Laura Pausini
| Laura Pausini | |
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 Laura Pausini, April 2009 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Laura Pausini |
| Born | 16 May 1974 Solarolo, Ravenna, Italy |
| Origin | Emilia-Romagna, Italy |
| Genres | Pop, pop rock |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | CGD/CGD East West, Atlantic, Warner |
| Associated acts | Nek, Juanes |
| Website | www.laurapausini.com twitter.com/officialpausini |
Laura Pausini (Italian pronunciation: [pau.ˈziː.ni]), omri, (born 16 May 1974, Solarolo, Ravenna)[A] is an Italian singer-songwriter and record producer signed to Warner Music Group since 1993. Dubbed the "Queen of Italian pop" by entertainment news outlets,[1] Pausini is famed for her soulful voice and romantic ballads. She is also known for multilingual music productions that span five languages—her native Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese and French.
Pausini debuted at the 43rd Annual Sanremo Music Festival in 1993. Her first place victory[2] in the competition's New Talent division helped launch her music career in Europe. She later tapped the hispanophone and lusophone markets in Ibero-America with crossover recordings. Since 1996, she has concurrently released Spanish–language companion editions with her vernacular studio albums—"a practice that [has] come to define her career and compound her success".[3] In 2001, she recapped eight years of success with a greatest hits album, issued in the two customary editions—Italian and Spanish. Following an English-language crossover attempt in 2002, Pausini returned with the galvanizing studio album Escucha (2004). The recording garnered a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in 2006.[4]
As of March 2009, Pausini maintains worldwide record sales in excess of 45 million.[5][6][7] In 2004, with Pausini's sales tally at only 25 million, Allmusic's Jason Birchmeier considered this "an impressive feat for someone who'd never really broken into the lucrative English–language market".[3]
Contents |
Biography
Laura is the eldest of two daughters born to Fabrizio Pausini and Gianna Ballardini.[8] Alluding to Pausini's autobiographical track "Viaggio con te" (2000), Valentina Khalife of Miami New Times affirms, "Playful strings suggest that the singer grew up happily with the help of her father's love".[9] She started to sing in local piano bars with her father Fabrizio, a musician and singer, when she was only eight years old. At the age of thirteen, Laura had her first recording experience with the album I sogni di Laura (Laura's Dreams), a semi-professional release produced by her father in 1987. In 1993 her career was launched when she won the prestigious Italian Sanremo Music Festival with one of her best known songs, "La solitudine".[2]
As a natural consequence, she signed a contract with Warner Music Italy to release her first professional album, Laura Pausini (1993), which was a big success in Italy, France, as well as in The Netherlands. Her second album, Laura, was released in 1994 and was such a big hit that her recording company offered her a deal to record in Spanish.
At the end of 1994, Pausini released her first Spanish album, Laura Pausini, a compilation of ten adapted versions of hits from her first two Italian albums. The album was so successful that it made her a household name in the Spanish-speaking world. Her song "Se fue" was one of the most played songs of 1995 according to the Hot Latin Tracks chart of Billboard.
Following this success, Pausini simultaneously released Spanish editions of her native Italian language albums: Le cose che vivi (1996), La mia risposta (1998) and Tra te e il mare (2000), were released in Spain and Latin America as Las cosas que vives, Mi respuesta and Entre tú y mil mares, respectively. She also recorded three bonus tracks in Portuguese for a special edition of her album Le cose che vivi in 1996.
The first English language recording made by Pausini was of her Italian language hit "La solitudine" rendered by lyricist Tim Rice as "The Loneliness" for a UK single release of 19 June 1995 which was overlooked. In 1999 she contributed the Richard Marx composition "One More Time" to the Message in a Bottle soundtrack; the track was produced by David Foster who was featured on piano. Also in 1999, famed Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti invited Pausini to his annual "Pavarotti and Friends" concert, and the two of them sang the Italian version of the aria Dein ist mein ganzes Herz, titled Tu che m'hai preso il cuor, from Franz Lehár's operetta Das Land des Lächelns. In 2000, she recorded the theme "The Extra Mile" for the soundtrack of the movie Pokémon 2000: The Power of One.
