Alexia (Italian Singer)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alessia Aquilani (born 19 May 1967), known professionally as Alexia, is an Italian singer. Before recording in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
in the 2000s, she made records in English in the 1990s. Many of those were international hits. Before her solo career, she was the vocalist of
Ice MC Ice MC (born Ian Colin Campbell, 22 March 1965) is a British rapper who started his professional music career in Italy, when he got a record deal signing to record producer and singer Savage and released his debut single " Easy" in 1989. He's ...
. She has performed at the
Festivalbar The Festivalbar () was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by ...
nine times, and four times at the
Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...
in which she has earned, besides several music critic awards, three second-placings, and one first-placing in 2003.


Career

230px, Alexia in 2008


Early work

Alexia was born in Arcola,
Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...
, and from a young age regularly entered singing talent competitions. She started working for Italian label Euroenergy (by Disco Magic) in 1989 with the singles (Eurobeat/hi-NRG style) "Boy" as Alexia Cooper and "It's All Right" as Lita Beck. One year later, she provided backing vocals to the singles "Cinema" and "Scream" by
Ice MC Ice MC (born Ian Colin Campbell, 22 March 1965) is a British rapper who started his professional music career in Italy, when he got a record deal signing to record producer and singer Savage and released his debut single " Easy" in 1989. He's ...
. Later she worked with producer Roberto Zanetti (better known as
Robyx Roberto Zanetti (born 28 November 1956) is an Italian singer, music producer and businessman from Massa, Tuscany. As a singer, he is known under the stage name Savage and as a music producer he uses the alias Robyx. Career At the age of fou ...
) in 1990, as a back-up singer to several of Zanetti's
Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...
acts on his DWA label, including
Double You Double You were an Italian Techno and Eurodance group founded in 1985 by vocalist William Naraine, keyboardist and producer Franco Amato and DJ Andrea de Antoni. By 1992, they had sold more than three million records. " Please Don't Go", a dance v ...
and Ice MC and notably featured on many of the latter's biggest hits such as "Think About the Way" (on the '' Trainspotting'' soundtrack), "It's a Rainy Day" and "Russian Roulette". When Ice MC left DWA, Robyx turned his attention to Alexia, and the pair wrote the song " Me and You", which included the vocals of Double You. The song was a big international hit and was followed the next year by " Summer Is Crazy" and " Number One", which again were international hits.


International success

In early 1997, recording began on Alexia's debut album ''
Fan Club A fan club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the pers ...
'' with the final international single from the album, "
Uh La La La "Uh La La La" is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Alexia featuring additional vocals by an uncredited male rapper. It was released by DWA Records and Sony Music as the fourth single from the singer's debut album, '' Fan Club'' (1997) ...
", preceding it. Unlike her previous singles which were all Eurodance, "Uh La La La" was a slower pop track and would become her breakout hit, becoming a European summer anthem in 1997, hitting the top 10 in many countries. In early 1998, Alexia officially signed to Sony Music through their subsidiary Dancepool which had released some of Alexia's previous singles in certain territories. After this, work began on breaking her in the UK market and a special remix was commissioned. The resulting Almighty Edit propelled the track into the UK top 10 and was also a hit in Australia. Simultaneously in Europe, Alexia released " Gimme Love", the first single from her second album '' The Party'', which saw her begin to branch away from Eurodance towards Europop, causing disappointment amongst some of her fans. Later that year, " The Music I Like" (her first Eurodance single since 1996's "Number One") was released across Europe, followed by " Keep On Movin'". 1999 saw the release of her third album ''
Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...
'', along with the singles " Goodbye" and "
Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...
", with Alexia switching to the Epic label. The album did not have as much success as her previous albums and her career began to decline outside Italy, with the release of "Goodbye" in the UK being delayed then ultimately cancelled.


2000–2001

After five years with Robyx and the DWA team, Alexia released ''
The Hits The Hits was a music video Television channel, channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music. Overview and availability The channel showcased a ra ...
'', a compilation of all her international singles, along with new track " Ti amo ti amo". Shortly after the release, Alexia decided to leave DWA and Robyx as she wanted to expand her sound and audience beyond Eurodance. In November 2000, she duetted with
Gianni Morandi Gian Luigi "Gianni" Morandi (; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer. It is estimated that Morandi has sold about 50 million recordings. Early life Born in Monghidoro, Emilia-Romagna, the son of a cobbler, Mor ...
on his single " Non ti dimenticherò". In 2001, her fourth album, '' Mad for Music'', was released and this was the first album she had co-produced. The album and its two singles, " Money Honey" and " Summerlovers", only saw release in Italy but did not meet with the same success in her home country as her previous music had.


