Vasco Rossi

Vasco Rossi Live

Vasco Rossi (born February 7, 1952 in Zocca , Modena Province ) is an Italian singer , songwriter and radio host .

He is one of the most successful contemporary Italian musicians. His music is pop-rock with partly operatic melodies, but adapts a broad spectrum of styles, ranging from pop , rock to chansons and ballads.

Career

Vasco Rossi was already very interested in music as a child, so that, following his mother's request, he went to a singing school at the age of 14. He also founded his first group called "Killer" at the age of 14; it was later renamed "Little Boys". He soon moved to Bologna , where he obtained a professional degree in bookkeeping and accounting .

From 1972 Rossi was very interested in the theater . At this time, which was marked by student unrest, he also enrolled for a degree in economics and commerce. But he did not pursue it permanently, instead he opened the discotheque "Punto Club", in which he also worked as a disc jockey . At the same time, Rossi and his friends Maurizio Solieri and Massimo Riva founded the first free Italian radio , Punto Radio , which still broadcasts today. He also presented his own compositions on this channel. This was the decisive beginning of his career.

Motivated by his friend Gaetano Curreri, Vasco Rossi released his first single "Jenny è pazza / Silvia" in 1977, which was followed in 1978 by the first album "Ma cosa vuoi che sia una canzone". A year later the second album "Non siamo mica gli americani" was released.

With his third album Colpa d'Alfredo from 1980, Vasco Rossi's popularity in Italy increased significantly, especially when he provoked a minor scandal on the state television RAI with his appearance and the presentation of the title Sensazioni . The following album, Siamo solo noi , released in 1981, is widely regarded as one of his best. The title song was considered the anthem of his generation at the beginning of the 1980s.

The following appearance at the recognized Sanremo Festival in 1982 was the most significant step in Rossi's career. Although he did not necessarily reach his usual audience as a rocker there, he became known all over Italy with his song Vado al massimo . The following album with the same title stayed in the Italian top 10 for 16 weeks. In 1983 Vasco Rossi again took part in Sanremo and played his best-known song Vita spericolata , a hymn to rebellion and the freedom of the individual. In the same year he won the annual national competition Festivalbar . At this time he also dealt with the topics of his drug and pill addiction , which even made him cancel concerts.

1984 was a musically successful year for Rossi. The live album "Va bene, va bene così" stayed in the Italian charts for 33 weeks. In his private life, however, the year was very difficult, especially since he was arrested with 26 grams of cocaine in a discotheque near Bologna , then had to spend 22 days in prison and was sentenced to a suspended sentence of two years and eight months. "Cosa succede in città" was the name of his 1985 album, which should represent a new beginning for him. This was also related to the fact that Rossi became a father, after which he withdrew from the public for the following two years.

In 1987 Vasco Rossi returned to the scene with the album "C'è chi dice no". The album is generally considered a great success in Italy. More albums followed and Rossi returned to drug use, resulting in further arrests and a 2.8 million lire fine . Even so, Vasco Rossi remained productive and released other albums. In 1995 he took a clear stand against the war in Yugoslavia at a concert in San Siro . He also sang the song "Generale" by Francesco De Gregori , who as a songwriter was one of his most important role models.

Rock followed in 1997 , an album that presented a collection of older pieces in a new arrangement. In the same year Vasco Rossi appeared as a musician at the Neapolis Rock Festival and as a writer at the Festival di Sanremo. For the Sanremo Festival he then wrote the piece Lo zaino , published in 1998 , which was sung there the following year by the band Stadio . Also in 1998 was Canzoni per me , with which he introduced old, unpublished pieces that were written at the beginning of his career. In the same year Rossi won the Festivalbar competition for the second time. That summer he also appeared for a single concert at the Heineken Jammin Festival in Imola . The performance was filmed for the DVD Rewind , which was released in 1999. A major tour was also planned for 1999. A few days before this started, Rossi's long-time friend, co-author, guitarist and companion “Compagno Di Avventure” Massimo Riva died. In the same year, the single La fine del millennio followed , the proceeds of which went to an aid organization for drug addicts. In 2000 there was a collaboration with Patty Pravo , which resulted in the title Una donna da sognare . Vasco Rossi then also produced her CD, which was a great success at the festival bar competition. For the Sanremo Festival he was available as a co-author to Irene Grandi , who subsequently took second place.

In 2001 Rossi released the album "Stupido hotel". At the festival bar competition he achieved third place with the title "Ti prendo e ti porto via" from this album. In 2002, the first of his albums published by EMI were released in the original remastered version. That summer followed three concerts in front of more than 80,000 spectators in the San Siro Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan, at which the DVD “Vasco @ San Siro '03” was produced.

In 2004 Vasco Rossi released the album "Buoni o cattivi", recorded between Bologna and Los Angeles , which set a sales record in Italy. In America , too, it sold relatively well, despite the Italian lyrics. On May 12, 2005 Vasco Rossi was awarded an honorary doctorate "honoris causa" by the IULM Milan in communication sciences. His double DVD “È solo un rock 'n' roll show” was released on September 9, in which all the video clips from the album “Buoni o cattivi” are lined up to form a video clip of over two hours. Also this year he appeared at the Sanremo Festival, outside of the competition he sang “Vita spericolata” and “Un senso” on the final evening to thank the festival for the important start of his career.

