Umberto Tozzi

Umberto Tozzi (2012)

Umberto Tozzi (born March 4, 1952 in Turin ) is an Italian pop-rock musician. He became internationally known through a series of hits in the late 1970s ( Ti amo , Tu and Gloria ). In 1987 he won the Sanremo Festival with Gianni Morandi and Enrico Ruggeri and in the same year he represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest with Raf .

Career

Tozzi began his musical career in 1968 at the age of 16 as a guitarist in the young Turin rock band Off Sound . He then went on a nationwide tour with Adriano Pappalardo , whose group included a total of 13 musicians. Eventually he started writing songs for others, including big names like Mina , Mia Martini , Fausto Leali , Riccardo Fogli and Marcella Bella . In 1974 he created, together with Damiano Dattoli, Un corpo un'anima , which was sung by Wess and Dori Ghezzi at Canzonissima and won the competition. After this success as a songwriter, he began working with Giancarlo Bigazzi and in 1976 Tozzi recorded his first solo album Donna amante mia .

The big breakthrough for Tozzi came at the end of the 1970s with a hit hat-trick : in 1977 he landed an international bestseller with Ti amo , Tu followed in 1978 and in 1979 the equally successful Gloria appeared . The album of the same name was recorded with American musicians, including jazz pianist Greg Mathieson . All three of the above titles have been internationally covered several times, with the Gloria version by Laura Branigan being the greatest success. After intensive touring, Tozzi released the live album In concerto . In 1981 the studio album Notte rosa was released , followed by Eva (1982) and Hurray (1984).

After a break of several years, Tozzi first took part in the Sanremo Festival in 1987 and won it in a trio with Gianni Morandi and Enrico Ruggeri with the song Si può dare di più , later the official anthem of the Nazionale italiana cantanti at their football matches for charity. In spring Tozzi took together with Raf with Gente di mare at Euro Vision Song Contest 1987 in part, finished there in third place and was awarded the Critics' Prize. In the fall, the album Invisible was released . This was followed by a second live recording in 1988 with Royal Albert Hall , recorded in the concert hall of the same name . The last album created in collaboration with Giancarlo Bigazzi, Gli altri siamo noi , was released in 1991. The 1991 Sanremo Festival served as a springboard for the single of the same name (number four).

In 1994 Umberto Tozzi won the Festivalbar competition again (after 1977 with Ti amo ) with Io muoio di te , included on the album Equivocando , his first work, for which he was entirely responsible as a composer and lyricist. After Il grido (1996), again completely written and interpreted by Tozzi, a collaboration with Mogol followed in 1997 for the album Aria & Cielo . Over the next few years, samplers alternated with completely re-recorded versions of his evergreens (1999: Bagaglio a mano , 2002: The Best of Umberto Tozzi ) with new albums, which were presented to the Italian audience during the Sanremo Festival: In the years 2000 Un'altra vita and 2005 Le parole .

Umberto Tozzi performing in Vienna in 2014

Tozzi broke new ground in 2006 with Heterogene Project , on whose album of the same name he contributed several lounge titles. The break from his long-time record label CGD / Warner was delayed by the compilation Tutto Tozzi . Thanks to the joint project with Marco Masini , Tozzi Masini , the leap towards MBO was successful. In 2009 Tozzi released two albums: in the spring it was the best-of double album Non solo live , in September the new studio album Superstar . Yesterday, Today was released three years later , and the musician went on an extensive international tour. It wasn't until 2015 that another studio album was released with Mach spettacolo .

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the hit Ti amo , Tozzi recorded a new version of the song with the singer Anastacia in 2017 , included on the scrapbook Quarant'anni che 'Ti amo' . In this context he also gave an event concert in the Arena of Verona . In 2018 the musician started a joint project with Raf (after the success of 1987).

