Biagio Antonacci (; born 9 November 1963) is an Italian singer-songwriter from
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
.
Biography
Early life
Biagio Antonacci was born in Milan and was raised in one of its
suburbs
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
(
Rozzano
Rozzano ( ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region Lombardy, located about south of Milan.
Rozzano borders the following municipalities: Milan, Assago, Zibido San Giacomo, Opera, Pieve Emanue ...
). Despite learning how to play the drums at a young age, he had to study to obtain a diploma in surveying. He participated in the 38th
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 1988 with the song ''Voglio vivere in un attimo''. He was first signed to a record company in 1989, with his debut album ''Sono cose che capitano'' which went unnoticed except for the song ''Fiore''. His second album, ''Adagio Biagio'', was released two years later. He slowly rose to recognition due to his two songs ''Danza sul mio petto'' and ''Però ti amo'' receiving
airtime on the radio.
He has two sons with
Marianna Morandi, daughter of the Italian singer and actor
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 ...
.
Success
Despite the interest raised from his first two albums, he did not break into the music scene. He was aware that if his third album did not satisfy the expectations of the record company, he would be gambling with his career. In 1992 he released a single from his third album, ''Liberatemi'' with which he travelled around Italy participating in 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 ...
and with which he finally obtained the recognition he deserved. The album ''Liberatemi'', produced by
Mauro Malavasi, sold 150,000 copies and ratified the importance of Biagio Antonacci in the world of
Italian music
In Italy, music has traditionally been one of the cultural markers of Italian national cultures and ethnic identity and holds an important position in society and in Italian politics, politics. Italian music innovationin scale (music), musi ...
. In spite of these commitments, he dedicated his time to another of his passions,
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
; and became the leader of homegrown singers that aim to benefit charities. In one of these occasions Don
Pierino Gelmini and various enterprises collaborated with him on a project for young dropouts to return. In 1993 he participated in 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 ...
with the song ''Non so più a chi credere''; in the same year he toured around all of Italy and gained public acknowledgement.
1999 he had a hit single with
Viktor Lazlo
Sonia Dronnier (born 7 October 1960), known by her stage name Viktor Lazlo, is a French writer, singer, and comedian.
Born in France, she studied in Belgium, where she is primarily known. Her biggest hit was "Breathless" in 1987. That year sh ...
in Belgium, "It's a Message for You" for her album ''
Amour(s)'', which peaked at No. 7 on the Belgian single charts and remained there for 17 weeks.
On 1 September 2005 in Hollywood, Biagio Antonacci received the
World Music Award for "Best-Selling Male Italian Artist" for over a million copies of his two-part album ''Convivendo'' sold by early November.
Discography
Studio albums
* 1989: ''Sono cose che capitano''
* 1991: ''Adagio Biagio''
* 1992: ''Liberatemi'' (ITA: 2× Platinum)
* 1994: ''Biagio Antonacci'' (ITA: 5× Platinum)
* 1996: ''
Il mucchio'' (ITA: 5× Platinum)
* 1998: ''
Mi fai stare bene'' (ITA: Diamond)
* 2001: ''
9/nov/2001''
* 2004: ''
Convivendo parte 1'' (ITA: 6× Platinum)
* 2005: ''
Convivendo parte 2'' (ITA: 8× Platinum)
* 2007: ''
Vicky Love'' (ITA: 5× Platinum)
* 2010: ''
Inaspettata'' (ITA: 3× Platinum)
* 2012: ''
Sapessi dire no'' (ITA: 2× Platinum)
* 2014: ''
L'amore comporta''
* 2017: ''
Dediche e manie''
* 2019: ''
Chiaramente visibili dallo spazio''
Compilations
* 1993: ''Non so piu' a chi credere''
* 2000: ''
Tra le mie canzoni'' (compilation with two new tracks)
* 2008: ''Best of Biagio Antonacci 1989–2000'' (double CD) (ITA: Platinum)
* 2008: ''Best of Biagio Antonacci 2001–2007'' (ITA: Gold)
* 2008: ''Il cielo ha una porta sola'' (includes re-recorded hits) (ITA: 3× Platinum)
Special editions
* 1999: ''
Mi fai stare bene LE'' (limited edition with
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
)
* 2003: ''Cuanto tiempo...y ahora'' (for the Spanish and South American markets)
* 2005: ''Convivendo'' (Part I and Part II + DVD)
Videography
* 2000: ''Live in Palermo'' (concert on 10 July 1999)
* 2005: ''ConVivo'' (concerts throughout April 2005 at the ''
Forum di Assago'')
References
External links
Official site (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antonacci, Biagio
1963 births
Living people
Singers from Milan
Italian male singer-songwriters
20th-century Italian singer-songwriters
21st-century Italian singer-songwriters
Italian pop singers
World Music Awards winners
People of Apulian descent