Zucchero is a musician who is personified with Italian rhythm and blues. The real name of the singer is Adelmo Fornaciari. He was born on September 25, 1955 in Reggio nel Emilia, but as a child he moved with his parents to Tuscany.
Adelmo received his first music lessons at a church school, where he studied playing the organ. Nickname Zucchero (from Italian - sugar) the young man received from his teacher.
The beginning of Zucchero's career
The singer's musical career began in the 1970s of the last century. He started out in several rock bands and blues bands. Adelmo received recognition in the popular Italian band Taxi.
With this team, the young man won the Castrocaro-81 music competition. A year later there was the San Remo festival, then Nuvola and dei Fiori.
Adelmo Fornaciari released his first album in 1983. It was well received by critics and fans. But it was impossible to call the disc commercially successful. To gain experience, Zucchero went to the birthplace of the blues in San Francisco.
In the most picturesque city in the USA, Adelmo recorded an album with his friend Corrado Rustici and his friend Randy Jackson. Among the compositions of this disc was the song Donne, which brought the musician his first popularity.
Then there was Rispetto, which only consolidated the success. The singles began to take the lead in the charts. The first disc in Italy sold over 250 thousand copies. It was a "breakthrough".
But Zucchero became a real star after the release of Blue's. A circulation of 1 million 300 thousand copies was sold out in the homeland of the musician. I had to re-release the disc so that it could be purchased in other European countries and the USA. The release of this album was followed by a tour that was a huge success.
The next disc was released in 1989 and repeated the success of Blue's. On one of the tracks of Oro Incenso & Birra, in addition to the voice of Zucchero, there was a guitar and backing vocals of another blues genius, Eric Clapton. The tour in support of the album went off with the expected success.
In 1991, the musician recorded a song that became his hallmark. Composition Senza Una Donna, performed together with English vocalist Paul Young, immediately after the release took 2nd position in the English chart and 4th in the USA.
In the musician's piggy bank, you can make cooperation with Sting. He wrote several lyrics for the famous artist for his Italian hits. He also sang a duet with a British musician.
In 1991, Zucchero released the concert album Live in Moscow, recorded during the musician's performance in the Kremlin.
After the death of Freddie Mercury, Brian May invited the musician to perform at a concert in memory of the Queen soloist at Wembley Stadium. The singer had collaborations with such stars as: Joe Cocker, Ray Charles and Bono.
The creative path of the artist
In the fall of 1992, Zucchero's sixth studio album was released, which received Italian and English versions. The disc recorded a duet with Luciano Pavarotti, which was a huge success with the public. The album was certified multi-platinum and won The World Music Awards.
To record the next album, the singer decided to return to authentic blues. To do this, he again returned to the United States. Here he toured extensively and accumulated material.
To record the compositions of the Spirito Di Vino album, the musician invited famous American bluesmen. The recorded disc was released with a circulation of 2 million copies.
In 1996, Zucchero released a collection of his best compositions. In addition to 13 legendary hits, three new songs appeared on the Best of Zucchero - Greatest Hits disc.
The disc topped the charts in Argentina, Japan, Malaysia and South Africa. After the release of this disc, the musician was invited to perform at The House of Blues club. This meant that his services to the blues community were recognized.
In addition to this legendary venue, Zucchero performed on such iconic stages as Carnegie Hall, Wembley Stadium, Milan's La Scala. He recorded songs with famous musicians. His influence on the world blues is hard to underestimate.
Few people from Europe managed to surprise the founders of this genre, Adelmo Fornaciari managed to do this. This performer repeatedly toured in the countries of the former USSR, he had his fans there.
In 1998, the artist performed at the Grammy Awards as an invited guest. The musician gradually began to move away from the main genre, which helped him become famous.
The last tracks were recorded in dance rhythms and Italian ballads. He paid considerable attention to modern computer technologies. Computer samples appeared on his albums.
The musician turns 2020 in 65. But he is not going to stop there. He also continues to record albums and perform on tour.
Zucchero now
At the moment, the number of albums of the musician exceeds 50 million copies. He is one of the most popular Italian musicians in the world. Zucchero is the first non-English speaking artist to perform on stage at the famous Woodstock festival!
He regularly continues to delight with his new music. He is loved not only by fans of the blues and rock and roll genres, but also by connoisseurs of good music.
