Belladonna is an Italian rock band founded by songwriters Luana Caraffa and Dani Macchi. They have described their style of music as "Rock noir". Being one of the most listened-to bands on

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

, their first self-produced album ''Metaphysical Attraction'' entered the 2008

Grammy Awards 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 a ...

ballot. They have released six albums and several singles, including ''Let There Be Light'', written and recorded with British film composer

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

.The collaboration with Belladonna mentioned on Michael Nyman's website
They have toured all over the world, performed at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and have supported

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the ban ...

, and Dita Von Teese. Belladonna's music has been used in the trailers of major Hollywood films, including '' Minions'', ''

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

'', ''

My Cousin Rachel ''My Cousin Rachel'' is a Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier, published in 1951. Bearing thematic similarities to her earlier and more famous novel ''Rebecca'', it is a mystery-romance, set primarily on a large estate i ...

'', ''Godless'', '' The Dark Tower'', ''

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

'', and ''

Fahrenheit 11/9 ''Fahrenheit 11/9'' is a 2018 American documentary by filmmaker Michael Moore about the 2016 United States presidential election and first presidency of Donald Trump up to the time of the film's release. The film is a follow-up to Moore's ''Fah ...

.''

Career

''Metaphysical Attraction''

Belladonna was formed on 14 February 2005 in Rome, Italy, by Luana Caraffa and Dani Macchi after forming "a songwriting partnership". During the course of the following months Belladonna wrote and recorded many songs, eleven of which would become their first full album: ''Metaphysical Attraction''. Within months of creating a MySpace account in 2005, Belladonna became the most played Italian band on MySpace next to

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded ten studio albums, two extended plays, two l ...

. As Belladonna's celebrity status grew in 2006, they were interviewed by major media outlets such as '' GQ''. '' Glamour'' magazine did a two-page photo spread on the band and their MySpace fame. In early 2007 National Italian television ''

La7 La7 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned by Cairo Communication. Cairo Communication acquired it from Telecom Italia Media, itself owned by Telecom Italia, in 2013. La7 features a generalist programming schedule, primarily ...

'' resounded Belladonna's web popularity in a news story that described them as "the most listened to Italian band on MySpace". In August 2007, Belladonna released the music video of ''Mystical Elysian Love'' which was filmed on location in Berlin, Germany. The video reached #73 on the worldwide YouTube most watched music videos chart on the same day it was released. In November 2007 Belladonna was the headliner musical act for the Erotica 07 event at The Grand Hall, Olympia in London. Sharing the stage with Belladonna at Erotica 07 was burlesque artist Dita Von Teese,

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

's former wife. The attendance of the Erotica 07 event was estimated at over 100,000 people. In 2008, two tracks from Belladonna's first album ''Metaphysical Attraction'', ''Black Swan'' and ''Foreverland'', were nominated in the Ballot of the

2008 Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonie ...

for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (Category 16) and for Best Rock Song (Category 20).

''The Noir Album''

In June 2008, Belladonna collaborated with

Sylvia Massy Sylvia Lenore Massy is an American record producer, mixer, and engineer. Her first major breakthrough occurred with 1993's ''Undertow (Tool album), Undertow'', the full-length triple platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles alternative metal band ...

at Radiostar Studios to produce recordings for their second album.

has produced bands such as

Tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...

, System of a Down,

Skunk Anansie Skunk Anansie are a British Rock music, rock band whose members include Skin (musician), Skin (vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar), Ace (guitar) and Mark Richardson (musician), Mark Richardson (drums). Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded ...

, and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

. In December 2008 Belladonna embarked on a promotional tour that included a show at The Fly in London. Belladonna's second album ''The Noir Album'' was released on 6 March 2009. The band played showcases at the Key Club in Los Angeles (CA) on 16 March and at South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

on 18 March. In May 2009 Belladonna appeared the cover of the US magazine ''Muen'' with

. From September 2009 the album's first single ''Till Death Do Us Part'' received airplay on UK's

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, where

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

singer

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present d ...

aired it on his

Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...

