| Gala | |
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Gala live in France |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gala Rizzatto |
| Born | September 6, 1975 |
| Origin | Italy |
| Genres | Eurodance |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Do It Yourself Records EMI (2005) Matriarchy Records, New York (2008) |
| Website | GalaSound.com |
Gala (born Gala Rizzatto) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter best known for her songs Freed From Desire, Let a Boy Cry, “Come Into My Life” and “Suddenly”. Gala returned in 2005 to release the song Faraway in both France and Greece, and again in 2009 with the Tough Love album. In 2011 the singer is set to release her new song You Lose Yourself In Me.[1]
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Named by her parents after Salvador Dali and Paul Eluard’s muse, Gala Dali, she left Italy at 17 to attend art school in Boston. In 1993 she moved to New York where she photographed the New York City underground scene of artists and club-goers.
In exchange for a photo of a European deejay Gala recorded her first demo. Written in New York and then mailed overseas on a cassette tape, her first demo of the song “Freed From Desire“ became an international pop classic. It was recorded between Milan and London and was released by Italian independent label Do It Yourself Records. Her album Come into My Life, was released in 1998, with 4 singles charting in the Top 20 across Europe,[2][3][4][5] selling a combined 6 million records worldwide.
In 1996 she was voted Best Female Singer of the Year in Italy by the official monthly magazine Musica e Dischi.[6] In July 1997 she was awarded with the "Italian Dance Award" as the best pop-dance artist of the year.[7][8] Gala has achieved Platinum recording awards in France[8][9] and the Benelux and a Gold record in the United Kingdom.[10] The same year she was nominated for the "Best Dance Act" at the "Mobo Awards" in the UK alongside: The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Orbital.[11]
In July 1997 she won “Best Foreign Artist of the Year” at the Midem in Cannes, France.[12] Between 1995 and 1998 Gala performed on the UK’s BBC Top of the Pops,[13] France’s Taratata,[14] Les Années Tubes,[15] M6’s Hit Machine,[16] MTV Germany, as well as performing in venues such as Bercy Stadium in Paris and Las Ventas in Madrid.
In 1998, while performing “Let a Boy Cry” on Taratata,[14] she met Prince’s manager Steve Fargnoli who began representing her. The same year she signed with Universal Records in Italy. After Steve Fargnoli’s unexpected death in 2001. Gala broke her contract with Universal Records and returned to New York.
In 2005 “Faraway” was released in France by EMI[17] and Greece where it reached #1 on the iTunes chart and #6 in the national charts.[18] “Faraway” was co-produced by Cash Money Records musician/producer Kevin Rudolf.[19] It was featured in a Bod Man perfume TV advertisement,[19] aired on MTV, HBO and was covered by Greek Idol winner Tamta.[20]
In 2005 Gala appeared on Pink TV[21] and on M6’s Fan De.[22] In 2006 she performed Mega PANN party at the Central Studios in Utrecht.[23]
The video “I Am The World“ was used in the video installation, “The Song I Love to” by the Argentinean artist Sebastiano Mauri.[24]
In 2008 Gala formed the label Matriarchy Inc, based in Brooklyn, New York teaming up with producer Marcus Bell, drummer Deantoni Parks and guitarist Joe Friedman. The result of this collaboration, Tough Love, is Gala’s debut album released digitally worldwide on Matriarchy Inc. September 6, 2009.[25]
In 2009 she performed two nights at the Ethias Arena. In 2010 Gala performed at the Highline Ballroom in New York,[26] at the Palais des Sports and at the Antique Theater in Arles. The same year she was invited to perform as the only artist at 24h velo de Louvain-la-Neuve.[27]
In 2011 Gala headlined the MNM Party Zone at Forest National in Brussels[28] and the Dance Machine tour in France where she performed in Rennes, Paris, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Nantes, Caen, Toulouse, Rouen, Lille, Marseille and Lyon.[29]
Gala has also worked as a songwriter for classical musicians like Salvatore Licitra and Marcelo Alvarez on the album “Duetto”[30] and Mario Frangoulis.[31] She remains an avid photographer, with many of her photos appearing on her official website.[32]
| Year | Album | Charts | ||||
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| FR | BEL/W | BEL/F | SWI | NL | ||
| 1997 | L'album |
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| Come into My Life |
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| 2009 | Tough Love EP |
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| 2009 | Tough Love |
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| Year | Single | FR | UK[33] | BEL/W | BEL/F | CH | ITA | AU | NL | SWE | FIN | SPA | GRE | ISR | BRA | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Everyone Has Inside | 24 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | — | — | L'album |
| Freed from Desire | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 6 | 42 | 17 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | Come into My Life | |
| 1997 | Let a Boy Cry | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 1 | — | 11 | — | — | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| Come into My Life | 10 | 38 | 4 | 6 | — | 1 | — | 36 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | ||
| Suddenly | 56 | — | 34 | 43 | — | 4 | — | 85 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–2006 | Faraway | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — |
| 2009 | Tough Love | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Tough Love |
| 2009 | Freed From Desire (The UN Remix) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2011 | Lose Yourself In Me | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified | Physical sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France[34] | Diamond | January 16, 1997 | 750,000 | 1,013,000[35] |
| UK[36] | Gold | August 1, 1997 | 400,000 |