Italian pop and rock singer and composer (born 1952)
Umberto Tozzi
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Tozzi performing in 2014
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Birth name
| Umberto Tozzi
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Born
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1952-03-04
)
4 March 1952
(age 72)
Turin
,
Piedmont
,
Italy
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Genres
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Occupation(s)
|
- Singer
- songwriter
- composer
- record producer
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Instrument(s)
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Years active
| 1968?present
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Website
| Official Umberto Tozzi website
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Musical artist
Umberto Antonio Tozzi
(
pronounced
[um?b?rto
an?t?ːnjo
?t?ttsi]
; born 4 March 1952) is an Italian
pop
and
rock
singer and composer. Throughout his career, he has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally, and his biggest international hits are:
"
Stella Stai
", "
Gloria
",
[1]
"
Tu
" and "
Ti Amo
".
Biography
[
edit
]
Tozzi was born on 4 March 1952 in
Turin
,
Italy
. He is the second son of Nicola Tozzi, a police officer originally from
Vico del Gargano
, and Immacolata from
Montesarchio
. They immigrated to
Turin
in 1945.
[2]
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
, 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
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 Camminero" ("I Will Walk"), which was sung with great success by Fausto Leali. In 1977, "
Ti Amo
", 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
nightclubs
. The single was awarded a gold record award in Australia, despite the fact that it only made number 25 on the charts there in late 1979.
[3]
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
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
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
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."
[4]
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
.
After a period of absence from the music scene, Tozzi returned in 1987 and won the
Sanremo Music Festival
with the song "
Si Puo Dare Di Piu
" ("More can be given"), which he sang with
Gianni Morandi
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
.
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
compilation,
Le Mie Canzoni
("My Songs").
In 2000 and 2005, he performed "Un'altra Vita" ("Another Life") and "Le Parole" ("The Words") at the
Sanremo Music Festival
. 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
onto the soundtrack of the 2014 Academy Awards nominated blockbuster,
The Wolf of Wall Street
.
[5]
Throughout his career, Tozzi has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally.
Discography
[
edit
]
- 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
- 2009 -
Non solo live
- 2012 -
Yesterday, today
- 2015 -
Ma che spettacolo
- Greatest hits albums
- 1987 -
Minuti di un'eternita
- 1991 -
Le mie canzoni
- 1999 -
Bagaglio a mano
- 2002 -
The best of Umberto Tozzi
- 2006 -
Tozzi Masini
- 2009 -
Superstar
- 2012 -
Yesterday, today
- 2017 -
Quarant'anni che ti amo
- 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
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Participation
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Artists
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Songs
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- Note: Entries scored out signify where Italy did not compete
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Countries
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Artists
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Songs
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- "
Amour, amour
"
- "
Aspro mavro
"
- "Boogaloo"
- "
Gente di mare
"
- "
Hægt og hljott
"
- "
Hold Me Now
"
- "
Ja sam za ples
"
- "
Lass die Sonne in dein Herz
"
- "
En lille melodi
"
- "
Mitt liv
"
- "
Moitie, moitie
"
- "
Les Mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche
"
- "
Neste barco a vela
"
- "
No estas solo
"
- "
Nur noch Gefuhl
"
- "
Only the Light
"
- "
Rechtop in de wind
"
- "
?arkım Sevgi Ustune
"
- "
Sata salamaa
"
- "
Shir Habatlanim
"
- "Soldiers of Love"
- "Stop"
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Performers
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1960s
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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Songs
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1960s
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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- "Sotto questo sole"
- "Quattro amici"
- "Mare mare"
- "Il battito animale"
- "Io muoio di te"
- "Tieni il tempo"
- "
Piu bella cosa
"
- "Che male c'e"
- "Io no"
- "Un raggio di sole"
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2000s
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- "Qualcosa di grande"
- "Ti prendo e ti porto via"
- "Tutti vogliono viaggiare in prima"
- "
Un'emozione per sempre
"
- "Il grande Baboomba"
- "Lascia che io sia"
- "Happy Hour"
- "Parlami d'amore"
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1950s
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1960s
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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2010s
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2020s
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International
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National
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Artists
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People
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Other
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