Umberto Antonio Tozzi (; born 4 March 1952) is an Italian pop and rock singer and songwriter. Throughout his career, he has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally, and his biggest international hits are: " Stella Stai", " Gloria", " Tu" and "

Ti Amo "Ti amo" (; Italian for "I love you") is a 1977 song recorded by Italian singer Umberto Tozzi from the album ''È nell'aria...ti amo''. It achieved success at the time, becoming a hit in many European countries, including Sweden and Switzerlan ...

Biography

Tozzi was born on 4 March 1952 in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

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 ...

. He is the second son of Nicola Tozzi, a police officer originally from Vico del Gargano, and Immacolata from

Montesarchio Montesarchio (; ; ) is a ''comune'' in the Province of Benevento, Campania, Southern Italy. It is located southwest of Benevento in the Valle Caudina at the foot of Monte Taburno. The commune was granted the official status of city (''città'') b ...

. They immigrated to

in 1945. In 1968, at the age of 16, Umberto Tozzi joined 'Off Sound', one of the many groups that performed in small venues around Turin. In

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 ...

, he met Adriano Pappalardo, with whom he formed a 13-piece band and began a large-scale Italian tour. In 1974, Tozzi had his first success as a songwriter, with the song "Un Corpo, un'anima" ("One Body, One Soul"), co-written with Damiano Dattoli and performed by

Wess Wesley Johnson known by his stage name Wess (August 13, 1945 — September 21, 2009) was an American-born Italian singing, singer and bass guitarist, perhaps mostly known for representing Italy along with Dori Ghezzi at the Eurovision Song Conte ...

and Dori Ghezzi. It appeared on '' Canzonissima'', an Italian music programme running from 1956 to 1974. In 1976, he released his first album, ''Donna Amante Mia'' ("Woman, My Lover"), which contained the single "Io Camminerò" ("I Will Walk"), which was sung with great success by Fausto Leali. In 1977, "

", one of Tozzi's most famous songs, was released. It stayed at number one on the Italian song charts for seven months and went on to become an international success throughout continental Europe. It also achieved decent success in the Americas and Australia, primarily in

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s. The single was awarded a gold record award in Australia, despite the fact that it only made number 25 on the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

there in late 1979. In 1978 he released ''Tu'', another hit in Italy, and held an Australian tour, which was organized by the Italo-Australian promoter Duane Zigliotto and concluded at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

with two full house concerts. The following year Tozzi recorded one of his most famous songs, " Gloria", which became a major hit in Italy in 1979 and 1980.

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

wrote English lyrics for the song, which became popular in the UK as well in 1979, and was sung and recorded by the English singer

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1945) is an English Rock music, rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe (band), Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest su ...

in 1980. A cover version of the song by the American singer Laura Branigan in 1982 caused the song to grow in popularity in the US as well. Branigan worked with the arranger and keyboardist of Tozzi's own version, Greg Mathieson, to give the song what she called "an American kick." The song reached the top of the charts, reached gold and platinum status in several countries, and stayed on the US pop charts for 36 weeks. By late 1980 he released " Stella Stai", another one of his major hits. In the early 1980s, he released an album called ''Tozzi'', which he recorded at a concert with a band of American musicians, and was his first live recording. Soon after, the Latin Group Menudo recorded the Spanish version of "Stella Stai", entitled "Claridad", which made it one of the highest-selling records in the whole of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. After a period of absence from the music scene, Tozzi returned in 1987 and won 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 " Si Può Dare Di Più" ("More can be given"), which he sang 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 ...

and Enrico Ruggeri. In 1987 he also released " Gente Di Mare" ("People of the Sea"), which he performed with Raf at Eurovision, and won third place. In 1988, Tozzi released his second live album, ''The Royal Albert Hall''. Umberto Tozzi Wiener Stadtfest 2014 03

In the 1990s, Tozzi recorded several more songs such as "Gli Altri Siamo Noi" ("We Are the Others"), the album ''Equivocando'' ("Misunderstanding"), ''Il Grido'' ("The Outcry") and ''Aria e Cielo'' ("Air and Sky"). He also released a

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

compilation, ''Le Mie Canzoni'' ("My Songs"). In 2000 and 2005, he performed "Un'altra Vita" ("Another Life") and "Le Parole" ("The Words") at the

. Between the two events, he also released a duet with the French singer Lena Ka of his classic "Ti Amo" as "Ti Amo (Rien Que des Mots)". Tozzi released another greatest hits compilation, a 2-disc set entitled ''The Best of'', and another single, "E Non Volo". In January 2009 he released the single " Cerco ancora te", composed by Emilio Munda and Matteo Gaggioli. In 2013, his re-edited version of "Gloria", sung in its original Italian, was placed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

onto the soundtrack of the 2014

Academy 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 ...

nominated blockbuster, '' The Wolf of Wall Street''. Throughout his career, Tozzi has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally.

Discography

;Studio albums *1976 - ''Donna amante mia'' *1977 - ''E' nell'aria...ti amo'' *1978 - ''Tu'' *1979 - ''Gloria'' *1980 - ''Tozzi'' *1981 - ''Notte rosa'' *1982 - ''Eva'' *1984 - ''Hurrah!'' *1987 - ''Invisibile'' *1991 - ''Gli altri siamo noi'' *1994 - ''Equivocando'' *1996 - ''Il grido'' *1997 - ''Aria & cielo'' *2000 - ''Un'altra vita'' *2005 - ''Le parole'' *2006 - ''Heterogene'' *2012 - ''Yesterday, Today'' *2015 - ''Ma che spettacolo'' ; Greatest hits albums *1987 - ''Minuti di un'eternità'' *1989 - ''Nell'aria c'è'' *1991 - ''Le mie canzoni'' *1999 - ''Bagaglio a mano'' *2002 - ''The best of Umberto Tozzi'' *2006 - ''Tozzi Masini'' *2009 - ''Superstar'' *2013 - ''Collection:Umberto Tozzi'' *2018 - ''The best of Umberto Tozzi'' *2018 - ''Raf Tozzi'' ;Live albums *1980 - ''In concerto'' *1988 - ''Royal Albert Hall'' *2009 - ''Non solo live'' *2017 - ''Quarant'anni che ti amo'' *2017 - ''Quarant'anni che ti amo in Arena'' *2019 - ''Due, la nostra storia''

Notes

External links

Official Umberto Tozzi website
* Biography of Umberto Tozzi from

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tozzi, Umberto 1952 births Musicians from Turin Living people Sanremo Music Festival winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants Italian male singers Italian pop singers Spanish-language singers of Italy People of Apulian descent People of Campanian descent