Natalie Di Luccio (born 29 June 1989) is an Italian-Canadian classical-crossover singer from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. She is often referred to as "

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

" because of her unique renditions of Indian classics. Her career began in 2010 when she released music videos on YouTube of

film songs, which went viral and caught the attention of

Grammy 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 ...

and

Oscar Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

winning composer

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

. Di Luccio was later invited to perform with composer Amit Trivedi as well as on '' Coke Studio'' on

MTV India MTV is an Indian pay television channel specialising in music, reality and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 as the Indian version of the original American network and is owned by JioStar, under a license agreement with Par ...

. She started her professional career in Bollywood with notable playback singer

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian playback singer, music director, dubbing artist and actor. He is one of the most versatile singers and widest vocal ranges in the history of Indian music. His songs vary from romantic to break-up, cla ...

and has been a singer for various feature film soundtracks ('' English Vinglish'', '' Ladies vs Ricky Bahl'', and '' Chennai Express''). Di Luccio has also worked with legendary Italian music producer Mauro Malavasi (

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

) in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy.

Early life

Di Luccio was born on 29 June 1989 in Toronto, Ontario, and trained to be a classical singer. Her father is from

Agropoli Agropoli is a town and ''comune'' located in the Cilento area of the province of Salerno, Campania, Italy. It is situated at the start of the Cilentan Coast, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. History Pre-medieval period The promontory on which Agropoli ...

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and her mother is from

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, Canada. She was a student at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts. She went to

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

to study Western classical voice and pursue a career in music. She has said that some of her musical influences growing up were singers like

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 ...

and

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, ...

. Di Luccio began working with

multi-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

Canadian music producer Matthew Tishler at the age of 13 and continues to work with him today.

Career

Di Luccio's link with Bollywood started when she received a message over

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 ...

to record a small part in

's devotional album, ''Maha Ganesha'', in 2009. She later went on to record a

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

tribute song with

. Di Luccio shot to fame when she recorded and released on YouTube her version of a popular

song, " Tu Jaane Na". This music video reached over 1 million views overnight. After her YouTube success she was asked to be a part of many reality shows including the Indian reality TV show ''

Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality show franchise based on the Dutch reality show '' Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through JioStar Network. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made internationally availabl ...

'', but rejected these offers to focus on her music. She performed with Amit Trivedi and Shriram Iyer the song "Bari Bari" produced by Amit Trivedi, on '' Coke Studio'', Season 2 broadcast on

and

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...

(National Channel of India). In 2013, Di Luccio worked with Italian music producer Mauro Malavasi (

). She spent time in

connecting with her roots and recording new material with Malavasi. In 2013, Di Luccio sang a Gujarati song called "Prarthana". This was the first time a western classical piece had been sung in this language. Di Luccio caught the attention of

and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

winning composer

and continues to join him on several occasions for live concerts across India. She made her Tamil music debut with "Aila Aila" composed by Rahman for the film '' I'' directed by Shankar. She performed the song live at the televised audio launch in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

on 15 September 2014. The launch was witnessed by honorary guests

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

and Rajnikanth. In May 2015 Di Luccio was a TEDxGateway speaker in Mumbai at NCPA Theatre. She spoke about the importance of getting out of one's comfort zone and about how music brought her to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Di Luccio has sung an Arabic piece for the soundtrack of the film " Muhammad: The Messenger of God" directed by Majid Majidi and composed by A.R.Rahman.

Personal life

Di Luccio was in a relationship with Indian film and television actor Eijaz Khan from 2011 to 2015. They met on a plane during one of her initial visits to Mumbai. She said that Khan was the inspiration for her first Hindi song. In 2018, Natalie married MTV Roadies creator Raghu Ram. On 6 January 2020, they had a baby boy named Rhythm.

Television

Di Luccio joined Season 4 of ''Life Mein Ek Baar'', an adventure travel show on Fox Life India. The series was shot in Hong Kong and premiered on 20 October 2015. In May 2017, Di Luccio became a part of ''Nexa Journeys on the

Asian Highway 1 Asian Highway 1 (AH1) is the longest east-west route of the Asian Highway Network, running from Tokyo, Japan via the Korean Peninsula (South Korea and North Korea), China (Mainland China and Hong Kong), Mainland Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Camb ...

'', a unique reality travel show which premiered on

Discovery Channel India Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is an Indian pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery for the Indian subcontinent. Launched on 15 August 1995. It is the Indian version of Discovery Channel. It is availabl ...

. Di Luccio, along with four known personalities, ( Saransh Goila,

Pallavi Sharda Pallavi Sharda (born 5 March 1992) is an Australian actress and Bharathanatyam dancer of Indian descent. She won the Miss India Australia beauty pageant in 2010. As an actress she is best known for her role in the Academy Award nominated film ...

, Taras Taraporvala, and Girish Karkera), drove all the way from India to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

via

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

on the

. Di Luccio collaborated with many local musicians along the way, most notably with Rewben Mashangva in

Kohima Kohima (; Tenyidie: Kewhira ()) is the capital of the North East Indian state of Nagaland. With a resident population of almost 100,000, it is the second largest city in the state. Kohima constitutes both a district and a municipality. The m ...

, Nagaland.

Discography

Music videos

* "Tu Jaane Na" – released on YouTube 29 September 2010 * "Kahin To Hogi Wo" – released on YouTube 2 November 2010 * "Pehla Nasha" – released on YouTube 28 April 2011 * "Baby, Te Amo" – released on YouTube 28 May 2012 * "Prarthana" – released on YouTube 19 September 2013 * "Khuda Jaane/Wrecking Ball" – released on YouTube 17 November 2013 * "O Holy Night" – released on YouTube on 12 December 2013 * " Galliyan" – released on YouTube 19 July 2014 * "Aila Aila" * "Konjam Nilavu" – released on YouTube 18 March 2015 * "Hamari Adhuri Kahani" – released on YouTube 20 August 2015 * "A Dream from Rajasthan (Nella Fantasia)" – released on YouTube 17 March 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Luccio, Natalie 1989 births Living people Singers from Toronto Canadian women pop singers Canadian people of Italian descent McGill University alumni Canadian playback singers Canadian expatriates in Italy Expatriate musicians in India Canadian expatriate musicians Canadian expatriates in India Bollywood playback singers Tamil playback singers 21st-century Canadian singers 21st-century Canadian women singers Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts alumni