On tour around the world

In June 2009, Belladonna played a show as special guests to

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pu ...

bass player

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician. He was the bassist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses for twelve years, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McKagan rejoined the b ...

's band Loaded, and in an open-air music festival in Milan with Mars Volta,

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

and

In October 2009, Belladonna performed at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles alongside other well-known Italian artists such as

Franco Battiato Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs explore many themes (including, but not limited to, ph ...

, Giovanni Allevi, and Afterhours. On 26 November 2009, Belladonna played a UK showcase at The Garage in London. In 2010, Belladonna toured Belgium once and the UK twice, and gigged regularly around Italy.Belladonna @ Purple Turtle in London on sonicshocks.com

Collaboration with Michael Nyman

In December 2010, Belladonna released ''Let There Be Light'', a single written in collaboration with English composer

and based on his ''The Heart Asks Pleasure First'' from the soundtrack of the

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...

movie

The Piano ''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical romance film written and directed by New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion. It stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin (in her first major acting role). The film focuses on a mute Sc ...

. Michael Nyman himself plays piano on the track.

''And There Was Light''

In August 2010, the band started pre-production on their third album ''And There Was Light'', which they recorded in November in Los Angeles., produced by Dani Macchi with the help of Grammy-nominated producer Alex Elena and of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's ''Metallica'' (album) engineer Mike Tacci, and mixed by Macchi in the band's studio in Rome. The album features several musical guests, including Imani Coppola and Ruby Friedman, as well as spoken word contributions by British occultist

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

and German psychologist

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

In May 2011, ''And There Was Light'' was released on iTunes worldwide. The album enters the Italian iTunes Top 100, and reaches the number one spot in the

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon based online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. It was established in 1998 and offered distribution fo ...

chart of the best selling rock albums worldwide. In September 2011, Belladonna are mentioned alongside

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

and

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

's frontman

Vince Neil Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist of heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 formation until his departure in 1992. Neil reunited with the ...

's autobiography ''Tattoos and Tequila'' as one of the most important acts that have been influenced by Mötley Crüe in recent years.

Touring Europe

Belladonna went on tour around Europe during 2012, playing shows in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Czech Republic. In May 2012, Belladonna's guitar player Dani Macchi was voted Best Italian Indie Guitar Player in a poll organized by MEI, the official Italian Indie Labels Association.

The ''Sweet Child O' Mine'' single

In March 2013, Belladonna released a cover of the

track ''

Sweet Child O' Mine "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released on their debut studio album, '' Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). In the United States, the song was released in June 1988, topping the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 cha ...

'' and made it available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

, and as free download on their

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

page.

''Shooting Dice with God''

On 22 April 2013, Belladonna released their fourth album ''Shooting Dice with God''. The video of the first single off the album, ''Karma Warrior'', gets featured as an exclusive preview on the

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

Italy website. The band went immediately on tour all over Europe to support this album release. On 26 February 2014, Belladonna played a headline show in London's legendary rock venue The Borderline

The ''Undress Your Soul'' single

On 10 June 2015, Belladonna released ''Undress Your Soul'' a song written and produced in collaboration with renowned Italian film composer Pasquale Catalano, based on his music of Italian cult TV series

Romanzo criminale – La serie ''Romanzo criminale – La serie'' (; meaning "Criminal Novel – The Series") is an Italian crime drama television series based on the novel of the same name by the judge Giancarlo De Cataldo. The series is an adaptation of the film ''Romanzo C ...

. The track's video is premiered on Italy's best-selling newspaper

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

's website

''The God Below'' single in a ''Minions'' TV spot

In July 2015, the Belladonna single ''The God Below'' is used in the ''Fifty Shades of Yellow'' international TV spot of the animation movie '' Minions''.

