meyerbeer. In 1967, at the Metropolitan Opera, he performed the title role in Gounod's Romeo and Juliet. About Franco Corelli you can hear that “... this voice rises above everything: the voice of thunder, lightning, fire and blood...”.
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea began learning to play the piano at the age of 6, then mastered the flute and saxophone. At the age of 12, after an accident, he became completely blind. At first, music was a simple hobby for him. Even when he was studying to become a lawyer, he worked part-time in restaurants, performing songs by Piaf and Aznavour. But one day he plucked up courage and came to audition for Franco Corelli when he was passing through Turin. Corelli took the young man as a student. At this point Andrea ended his career as a lawyer. In 1994, Andrea made his debut at the San Remo music festival - he performed the song “Il mare calmo della sera”. In the same year, Luciano Pavarotti invited Andrea to participate in the Pavarotti International concert in Modena. They say about Andrea Bocelli that he is the only singer who managed to merge pop music and opera together: “He sings songs like opera, and opera like songs.”
Alessandro Safina
Alessandro began to build his career as a classical opera singer: he studied at the conservatory, performed parts in the operas “The Barber of Seville”, “The Mermaid”, “Eugene Onegin”, “Capulets and Montecs”. And then he began performing in a new genre, which he calls “opera rock.” It’s not for nothing that he names U2, Genesis, Depeche Mode and The Clash as his favorite performers. Now Alessandro has several albums under his belt. Safina constantly tours. Almost every year he travels with solo concerts in Russian cities. In addition, the singer acts in films. He played himself in the Brazilian TV series Clone and played the role of the artist Mario Cavaradossi in the free adaptation of Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca.
