Ermal Meta (; born 20 April 1981) is an Italian

singer 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 witho ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, composer, and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

of Albanian origin (he holds double citizenship). Born in

Fier Fier (; sq-definite, Fieri) is the seventh most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Fier County and Fier Municipality. It is situated on the bank of Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in the north, the Vjo ...

and raised in Bari, Meta rose to prominence as one of the lead singers of Ameba 4 and . After becoming a songwriter for several Italian artists, he launched his solo career, releasing two studio albums: ''Umano'' (2016) and ''Vietato morire'' (2017). The latter peaked at number one in Italy, and was preceded by the single with the same title, which placed third in the main competition of the

Sanremo Music Festival 2017 The Sanremo Music Festival 2017 ( it, 67° Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2017) was the 67th annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy between 7 and 11 February 201 ...

, also receiving the "

Mia Martini Mia Martini (; born Domenica Rita Adriana Bertè ; 20 September 1947 – 12 May 1995) was an Italian singer, songwriter and musician.James Christopher MongerMia Martini allmusic.com Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...

and went on to represent

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European B ...

in Lisbon,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

Biography

Life

Born in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

, Meta moved to Bari,

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

, at the age of 13, together with his family. Meta debuted as a guitarist of Italian band Ameba4, which competed in the Newcomers' section of the

Sanremo Music Festival 2006 The Sanremo Music Festival 2006 was the 56th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, province of Imperia, between late February and early March 2006 and broadcast by Rai 1. The show was presented by Italian comedian ...

with the song "Rido... forse mi sbaglio", included in their self-titled album, which was released in February 2006.

Career

In 2007 Meta became the frontman, lead singer and main songwriter of the band La Fame di Camilla. Their debut album, simply titled ''La Fame di Camilla'', was released by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in 2009. The band later released the albums ''Buio e luce'', including the title-track which competed in the Newcomers' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2010, and ''L'attesa'' (2012). The band split in 2013. After writing songs for several Italian artists, including

Marco Mengoni Marco Mengoni (; born 25 December 1988) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 2009, after winning the third season of Italian talent show '' X Factor''. Since that he has sold over 2.8 million records in Italy, peaking the ...

, Emma, Chiara,

Annalisa Annalisa Scarrone (born 5 August 1985) better known as simply Annalisa or Nali, is an Italian singer-songwriter, Record producer and TV personality. After being part of two bands, ''Elaphe Guttata'' and ''leNoire'' (Ex Malvasia), she became famou ...

Patty Pravo Patty Pravo (born Nicoletta Strambelli on 9 April 1948) is an Italian singer. She debuted in 1966 and remained most successful commercially for the rest of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Having suffered a decline in popularity in the followi ...

and Lorenzo Fragola, Meta started his solo career. In July 2013, he appeared as a featured artist on Patty Pravo's single "Non mi interessa". In 2014, he contributed the soundtrack of Italian television series ''

Braccialetti rossi ''Braccialetti rossi'' (; literally "''Red bracelets''") is an Italian television series broadcast on Rai 1 from 26 January 2014 to 2 December 2016. It is an adaptation of the 2011-2013 Catalan TV series '' Polseres vermelles'', and was the first ...

'', performing the song "Tutto si muove". In 2016, he competed in the 66th Sanremo Music Festival, performing the song "Odio le favole", which placed third in the Newcomers' section. "Odio le favole" was included in his debut solo album, ''Umano''. He returned to the contest in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, competing in the Big Artists section for the first time, with the song "Vietato morire". During the third night of the contest, he performed a cover of

Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song " Nel blu dipinto di blu", for which he received Grammy A ...

's "Amara terra mia", receiving the award for the Best Cover Performance. Meta placed third overall in the competition, and received the "Mia Martini" Critics' Prize. His second studio album, ''Vietato morire'', was released on 10 February 2017. The album also includes a duet with Italian singer-songwriter

Elisa The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presence ...

. In March 2017, Meta was chosen as a judge on the 16th series of Italian talent show ''

Amici di Maria De Filippi ''Amici'' (initially called ''Saranno Famosi'') is an Italian talent show. Created by Maria De Filippi, the show began in 2001 and has since aired annually. The show is produced by Fascino P.G.T. s.r.l. (owned by Maria De Filippi) and is broad ...

''. On 11 February 2018, Meta, along with

Fabrizio Moro Fabrizio Mobrici (born 9 April 1975), known by his stage name Fabrizio Moro, is an Italian singer-songwriter. He released his debut album in 2000 and he achieved commercial success in 2007, after winning the Newcomers' Section of the Sanremo Musi ...

, won the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2018 with the song

Non mi avete fatto niente "Non mi avete fatto niente" (English: "You haven't done anything to me") is a song performed by Italian singers Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro. The song was released as a digital download on 7 February 2018 as the lead single from the respective a ...

, and as such, represented

at the

in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2020, he released the single Finirà bene. In 2021, he competed in the Big Artists section of the

Sanremo Music Festival 2021 The Sanremo Music Festival 2021 ( it, 71º Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2021) was the 71st edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, organised and broadcast by RAI ...

with the song Un milione di cose da dirti. He placed third in the competition.

Discography

*''Umano'' (2016) *'' Vietato morire'' (2017) *''Non abbiamo armi'' (2018) *''Tribù urbana'' (2021)

Awards

References

External links

* * *
Ermal Meta
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meta, Ermal 1981 births Living people People from Fier Albanian songwriters Italian songwriters Italian guitarists Italian male singer-songwriters Italian pop singers Italian rock singers 21st-century Italian musicians Albanian emigrants to Italy Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Italy Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2018 Sanremo Music Festival winners 21st-century Italian male singers