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		IT	DE	AT	CH	FR
1977	È nell'aria… ti amo	IT7 (17 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD
1978	Do	IT2 (22 weeks) IT	-	AT12 (4 weeks) AT	-	-	CGD
1979	Gloria	IT2 (21 weeks) IT	-	AT21 (4 weeks) AT	-	-	CGD
1980	Tozzi	IT2 (25 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD
1981	Notte pink	IT4 (19 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD
1982	Eve	IT6 (14 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD
1987	Invisibile	IT18 (6 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD
1991	Gli altri siamo noi	IT4 (30 weeks) IT	-	-	-	FR21st gold (8 weeks)FR	CGD sales: + 100,000
1994	Equivocando	IT2 (28 weeks) IT	-	-	CH32 (3 weeks) CH	FR39 (1 week) FR	CGD
1996	Il grido	IT3 (12 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD East West
1997	Aria e cielo	IT4 (7 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD East West
2000	Un'altra vita	IT35 (1 week) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD East West
2005	Le parole	IT24 (4 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Atlantic / Warner
2006	Tozzi / Masini	IT23 (13 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Universal cover album with Marco Masini
2012	Yesterday, Today	IT7 (10 weeks) IT	-	-	-	FR57 (10 weeks) FR	Noble; Album + Best Of
2015	Make spettacolo	IT9 (5 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Momy / Sony
2018	Raf Tozzi	IT24 (6 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	with Raf
2019	Due - La nostra storia	IT47 (2 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Raf

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More studio albums

• Donna amante mia (CGD, 1976)
• Hurray (CGD, 1984)

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		IT	DE	AT	CH	FR
1988	Royal Albert Hall	IT9 (18 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Fonit Cetra
2009	Non solo live	IT16 (7 weeks) IT	-	-	-	FR183 (1 week) FR	Momy / Universal
2017	Quarant'anni che ti amo - Best Live	IT8 (9 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Momy / Sony
	Quarant'anni che ti amo - In arena	IT33 (4 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Momy / Sony

More live albums

• In concerto (CGD, 1980)

Compilations (selection)

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		IT	DE	AT	CH	FR
1987	Minuti di un'eternità	IT17 (11 weeks) IT	-	-	CH29 (1 week) CH	-	CGD
1991	Le mie canzoni	IT6 (19 weeks) IT	-	-	CH- gold CH	FR2 platinum (34 weeks)FR	CGD sales: + 325,000
1999	Bagaglio a mano	IT18 (13 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	CGD East West
2002	The best of Umberto Tozzi	IT5 (24 weeks) IT	-	-	CH33 (27 weeks) CH	FR13 (14 weeks) FR	CGD East West / Warner
2006	Tutto Tozzi	IT18th gold (24 weeks)IT	-	-	-	-	Warner Sales: + 25,000; IT 2015 gold
2009	Superstar	IT17 (5 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Momy / Universal
2012	Yesterday - The Best of 1976-2012	IT*IT	-	-	-	FR*FR	Edel * see studio album Yesterday, Today
2017	Ti amo - All The Hits & More	IT34 (4 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	Warner

Singles (selection)

