Calogero

Born in Échirolles (Isère) on July 30, 1971 into a family of Italian origin, Calogero Joseph Salvatore Maurici spent his teenage years listening to French chanson and pop-rock, and learning to play bass. It was in the group Les Charts, with his brother Gioacchino Maurici and their friend Francis Maggiulli, that he gained notoriety under the nickname "Charly". The group, spotted by France Gall, recorded five albums between 1989 and 1997, and scored a national hit with "Aime-moi encore" (1991). Building on this experience, the musician and singer took the name Calogero and embarked on a solo career with the album Au Milieu des Autres (1999), followed by Calogero (2002), which won widespread public support with the hit "En apesanteur " (ranked #13). Calogero's next album, 3, released in 2004, consolidated his status with the singles "Yalla" (a tribute to Sister Emmanuelle), "Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer" (No. 7) and, above all, the duet with rapper Passi, "Face à la mer", which reached No. 3 in France and No. 2 in Belgium. At the same time, Calogero established himself as a sought-after composer on the French scene, collaborating with Natasha St-Pier, Florent Pagny Françoise Hardy, Julie Zenatti, Hélène Ségara, his friend Pascal Obispo and even Johnny Hallyday, for whom he wrote the title track of the album Ça Ne Finira Jamais (2008). Mainly written by Zazie, the album Pomme C (2007) proved a relative success compared to previous sales, as did the following L'Embellie (2009), featuring Jean-Jacques Goldman, Dominique A, Grand Corps Malade and Marc Lavoine. An acoustic tour is followed by the V.O.-V.S. compilation (2010), in which Calogero performs his best-known songs in a symphonic version, giving rise to the Live Symphonique tour and live album (2011). The following year, he took part in the short-lived Circus project, with Stanislas, Philippe Uminski, Karen Brunon and Elsa Fourlon, which recorded an album of the same name. Back under his own name with the album Un Jour Les Feux d'Artifice (2014), recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios and featuring "Un jour au mauvais endroit", Calogero wins the Victoire de la musique award for best original song. After a tour and a track with the duo Cats on Trees ("Jimmy"), the single "Je joue de la musique" (No. 2) heralds the release of his seventh album Liberté Chérie (2017). In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the song "On fait comme si" is released , followed by "La Rumeur" and the album Centre-Ville (ranked #1). In 2023, the duet "Le Hall des départs " with Marie Poulain served as a prelude to the album A.M.O.U.R, also featuring Gaëtan Roussel. The following year, the singer followed this up with his tenth album, X, featuring "Parce qu'on s'aime encore" with trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf and "Prends ma main" with Soprano.