Ivana Spagna (born 16 December 1954), also known simply as Spagna (), is an Italian singer and songwriter. She is best known for her worldwide hit song " Call Me" released in 1987.

Career

Spagna started her career singing in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and in the early 1980s she provided

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(with Angela Parisi) and wrote songs for an Italo disco duo called

Fun Fun Fun Fun are an Italian Italo disco band formed in 1983. Their hits included "Colour My Love" and "Baila Bolero". History Producers Dario Raimondi and Alvaro Ugolini teamed up with studio vocalists Antonella Pepe, Angela Parisi and Ivana Spagn ...

; as well as writing songs and singing for many other dance music projects like

Baby's Gang Baby's Gang were an Italian teen pop band formed in Italy in 1983. The group comprised thirteen teenagers fronted by future italo disco star Ivana Spagna. They are mostly known for their hit single " Happy Song". History Baby's Gang was forme ...

until 1986, when she embarked on a solo career. Spagna's debut single "

Easy Lady "Easy Lady" is a song by Italian singer Spagna, released in 1986 as the lead single from her debut studio album, '' Dedicated to the Moon'' (1987). Although she and her brother, Theo Spagna, had already composed several songs for artists such as ...

", released in 1986, was a success across Europe. In 1987, she released " Call Me", which topped the European Hot 100 Singles chart, and reached number two in Italy and on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It also reached number 13 on the US

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart. Her debut album, ''Dedicated to the Moon'', was released the same year and sold over 500,000 copies. After the UK hit "Every Girl and Boy" and a dance-rock album, ''You Are My Energy'' (1988), Spagna moved to

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

, and recorded her third album ''No Way Out'' (1991). This album featured a song written by Diane Warren ("There's a Love"), and two singles ("Love at First Sight" and "Only Words") which peaked at #5 on the Italian chart. The album was certified Platinum (over 100,000 copies sold). In 1993, Spagna moved back to Europe, and recorded ''Matter of Time'', featuring the two successful Eurodance singles, "Why Me" (number 10 in Italy) and "I Always Dream About You" (number five in Italy). In 1995, after the release of "Lady Madonna" (number four in Italy), Spagna started singing in her native

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. After achieving a great success in Italy with the Italian version of Elton John's "

Circle of Life "Circle of Life" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film ''The Lion King''. Composed by English musician Elton John, with lyrics by Tim Rice, the song was performed by Carmen Twillie (the deep female lead vocals) and Lebo M. (opening vocals ...

" ("Il cerchio della vita"), featured in the Italian soundtrack of the Disney film ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...

'', she took part in the

Sanremo Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian culture, Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longes ...

, the most important Italian song contest, ranking 3rd in 1995 with the song "Gente Come Noi". Her first album in Italian, ''Siamo in due'', sold over 350,000 copies and became the best-selling album by a female singer in Italy that year. From that year onwards, Spagna released many successful albums sung in Italian (including hit singles such as "Siamo in due", "E io penso a te", "Lupi solitari", "Indivisibili", "Dov'eri", "Il bello della vita-World Cup Song", "Con il tuo nome") until 2003, when she left Sony Music in order to sing in English again. She signed to an independent Swiss record label (B&G), and recorded ''Woman'', a dance-pop album featuring eight new songs in English, two in Spanish and one in French. The album spawned three singles; "Never Say You Love Me", "Woman" and "Do It With Style". In 2004 a new remixed version of "Easy Lady" was released. Spagna's albums and singles have sold a total of over 15 million copies worldwide, for which she has been awarded the "Disco d'oro alla carriera" (Gold certification for the career) by the Italian Federation of the Music Industry (FIMI) in 2006. In February 2006 she took part in the

again, with the song "Noi non possiamo cambiare", and in May 2006 ranked third in the Italian

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program, ''Music Farm''. In 2008 Spagna was honoured with a honoris causas degree by the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association ...

In February 2009, Spagna released the EP ''Lola & Angiolina Project'', in collaboration with the Italian singer

Loredana Bertè Loredana Bertè (; born 20 September 1950) is an Italian singer and actress. In her long career she has worked with prominent Italian songwriters such as Pino Daniele, Ivano Fossati, Mario Lavezzi, Mango and Enrico Ruggeri, among others; her si ...

. The first single from this was the rock ballad "Comunque Vada". In 2012 Spagna published the English language album, ''Four'', with artists

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, Gregg Kofi Brown, Fabrizio Bosso and Ronnie Jones. In 2014 Spagna returned to dance music, releasing the single ''The Magic of Love'' and then in 2015 two more singles: ''Baby Don't Go'' and ''Straight to Hell'', with a video inspired by ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''. In 2019 Spagna released "Cartagena", a pop song in collaboration with Jay Santos. The song sold 200.000 copies, her highest selling single since the late 90s.

Discography

References

* ''

Guinness Book of British Hit Singles ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of t ...

'' (16th Edition) -

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1954 births Living people People from the Province of Verona Italian women singer-songwriters Italian singer-songwriters Italian Italo disco musicians English-language singers from Italy