Zucchero

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Zucchero, byname of Adelmo Fornaciari (born September 25, 1955), is an Italian rock singer.

[edit] Career

He was born in Roncocesi, a frazione of Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna). His nickname, meaning "sugar", came from an elementary school teacher who said he was as sweet as sugar.

He is probably best known internationally for the song "Senza una donna", which has later become a duet with Paul Young and hit number 4 in the latter's native United Kingdom, where Zucchero has generally made little commercial impact, in 1991. He commenced his musical career in 1970 with his first single in 1976. His first album was released in 1983. His first great successes in Italy were the LPs Rispetto (1986), Blue’s (1987, with some of the songs written by Gino Paoli) and mostly Oro incenso e birra (1989), the most best-selling LP of Italian history.

His music, in Italian, Spanish and in English, is largely inspired by gospel, blues and rock music, and alternates between syrupy ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like pieces. He sang several duets, in public or on disc, with Sinead O'Connor, Joe Cocker, Miles Davis, Paul Young, Andrea Bocelli, Sting, Luciano Pavarotti, Tom Jones, and Johnny Hallyday.

European hit singles include "Il volo" (English version: "My love"), "Così celeste", "Baila (sexy thing)", "Diamante" (original Italian lyrics co-written with Francesco De Gregori, foreign version featuring soul singer Randy Crawford) and "Wonderful World" (with Eric Clapton). Zucchero's 2004 album ZU & Co features duets with Miles Davis, Paul Young, Ronan Keating, Sheryl Crow, The Cranberries's Dolores O'Riordan, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Maná, Brian May, and Sting. It has sold millions of copies throughout Europe and the world and entered the Billboard 200 charts after its release in the U.S. in the summer of 2005.

In July 2005, Zucchero took part in the Live 8 concerts in both Rome and Paris. In September 2006 his latest album, titled Fly, was released. Produced by Don Was, it includes the singles "Bacco perbacco" and "Cuba libre" and features collaborations with artists such as Ivano Fossati and Jovanotti. The album's track "L'amore è nell'aria" ("The Love Is In The Air"), borrows the instrumental backing to the b-side "Broken" by UK rock band Feeder, but it is a new recording based on the Feeder original rather than a sample taken directly from the recording.