On December 2nd, 2005, “Buoni o cattivi Live Anthology 04.05” was released as a double CD or triple DVD. Recorded during the “Buoni o cattivi Tour” in 2004 and 2005. In 2006 Vasco Rossi was active for the national elections by supporting the list “ Rosa nel Pugno ”. This party then used his song "Siamo solo noi" for their campaigns. This was the first time the rocker took a political position.

On January 19, 2007, the single "Basta poco" was released, which was initially not available in stores at Rossi's instigation (the song was only released on CD in 2008 on the album "Il mondo che vorrei"). Instead, the song could only be heard on the radio or through its website. Vasco Rossi set the Italian (legal) download record with over 100,000 downloads in two days. On May 11th of the same year the mini CD "Vasco Extended Play" was released and on November 23rd the DVD "Vasco@Olimpico.07" was released, a concert that was recorded on June 27th and 28th 2007 in Rome.

Discography

→ Main article : Vasco Rossi / Discography

Studio albums

• Non siamo mica gli americani (1979)

Rossi's second album, entitled Albachiara in Edition Dischi d'oro, reached number 42 in the FIMI charts in 2000 (5 weeks)

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		IT	CH
1980	Colpa d'Alfredo	IT23 (... weeks) IT	-	First published: April 3, 1980 at Targa 2001 place 80 in the FIMI charts (Edition Dischi d'oro )
1981	Siamo solo noi	IT19 (10 weeks) IT	-	First published: April 9, 1981 at Targa 1998 position 32 in the FIMI charts 2001 position 68 in the FIMI charts (Edition Dischi d'oro )
1982	Vado al massimo	IT11 (11 weeks) IT	-	First release: April 13, 1982 on Carosello Records
1983	Bollicine	IT3 (... weeks) IT	-	First release: April 14, 1983 on Carosello Records
1985	Cosa succede in città	IT2 (29 weeks) IT	CH27 (3 weeks) CH	First release: June 9, 1985 on Carosello Records 2002 number 74 in the FIMI charts
1987	C'è chi dice no	IT1 (34 weeks) IT	CH13 (10 weeks) CH	First release: March 3rd, 1987 on Carosello Records 2002 number 73 in the FIMI charts
1989	Liberi liberi	IT2 gold (… Where.)IT	CH9 gold (9 weeks)CH	First published: April 8, 1989 by EMI Italiana Sales: + 50,000 2003 No. 48 on the FIMI charts (16 weeks)
1993	Gli spari sopra	IT1 gold (… Where.)IT	CH19 (9 weeks) CH	First published: February 6, 1993 at EMI Italiana Sales: + 25,000 2001 No 45 on the FIMI charts (20 weeks)
1996	Nessun pericolo… per te	IT1 (53 weeks) IT	CH19 (8 weeks) CH	First published: January 24, 1996 by EMI Italiana
	... Ma cosa vuoi che sia una canzone ...	IT21 (... weeks) IT	-	First release: May 13, 1978 on Lotus Rossi's debut album 1996 first entry at number 27 2001 return at number 58 (Edition Dischi d'oro ) 2018 return at number 21 ( R> Play Edition 40th )
1998	Canzoni per me	IT1 (... week) IT	CH24 (9 weeks) CH	First published: April 18, 1998 by EMI Italiana
2001	Stupido hotel	IT1 (... week) IT	CH11 gold (26 weeks)CH	First published: April 6, 2001 by EMI Italiana Sales: + 20,000
2004	Buoni o cattivi	IT1 (63 weeks) IT	CH6th gold (24 weeks)CH	First published: April 2nd, 2004 by EMI Italiana Sales: + 20,000
2008	Il mondo che vorrei	IT1 platinum (103 weeks)IT	CH5 (19 weeks) CH	First published: March 28, 2008 by EMI Italiana Sales: + 70,000
2011	Vivere o niente	IT1 diamond (90 weeks)IT	CH6th gold (21 weeks)CH	First published: March 29, 2011 by EMI Italiana Sales: + 315,000;
2014	Sono innocente	IT1 × 6 Six-fold platinum (114 weeks)IT	CH4 (9 weeks) CH	First published: November 4th, 2014 by Universal Italia Sales: + 300,000

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Web links

Commons : Vasco Rossi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Rossis website (Italian)
• Texts by Vasco Rossi - in Italian

supporting documents

1. ↑ Chart sources (albums):
   • M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi , accessed on June 30, 2015 (Italian, paid subscription access; IT until 1994). 
   • Guido Racca & Chartitalia: Top 100 FIMI album . Lulu , 2013, p. 162 f . (IT 1995-2012).
   • Albums by Vasco Rossi. In: Italiancharts.com. Hung Medien, accessed June 30, 2015 (IT since 2000). 
   • Albums by Vasco Rossi. In: Hitparade.ch . Hung Medien, accessed on June 30, 2015 (CH). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} precious metal for Vasco Rossi. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed October 15, 2016 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Awards archive. FIMI , accessed May 5, 2020 (Italian).