''The Orchestral Album''

The 23 March 2016, the band released ''The Orchestral Album'', featuring 10 songs from their catalogue completely re-arranged and recorded with a concert orchestra featuring many of

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

's regular orchestral players and conducted by Kazakh arranger/conductor Angelina Yershova, who co-produced the album with Belladonna's guitarist and producer Dani Macchi.

''The Belladonna Soundscape Collection Vol.1''

In 2017, Belladonna released ''The Belladonna Soundscape Collection Vol.1'', a film industry-only release of over 200 instrumental tracks all recorded using exclusively original elements from their albums. During the course of the same year tracks from this collection are used in the trailers and TV spots of big-budget Hollywood movies such as ''

'', ''

'', and '' The Dark Tower''. The band then gets commissioned to write music for the trailer of the Marvel movie ''

'', released in October 2017.

The ''Spiders of Gomorrah'' single in a Netflix trailer

In November 2017, Belladonna released the single ''Spiders of Gomorrah''. The song is featured in the trailer of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''Godless''.

Belladonna's guitarist at ''The Voice of Italy'' and on Michael Moore's ''Fahrenheit 11/9'' trailer

In 2018, Belladonna's guitarist Dani Macchi was chosen by

Cristina Scabbia Cristina Adriana Chiara Scabbia (; born 6 June 1972) is an Italian singer. She is one of the two vocalists of gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. Scabbia used to write an advice column in the rock magazine ''Revolver'', alongside musician Vinnie P ...

to be the vocal coach of her team on the 2018 edition of the tv talent show ''

The Voice of Italy ''The Voice of Italy'' is a reality singing competition and Italian version of the international syndication '' The Voice'' based on the reality singing competition launched in the Netherlands, created by Dutch television producer John de Mol Jr ...

''. In August 2018 Dani Macchi is featured in the trailer of

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

's movie ''

'', performing a rock guitar version of "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

''No Star Is Ever Too Far''

In January 2019, the band released its sixth album ''No Star Is Ever Too Far''. Three of its songs have been licensed in international movies and trailers: ''The Turing Sniper'' is featured in '' Remember Me, My Love'', the

Gabriele Muccino Gabriele Muccino (; born 20 May 1967) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has worked his way from making short films only aired on Italian television to become a well-known and successful American filmmaker. He is the elder brother o ...

drama featuring

Monica Bellucci Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model who began her career as a fashion model before working in Italian, American, and French films. She has an eclectic filmography in a range of genres and langua ...

, ''Black Beauty'' is featured in the

documentary movie ''

'', and ''We Belong To Hell'' is included in the international tv spot of the thriller ''

''.

The ''New Future Travelogue'' NFT auction

On the 17th of March 2021 Belladonna put up for auction their new single ''New Future Travelogue'', and become the first artists in the world to auction a song as a 1-of-1 NFT (Non-Fungible token), making the auction winner the only person to own a copy of the song, and including in the sale the song’s Master rights.

The collaboration with Carlo Rovelli

In November 2022 Belladonna released the single ''Nothing Shines Unless It Burns'', recorded with

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

and author

Carlo Rovelli Carlo Rovelli (born 3 May 1956) is an Italian theoretical physicist and writer who has worked in Italy, the United States, France, and Canada. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the Centre de Physique Theorique of Marseille in France, a Disti ...

, The single was also auctioned off as a 1-of-1 NFT. In October 2023 the song enters the Grammy Awards ballot in the ''Best Rock Song'' category

Band members

*Luana Caraffa – vocals *Dani Macchi – guitar *Martina Petrucci – piano *Anastasia Angelini – bass *Mattia Mari – drums

Discography

Albums

* ''Metaphysical Attraction'' (2006) * ''The Noir Album'' (2009) * ''And There Was Light'' (2011) * ''Shooting Dice with God'' (2013) * '' The Orchestral Album'' (2016) * ''No Star Is Ever Too Far'' (2019)

References

External links

Official Belladonna site

Belladonna on Facebook

Belladonna on YouTube

Belladonna on Spotify
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belladonna Musical groups established in 2005 Italian musical groups