Pausini's first English album, From the Inside, was released by Atlantic Records on 5 November 2002; producers included Patrick Leonard and John Shanks. The first single "Surrender" became a U.S. disco hit reaching #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in Billboard but - despite extensive promotion by Pausini - the track did not accrue support from U.S. radio. "Surrender" did become a Top Ten hit in Canada - radio there supporting the track due to its having a Cancon qualifying songwriting credit - and the track returned Pausini to the charts in several European nations reaching #7 in Italy but for the most part occasioning a dip in her popularity. The album's second single: "If That's Love" reached #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the spring of 2003; Pausini at the time was on a promotional junket to the UK which included a TOTP performance of "Surrender", and - disappointed at her English language debut being ignored in the U.S. outside the club scene - she abandoned promotion for From the Inside. The album's global sales are estimated at 800,000 units with the U.S. tally a disappointing 100,000.
2001 saw the release of Pausini's first hits compilation both in Italian and Spanish: The Best of Laura Pausini: E ritorno da te and Lo mejor de Laura Pausini: Volveré junto a ti. In 2003 Luciano Pavarotti again invited her to the "Pavarotti and Friends" concert and once more they sang Tu che m'hai preso il cuor. In 2004 she released Resta in ascolto. The Spanish version of this album, Escucha, awarded Pausini a Latin Grammy in 2005 and a Grammy in 2006. This made her the first Italian female to receive such honors. The song "Víveme" was featured as the theme music to La Madrastra, a popular Mexican telenovela, in which she had a memorable cameo appearance.
About her album Io canto (Italian for 'I sing') she has said: "I chose the music I listen to, in sad moments as well as in other, more special ones, those tunes that have taught me how to feel, how to love music beyond genres and styles."[10] On 2 June 2007, Laura Pausini was the first female artist to play at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy in front of a crowd of 70,000 spectators. Later that year the concert was released on CD and DVD and became very successful in Italy and Spain.
On 8 November 2007, Laura won a Latin Grammy Award for the best female album with 'Yo Canto', the Spanish version of the album 'Io Canto'. Laura dedicated the award to the memory of Italian legend Luciano Pavarotti. Later on during the show she sang songs from her album 'Yo Canto' alongside Italian singer Andrea Bocelli.
In 2008 Laura spent most of her time in the studio, recording another new album. Her tenth studio album called Primavera in anticipo was first released in its Spanish language edition Primavera Anticipada on 11 November 2008 in the hispanophone market, then was released in the Italian language edition in Italy on 14 November 2008. The international version of the album was released on 18 November in Spain, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Malta and other European countries. On 1 December 2008, the album was released in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela. In 2009, Laura Pausini began a new World tour, starting in Italy and across Europe, then to North America and South America. In November 2009 she won her third Latin Grammy Award for best female album with "Primavera anticipada", in 2010 she won her third Lo Nuestro Award for "Female artist of the year". Becoming one of the best selling Latin artist of all time.
As of 22 August 2010, Pausini announced, on her official fan club site Laura 4U, the name of her new producer, Riccardo Benini, who worked with Juanes, Miguel Bosé, Eros Ramazotti and others. She also confirmed that her new album will be coming in Christmas 2011. It is also rumoured that a particular fan party (which has been noticed on Pausini's official Twiiter, Facebook and fan club) will be recorded and released as a DVD. Its name is supposed to be 4U.
