| Al Bano | |
|---|---|
Al Bano in Fiumicino airport, 5 October 2007 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albano Carrisi |
| Also known as | Al Bano Carrisi |
| Born | 20 May 1943 |
| Origin | Cellino San Marco, Italy |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations | Singer, Actor, Winemaker |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels | La voce del padrone, EMI Italiana |
| Associated acts | Al Bano and Romina Power, Sanremo Music Festival, Eurovision Song Contest |
| Website | www.albanocarrisi.it |
Albano Carrisi (born 20 May 1943), better known as Al Bano, is an Italian singer, actor and winemaker.
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He was born in the town of Cellino San Marco (province of Brindisi, Puglia in Southern Italy), where he still lives.
His mother named him Albano because, when he was born, his father Carmelo Carrisi was fighting in Albania for the Royal Italian Army during World War II. His mother was Iolanda Ottino. He has one brother, Franco Carrisi (Kocis).
He made his debut in 1966 both as a singer, at the Festival delle Rose, and on television. He won the Disco per l'Estate, an Italian song contest, with "Pensando a te" in 1968. He recorded some major hits such as "La siepe" and "Nel sole" at that time. "Nel sole" sold 600,000 copies in Italy within three months of release, and eventually over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc in July 1968.[1]
Soon afterwards, he started a musical collaboration with Romina Power (daughter of the American actor Tyrone Power), whom he married in 1970. After their marriage, they recorded Storia di due innamorati. They sang as the duo Al Bano & Romina Power for almost thirty years; their work has been especially popular in Italy, Austria, France,Spain, Romania and Germany. They released Dialogo in 1975 and took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the song "We'll Live It All Again" ("Noi lo rivivrei di nuovo"). They sang "Sharazan" in 1981 and the following year they took part in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Felicità", which came second. They won first prize in 1984 singing "Ci sarà" and again took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with "Magic Oh Magic". Both their Eurovision entries placed 7th. Other hits of 1987 include: "Nostalgia canaglia" (awarded 3rd prize at Festival di Sanremo) and "Libertà". Those successful songs were followed by "Cara Terra mia", which came in third once more at the Sanremo Music Festival. The album Oggi sposi went out in 1991.
Al Bano returned to his solo career in 1996 with "È la mia vita" which was followed by "Verso il sole" in 1997 and "Ancora in volo" in 1999 (that year, his duo - and his marriage - with Romina broke up). In 2000, Al Bano returned to the Eurovision stage, providing backing vocals for the Swiss entry (performed in Italian) "La vita cos'è?" performed by Jane Bogaert. This song placed 20th out of 24 in the contest. On 16 October 2001, Carrisi was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).[2]
In 2005, he starred in the Italian reality show L'isola dei Famosi (Italian version of Celebrity Survivor) with his daughter, Romina Carrisi. Al Bano returned to Sanremo Music Festival in 2007, where he sang "Nel perdono" which came in second place.
Al Bano still tours all over the world. He is a constant on Italian television and has a large number of fans who follow his career very closely. To date Al Bano has sold 165 million albums around the world. Albano has visited Albania a number of times. He was there for a concert in 1989 and has been enjoying great popularity there.
Al Bano grew up listening and had a great passion for opera. He has released several opera albums and is a tenor as well as pop music that he sang still with Romina. His best known solo album perhaps was done in 1997 and was called Concerto Classico. The album went double platinum in a short time. Some of the songs he sang on that album are very well known in Italy. Such as "Una furtiva lagrima", "Va, pensiero", "La nostra serenata", "E lucevan le stelle", and "Ave Maria". He also performed in place of Luciano Pavarotti alongside 2 other renowned tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras.
On 26 July 1970, Al Bano married Romina Power (daughter of the American actor Tyrone Power), who had already started to share her musical career with him, and remained his stage partner for about 30 years.
Although Al Bano and Romina divorced in 1999, they have a son, Yari Marco (1973), and three daughters Ylenia Maria (1970) (who went missing in New Orleans in 1994), Cristel Chiara (1985) (starred in the Reality TV show La Fattoria, an Italian version of The Farm) and Romina Iolanda (1987). He has one daughter and one son from ex-girlfriend and showgirl Loredana Lecciso, Jasmine Caterina (2001) and Albano Giovanni (2002).
Al Bano had a great respect for Pope John Paul II and was requested by the Pope several times to perform at the Vatican in front of hundreds of thousands visiting the Vatican from across the globe. He was in attendance at the Pope's funeral.
| Preceded by Wess & Dori Ghezzi |
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 (with Romina Power) |
Succeeded by Mia Martini |
| Preceded by Alice & Franco Battiato |
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 (with Romina Power) |
Succeeded by Umberto Tozzi & Raf |