Aldo Nova is the stage name of Aldo Caporuscio (born November 13, 1956), a Canadian

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

musician and

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. He is a guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. He gained recognition with his 1982 debut album '' Aldo Nova'', which peaked at ''Billboard'' number 8 position, and its accompanying single, "

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

", which reached number 23 on the US '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and boosted sales for its parent album. In 1997, he won a

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the r ...

as co-producer of Celine Dion's 1996 album ''

Falling into You ''Falling into You'' is the fourteenth studio album and fourth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 11 March 1996 by Sony Music. The follow-up to her blockbuster album '' The Colour of My Love'' (1993) and French-l ...

''. He co-wrote four songs on the 2000 album ''Uno'' by La Ley, which won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album.

Early life

Nova was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, to Italian immigrant parents from a small village near

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He adopted the stage name Aldo Nova when he started playing guitar and keyboards at age 15.

Career

1980s–1990s

Signing with

Portrait Records Portrait Records was a sister record label, label of Epic Records and later of Columbia Records. Notable artists Cyndi Lauper and Sade (band), Sade signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the lab ...

, Nova released a self-produced album ''Aldo Nova'' in 1982, that had two singles: "

" and " Foolin' Yourself". The Top 40 success of "Fantasy" led to Nova being listed as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

in 2009. Nova's second album '' Subject...Aldo Nova'' from 1983, had two singles: " Monkey on Your Back" and "Always Be Mine". His third album ''

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

'' from 1985, had two singles: "Rumours of You" and "Tonite (Lift Me Up)". Nova was displeased with the third album and the record company's insistence on making a more commercial album. After supporting the ''Twitch'' album, Nova's label refused to release him from his contract, and he stopped working with Portrait. In 1990, Aldo Nova wrote the main guitar riff used in the

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and Lead vocalist, frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was fo ...

song, " Blaze of Glory". In 1991, to return the favour, Bon Jovi worked with Nova to release '' Blood on the Bricks'' on Bon Jovi's label Jambco Records. It had three singles: " Blood on the Bricks", "Medicine Man", and "Someday". In addition, Nova produced some early

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

albums. He co-wrote the hit song, "

A New Day Has Come ''A New Day Has Come'' is the eighteenth studio album and seventh English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Sony Music on 25 March 2002. It was her first new studio album since her 1998 Christmas album '' These Are Spec ...

" for Dion, and has been featured playing guitar, synthesizer, and percussion on her records. He also wrote her songs "Your Light", "I Can't Fight the Feelin'", and " You and I" (which was used as

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

's campaign song and as the

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

theme song). He co-wrote the

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967. They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. ...

song "Take Me Away" and was a member of the Guitar Orchestra of the State Of Imaginos on their album '' Imaginos''. In 1996, he received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

as producer for Celine Dion's ''

'' for Album of the Year. In 1997, he released his own album ''Nova's Dream'', which was seen as a return to his "signature" style of

. He co-wrote the Latin Grammy nominated song "Aqui" for the Chilean rock group La Ley on the album ''Uno''. He also co-wrote and co-produced four other tracks on that album, which won a Grammy for best Latin/Alternative/Rock Album. As a songwriter, Nova's hits include

Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor and political activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, '' Me ...

's "This Is The Night" (co-written with Chris Braide and

Gary Burr Gary Burr (born 1952 in Meriden, Connecticut) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre. Many of the songs he has written have become Top-10 hits, the first of which was " Love's Been A Litt ...

), which in the US was a number 1 hit and the best-selling single of 2003. He wrote one and co-wrote more songs on Dion's ''

Taking Chances ''Taking Chances'' is the twenty-third studio album and tenth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records on 7 November 2007. Dion returned to the music scene after almost five years of performing '' A New ...

'' album.

2000s–present

In 2003, Nova received an International Achievement Award at the

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

Awards in Toronto for co-writing the Dion song "

". In early 2019, Nova announced to ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' that he would release a

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

in June 2020 under the name ''The Life and Times of Eddie Gage''. He had been working on the album from 2008. The release was delayed, eventually coming out in the smaller EP format on 1 April 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Aldo Nova'' (1982) No. 8 US 2× Platinum Requires running a searches for Artist or year *'' Subject...Aldo Nova'' (1983) No. 56 US Gold & Canada Platinum *''

'' (1985) Canada Gold *'' Blood on the Bricks'' (1991) No. 124 US *'' Nova's Dream'' (1997) *''The Life and Times of Eddie Gage – A Rock Opera – 10-song EP – A Little Preview'' (EP) (2022) *''2.0 Reloaded'' (2022) *''Short Stories'' (EP) (2022) *''Sonic Hallucinations'' (EP) (2022)

Compilations

*'' A Portrait of Aldo Nova'' (1991) *'' The Best of Aldo Nova'' (2006) *''Under the Gun...A Portrait of Aldo Nova'' (2007)

Singles

Songwriter/producer

Tours

* Fantasy Tour (1982–1983) * Subject Tour (1983–1984) * Blood on the Bricks Tour (1991)

References

External links

Interview with Aldo NovaEverything2 writeup
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nova, Aldo 1956 births 20th-century Canadian keyboardists 20th-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian keyboardists 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Anglophone Quebec people Canadian hard rock musicians Canadian male guitarists Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian record producers Canadian rock guitarists Canadian rock keyboardists Canadian rock singers Grammy Award winners Hard rock singers Living people Musicians from Montreal