Claudio Baglioni

Born in Rome on May 16, 1951, Italian singer-songwriter Claudio Baglioni has been one of the leading figures in Italian song since his early days. He began his musical career in the late 1960s, achieving his first significant success with the album Questo piccolo grande amore (1972), whose title track has become one of the most emblematic pieces of Italian song, named "Song of the Century" in 1985. His style blends chanson d'auteur, melodic pop and sometimes orchestral or rock elements, with a particular attention to narrative and emotion. He enjoyed a string of successes in the 1970s with the albums E tu... (1974), Sabato pomeriggio (1975) and Solo (1977), which consolidated his popularity in Italy. In the 1980s, Baglioni explored more modern, electronic sounds with Strada facendo (1981), La vita è adesso (1985, one of the best-selling albums in Italian history) and Oltre (1990), the latter an ambitious, introspective and collaborative album with international musicians such as Manu Katché, Pino Palladino, Tony Levin and Youssou N'Dour. He continued into the 1990s with Io sono qui (1995) and Viaggiatore sulla coda del tempo (1999), marked by a more mature, conceptual approach. In the 2000s, he continued to release albums and fill major venues with spectacular tours: Sono io - L'uomo della storia accanto (2003), Q.P.G.A. (2009), a symphonic and narrative reinterpretation of his 1972 album, and ConVoi (2013). Highly involved in the organization of shows, he directed the Sanremo Festival in 2018 and 2019, as artistic director and presenter. Claudio Baglioni is also renowned for his innovative scenographic concerts, notably the Al Centro tour (2018-2019), where he sings in the center of the arenas, surrounded by the audience. In 2020, he published In questa storia che è la mia, a pop-rock project blending music, narrative and memory, followed by a reinterpretation, forty years on, of La vita è adesso, renamed La vita è adesso. Il sogno è sempre (2025). Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with Italian artists such as Gianni Morandi, Laura Pausini and Andrea Bocelli, and has influenced several generations of Italian musicians. His work, a blend of intimate poetry and collective frescoes, has made him a major figure in Italian popular music.