Gigi D'Alessio

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Lore & Background

D'Alessio was born in Naples. He was well known in Naples in the early 1990s and throughout Italy due to participation in the Sanremo Festival in 2000 and 2001. He has also made overseas appearances, the most recent was in Malta on 7 July 2012. He lives in Rome with the popular Italian singer Anna Tatangelo, who is two decades younger than him. Previously, he was married to Carmela Barbato, with whom he has three children, Claudio, Ilaria and Luca. He frequently writes and produces songs for Tatangelo, and some of the hits he had a hand in writing include "Quando due si lasciano" and "Ragazza di periferia". For Tatangelo's latest album, the couple penned the songs "Averti qui" and "Lo so che finirà" together. The couple have recorded two duets: "Un nuovo bacio" and "Il mondo è mio". They also toured the US and Canada together in October, featuring in successful concerts. He was the writer and composer of Tatangelo's song performed at Sanremo Music Festival 2008, "Il mio amico". D'Alessio achieved international success with his single "Un cuore malato", a duet with Belgian-Sicilian singer Lara Fabian. He also released in 2007 a version of this song half in Italian, half in Portuguese, named "Um coração apaixonado", recorded with Brazilian pop singer Wanessa Camargo. The song was included in both D'Alessio's Made in Italy Brazilian edition (replacing "Un cuore malato" with Lara Fabian) and in Camargo's 2007 Total album. In a late 2008 interview with Italian Vanity Fair, D'Alessio says that at the beginning of his career from 1992 to 1997 as his fame grew around Napoli, members of various Camorra clans would threaten him to sing at their parties and other festive gatherings. He would hear things like, "If you don't come and sing at my son's wedding reception, I'll cut your throat" and "If you don't sing your songs at my nephew's baptismal lunch, I'll bust your head." Some Camorra members preferred to make threats aimed at D'Alessio's nose, legs, tongue, and hands. At one point D'Alessio sang at 15 parties a day from lunch until dawn. After D'Alessio's 7 June 1997 concert at Napoli's San Paolo Stadium, he stopped singing at parties. On 4 March 2010 he debuted as a run of a television program on Rai Uno presenting his first one-man show called "Gigi this is me". The first episode had an audience of 5.899 million viewers and a share of 25.04%. The sequel was relea

In Their Own Story

In a small piazza near Naples, an old radio crackles to life on a summer evening. The melody of 'Tu si' na cosa grande' fills the air as neighbors gather around a television set. On screen, the Italy National Team is preparing for a crucial qualifier. A young boy grips his father's hand, eyes wide with hope. As the team takes the field, the father hums along to D'Alessio's words, a silent prayer for victory echoing through generations of blue-clad supporters.

Reader's Guide

Gigi D'Alessio is an Italian popular singer-songwriter from Naples. His discography includes albums such as Lasciatemi cantare (1992), Scivolando verso l'alto (1993), Dove mi porta il cuore (1994), Passo dopo passo (1995), Fuori dalla mischia (1996), È stato un piacere (1997), Portami con te (1999), Quando la mia vita cambierà (2000), Il cammino dell'età (2001), Uno come te (2002), Quanti amori (2004), Made in Italy (2006), Superamore (2008), Questo sono io (2008), Chiaro (2012), Ora (2013), Malaterra (2015), 24 febbraio 1967 (2017), Noi due (2019), Buongiorno (2020), Fra (2024), and NUJE (2025). He also released EPs Sei come sei (2009) and Semplicemente sei (2010), compilations Buona vita (2003) and Mi faccio in quattro (2007), live albums Tutto in un concerto (1998), Cuorincoro (2005), Tu vuo' fa' l'americano – Live in New York (2011), and Ora dal Vivo LIVE (2014), and other albums El camino de la edad (2001), Buona vita (Spanish Version) (2003), and Primera Fila (2013). His films include Annaré (1998), Cient'anne (1999), and Addio fottuti musi verdi (2017).

Did You Know?

• He sold over 30 million records.
• He stopped singing at Camorra parties after his 7 June 1997 concert at Napoli's San Paolo Stadium.
• He performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York on 14 February 2011.
• He has a son named Andrea with Anna Tatangelo, born on 31 March 2010.