2002–2007

In 2002, Alexia abandoned Eurodance and started singing almost exclusively in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
. She made her first appearance at the
Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...
in
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
, coming second with " Dimmi come...", which was on her fifth album '' Alexia''. Two more singles followed, " Non lasciarmi mai" and "Hasta la vista baby". To satisfy international fans, an English version of the album was released, with " Don't You Know" (the English version of "Dimmi come...") meeting limited success in France and Australia. Following this, Alexia's music would be released solely in Italy. The following year, she returned to Sanremo with the song " Per dire di no" and won. The song was from her 2003 album '' Il cuore a modo mio'', which also contained the single " Egoista". Her most successful Italian album was released in 2004, '' Gli occhi grandi della luna'', which featured two singles: " Come tu mi vuoi (You Need Love)" and "Una donna sola". In 2005, Alexia released her second greatest hits album spanning her Italian hits, '' Da grande''. The lead single from the album, " Da grande", came second in the women's category at the 2005 Sanremo Festival. After a musical break, Alexia returned in 2007 with a new song, and her first digital download single, " Du Du Du". Following its release, Alexia left Sony Music.


2008–present

In 2008, Alexia released her first studio album in four years entitled ''
Ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
'' and a new record deal with Edel. The album was preceded by the single " Grande coraggio" and later followed by " Guardarti dentro". In 2009, Alexia once again participated in the Sanremo Festival singing a duet with
Mario Lavezzi Bruno Mario Lavezzi (born 8 May 1948) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and guitarist. Life and career Born in Milan, he studied piano and guitar at the Scuola Civica di Milano. He started his career in 1963, as the s ...
titled " Biancaneve". The song was a big hit in Italy, reaching the top 10 and being Alexia's biggest hit for some time. Following this, a re-recorded version of ''Ale'' was released entitled '' Ale & C'', which contained three songs from ''Ale'' re-recorded as duets, two songs re-recorded in English and two new tracks. " We Is the Power", a duet with Bloom 06 was released as the second single, followed by " E non sai". On June 22, 2010, Alexia released the album ''Stars''. Only one single, "Star", was released on June 11. In July 2012, a new single, "A volte sì a volte no", was released in Italy. In February 2013, Alexia announced a new version of "Summer Is Crazy" would feature on her upcoming album, ''ICanzonissime''. In 2015, Alexia released a new album, in Italian, entitled ''Tu puoi se vuoi'', which spawned three singles: "Il mondo non accetta le parole", "Sento" and "Prenditi la vita". In 2017, Alexia released a new album in Italian entitled ''Quell'altra'' which spawned three singles: "Beata gioventù", "La cura per me" (which was chosen as the anthem of the 2017 Milan Gay Pride), and "Fragile fermo immagine". In 2022, Alexia released her first Christmas album ''My Xmas'', which contains covers of songs by
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
, Paul Young,
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...
, and
Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...
. In 2024, she performed at
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...
with Nervo, premiering a new version of "
Uh La La La "Uh La La La" is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Alexia featuring additional vocals by an uncredited male rapper. It was released by DWA Records and Sony Music as the fourth single from the singer's debut album, '' Fan Club'' (1997) ...
".


Personal life

In October 2005, Alexia married Andrea Camerana,
Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...
's nephew, and in February 2007 they had their first child, a girl named Maria Vittoria. She considers herself Roman Catholic.


Discography

*''
Fan Club A fan club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the pers ...
'' (1997) *'' Remix Album 98'' (1998) *'' The Party'' (1998) *''
Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...
'' (1999) *''
The Hits The Hits was a music video Television channel, channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music. Overview and availability The channel showcased a ra ...
'' (2000) *'' Mad for Music'' (2001) *'' Alexia'' (2002) *'' Il cuore a modo mio'' (2003) *'' Gli occhi grandi della luna'' (2004) *'' Da grande'' (2005) *'' Le più belle di... Alexia'' (2007) *''
Ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
'' (2008) *'' Collections'' (2009) *'' Ale & C'' (2009) *''
Stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...
'' (2010) *'' iCanzonissime'' (2013) *'' Tu puoi se vuoi'' (2015) *'' Quell'altra'' (2017) *'' My Xmas'' (2022)


References


External links

*
RADIO ALE - The official web radio with all her hits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexia 1967 births Living people Italian women singers Italian pop musicians Eurodance musicians People from La Spezia Sanremo Music Festival winners Italian Roman Catholics