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		IT	DE	AT	CH	FR
1977	Ti amo È nell'aria… ti amo	IT1 gold (24 weeks)IT	DE4 (25 weeks) DE	AT3 (32 weeks) AT	CH1 (22 weeks) CH	FR39 * platinum (26 weeks)FR	B-side: Dimentica, dimentica * re-entry 2002 Sales: + 1,025,000; IT 2018 gold
1978	Do do	IT1 (21 weeks) IT	DE17 (21 weeks) DE	AT5 (16 weeks) AT	CH1 (22 weeks) CH	FR- gold FR	B-side: Perdendo Anna Sales: + 500,000
1979	Gloria Gloria	IT2 gold (16 weeks)IT	DE8 (34 weeks) DE	AT4 (16 weeks) AT	CH1 (17 weeks) CH	-	B-side: Aria di lei Sales: + 25,000; IT 2018 gold
1980	Stella stai Tozzi	IT3 (16 weeks) IT	DE61 (1 week) DE	AT18 (4 weeks) AT	CH3 (10 weeks) CH	-	B-side: Dimmi di no
1982	Eva Eva	IT8 (13 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	B-side: mom
1983	Nell'aria c'è Hurray	IT6 (16 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	B-side: Come un carillon
1984	Hurray! Hurray	IT19 (4 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-
1987	Si può dare di più Minuti di un'eternità	IT1 (16 weeks) IT	-	-	CH15 (4 weeks) CH	-	with Gianni Morandi and Enrico Ruggeri B-side: La canzone della verità
	Gente di mare … minuti di un eternità	IT5 (23 weeks) IT	DE39 (8 weeks) DE	AT8 (16 weeks) AT	CH7 (17 weeks) CH	-	with Raf B-side: Lascia che sia il tuo cuore
1988	Immensely Invisibile	IT18 (4 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	B-side: Tu be di me
1991	Gli altri siamo noi Gli altri siamo noi	IT4 (19 weeks) IT	-	-	-	FR13 (21 weeks) FR	B-side: Dimentica dimentica
	Gli innamorati Gli altri siamo noi	IT10 (16 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	B-side: Gli altri siamo noi
1994	Io muoio di te Equivocando	-	DE76 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	-
2002	E non volo The Best of Umberto Tozzi	IT10 (2 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-
	Ti amo (Rien que des mots)	-	-	-	CH10 (16 weeks) CH	FR3 platinum (21 weeks)FR	with Lena Ka Sales: + 500,000
2003	Toi, tú	-	-	-	CH19 (17 weeks) CH	FR5 gold (22 weeks)FR	with Cérena sales: + 250,000
2005	Le parole Le parole	IT35 (3 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-
2006	Come si fa? Tozzi / Masini	IT13 (8 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-	with Marco Masini
2008	Petite Marie Non solo live	IT8 (2 weeks) IT	-	-	-	-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Awards for music sales

Golden record

•  Belgium
  • 2002: for the single Ti amo (Rien que des mots)
•  Spain
  • 1980: for the single Gloria

Platinum record

•  Belgium
  • 2008: for the album The Best of Umberto Tozzi
•  Spain
  • 2001: for the album Grandes Exitos

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Belgium (BEA)	gold1	platinum1	55,000	ultratop.be
France (SNEP)	3 × gold3	3 × platinum3	2,650,000	infodisc.fr snepmusique.com
Italy (FIMI)	3 × gold3	-	75,000	fimi.it
Switzerland (IFPI)	gold1	-	25,000	hitparade.ch
Spain (Promusicae)	gold1	platinum1	150,000	Sólo éxitos: año año, 1959-2002
All in all	9 × gold9	5 × platinum5

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources (albums):
   • M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi , accessed on December 3, 2018 (Italian, paid subscription access; IT until 1994). 
   • Guido Racca & Chartitalia: Top 100 FIMI album . Lulu , 2013, p. 178 (IT 1995-2012).
   • Umberto Tozzi albums. In: Italiancharts.com. Hung Medien, accessed on December 3, 2018 (IT from 2000). 
   • Umberto Tozzi albums. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed December 3, 2018 (AT). 
   • Umberto Tozzi albums. In: hitparade.ch . Hung Medien, accessed on December 3, 2018 (CH). 
   • Tous les albums by Umberto Tozzi. In: InfoDisc. Retrieved December 4, 2018 (FR from 1984). 
   • Umberto Tozzi albums. In: LesCharts.com. Hung Medien, accessed December 4, 2018 (FR from 1996). 
2. ↑ Chart sources (singles):
   • M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi, accessed on December 3, 2018 (Italian, paid subscription access; IT until 1997). 
   • Guido Racca & Chartitalia: Top 100 FIMI Singoli . Lulu, 2013, p. 154 (IT 1997-2012).
   • Archivio classifiche Top Singoli. FIMI , accessed on December 3, 2018 (Italian, IT from 2008). 
   • Umberto Tozzi. In: Official German charts. GfK Entertainment , accessed on December 3, 2018 (DE). 
   • Songs by Umberto Tozzi. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed December 3, 2018 (AT). 
   • Songs by Umberto Tozzi. In: hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed on December 3, 2018 (CH). 
   • Chansons by Umberto Tozzi. In: LesCharts.com. Hung Medien, accessed December 4, 2018 (FR from 1984). 

Web links

• Official website
• Umberto Tozzi at Rockol.it
• Umberto Tozzi at Allmusic (English)
• Umberto Tozzi at Discogs (English)
• Umberto Tozzi in the Internet Movie Database (English)