Samuele Bersani | |
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Background information | |
Born | Rimini, Italy | 1 October 1970
Genres | Pop |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 1991–present |
Labels | Fuori Classifica |
Website |
samuelebersani |
Samuele Bersani (born 1 October 1970) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He received the " Mia Martini" Critics Award at the Sanremo Music Festival in 2000 and in 2012, with the songs "Replay" and "Un pallone", respectively. [1] [2] His best known songs also include "Giudizi universali", released in 1997 and certified in 2017 as a platinum-selling single by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry, [3] and " Spaccacuore", which was later covered by Italian singer Laura Pausini. [4] [5]
In 2000, Bersani recorded the soundtrack of the film Chiedimi se sono felice, by Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo. [6] In 2007, he won the Amnesty International Italy "Voci per la liberta" Award for "Occhiali rotti", a song included in his album L'aldiqua (2006) and written in memory of journalist Enzo Baldoni. [7] His record Cinema Samuele received the Targa Tenco for Best Album in 2021. [8]
Samuele Bersani was born on 1 October 1970 in Rimini, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. [9] His father was a music teacher, while his mother was an employee, and she also became the vice-mayor of Cattolica, the town in which he grew up. [10] [11] He studied at the classical lyceum, but he left school a few months before his " maturity exam". [11] While he was a teenager, Bersani played in several local bands and took part in local singing competitions. In 1991, he met Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla before a concert Dalla was going to give in San Benedetto del Tronto, in Central Italy. Bersani asked Dalla to listen to a recording of his original song "Il mostro", and a few minutes later Dalla's producer, Renzo Cremonini, told him to open the concert performing the song. [11] Bersani was then chosen as the opening act for the remaining concerts of Dalla's Cambio tour. [12]
Bersani's debut album, C'hanno preso tutto, was released in November 1992. [11] The album included the song "Il mostro", as well as the single "Chiccho e Spillo", which allowed Bersani to receive media attention, becoming a radio hit and supporting sales of the album, which sold more than 20,000 copies in Italy. [11] [12] In 1995, Bersani released his second album, Freak. The album's lead single, "Freak", was released in February of the same year, but some Italian radio stations decided not to air it as a consequence of a line referring both to the Italian conservative coalition and to the Italian Communist Party, which was considered a violation of the "par condicio law", which introduced fees for those stations giving airplay to songs including political messages during the electoral campaign preceding the Italian regional elections. [13] [14] [15] As a consequence, Bersani's label decided to anticipate the release of the second single from the album, " Spaccacuore". [16] Both "Freak" and "Spaccacuore" were later performed by Bersani during the itinerant television show Festivalbar, during the summer of 1995. [17] [18] The album was a commercial success, and it was certified platinum, selling more than 130,000 copies in Italy. [19]