Awards
- Billboard Latin Music Awards
- 2006: Latin Pop Airplay Song Of The Year, Female – "Víveme"
- 2006: Best Latin Pop Album – Escucha
- Latin Grammy Awards
- 2005: Best Female Pop Vocal Album – Escucha
- 2007: Best Female Pop Vocal Album – Yo Canto
- 2009: Best Female Pop Vocal Album – Primavera Anticipada
- Premio Lo Nuestro
- 1995: Best New Pop Artist
- 2006: Best Female Pop Artist
- 2010: Best Female Pop Artist
- World Music Awards
- 1994: Best-Selling Italian Artist
- 2003: Best-Selling Italian Artist
- 2007: Best-Selling Italian Artist
- ASCAP Latin Music Awards
- 2002: Best pop ballad - "Volveré junto a ti"
- 2006: Best pop ballad - "Viveme"
- 2006: Best theme from a soap opera - "Viveme"
- 2007: Best pop ballad - "Como si no nos hubieramos amado"
- 2010: Best pop ballad - "En cambio no"
- 1996: In recognition of European sales in excess of 1 million for the album "Laura Pausini"
- 1996: In recognition of European sales in excess of 1 million for the album "Laura"
- 1997: In recognition of European sales in excess of 1 million for the album "Le cose che vivi"
- 2002: In recognition of European sales in excess of 1 million for the album "The best of Laura Pausini"
- Wind Music Awards
- 2007: One award for the CD Io Canto
- 2008: Two awards for the CD and DVD of the San Siro concert
- 2009: One award for the CD Primavera in anticipo
Honors
- Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: Awarded the fourth highest civil honor in Italy, by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on 6 February 2006.
Discography
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Tour
- 1997: World Wide Tour 1997
- 1999: World Tour 1999
- 2001–2002: World Tour 2001–2002
- 2005: World Tour 2005
- 2006: Juntos en Concierto Tour 2006
- 2007: San Siro live
- 2009: World Tour 2009
Notes
- ^ Sources indicate different locations for Pausini's birth—The Comunes of Faenza and Solarolo, Ravenna, Italy. One state source, The Presidency of the Italian Republic, cites Faenza as the location of her birth.[11] In media interviews, however, Pausini consistently names Solarolo as her birthplace.[12][13][14][15]
References
- ↑ (Italian) "Eboli, i grandi della musica d'autore si fermano al PalaSele", èCostiera.it, 13 October 2009.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 (Italian) http://www.festival.vivasanremo.com/1993.htm
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Birchmeier, Jason. "Laura Pausini: Biography", Allmusic, October 2009.
- ↑ The Recording Academy. "Grammy Award Winners Search", Grammy.com.
- ↑ (Italian) Comolli, Maria Giulia. "Laura Pausini a ruota libera: 'I ragazzi dei talent show? Troppo supponenti'. E intanto con Sorrisi arrivano i suoi CD", TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, 25 March 2009.
- ↑ (Italian) Mannucci, Stefano. "Griffe e ambiente, ecco la nuova Pausini", Il Tempo.it, 6 March 2009.
- ↑ (Italian) "Laura Pausini, il tour si allarga", L’Arena.it, 31 March 2009.
- ↑ Worden, Mark. "Italy's multilingual star serenades the world", Billboard 115.11 (2003): 43.
- ↑ Khalife, Valentina. "Seven years since solitude: Laura Pausini learns to believe in magic realism", Miami New Times, 11 January 2001.
- ↑ La Vanguardia Magazine, Barcelona, 24 December 2006, page 20.
- ↑ (Italian) Italy. Presidency of the Republic. "Le onorificenze", Presidenza della Repubblica, February 2006.
- ↑ Bottomley, Charles. "Laura Pausini: All about diva", VH1.com, 22 November 2002.
- ↑ (Spanish) EFE. "Laura Pausini: 'Hay días en que quiero matar a mi productor'", El Mercurio [Santiago de Chile], 31 August 2000.
- ↑ (Spanish) Pausini, Laura. Interview. Nadie se duerma, Host Beto Ortiz, Frecuencia Latina [Peru], 2 November 2001.
- ↑ (Spanish) Pausini, Laura. Interview. Las hijas, Hosts Monserrat Olivier and Yolanda Andrade, Unicable [Mexico], 27 January 2007.
External links
- Official website
- Laura Pausini, Music Download, Photos, Music Videos, News
- Laura Pausini at the Internet Movie Database
- Biography of Laura Pausini from Billboard
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rosario for De Mis Colores |
Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, Female 2005 for Escucha |
Succeeded by Shakira for Fijación Oral Vol. 1 |
| Preceded by Shakira for Fijación Oral Vol. 1 |
Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, Female 2007 for Yo canto |
Succeeded by Kany García for Cualquier Día |
| Preceded by Kany García for Cualquier Día |
Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, Female 2009 for Primavera Anticipada |
Succeeded by incubent |
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