Al Bano
Al Bano in 2014
Al Bano in 2014
Background information
Birth nameAlbano Antonio Carrisi
Also known asAl Bano
Born (1943-05-20) 20 May 1943
OriginCellino San Marco, Italy
GenresPop
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • actor
  • winemaker
Instrument(s)Tenor
Years active1965–present
Labels
Websitewww.albanocarrisi.eu

Albano Antonio Carrisi (Italian: [alˈbaːno karˈriːzi]; born 20 May 1943), better known as Al Bano, is an Italian tenor and actor. Having sold over 25 million records globally and career spanning seven decades,[1] he is one of the most recognisable Italian singers in the world. He has gained worldwide notability due to his four and a half octave vocal range[2] as well as his personal and professional association with Romina Power, daughter of Hollywood actor Tyrone Power, lasting until the 1990s. Carrisi is acclaimed for singing with operatic affinity in pop, rock and italo disco repertoires with extensive head voice and minimal usage of falsetto vocal register.[3] As of 2023, he has participated in 15 editions of the Sanremo Music Festival, tying the record for most participations with Anna Oxa, Milva, Peppino di Capri and Toto Cutugno; this includes a victory in 1984 duetting with Power. He additionally took part in the Sanremo Giovani selection in 1965.[4]

In 2016, he was awarded Albanian citizenship due to his close ties with the country and a forename referring to the land.[5]

Biography

He was born in the town of Cellino San Marco (province of Brindisi, Puglia in Southern Italy), where he still lives.

His mother Iolanda Ottino named him Albano because, when he was born, his father Carmelo Carrisi was fighting for Albania for the Royal Italian Army during World War II. He has one brother, Franco Carrisi (Kocis).

He made his debut in 1966 both as a singer, at the Festival delle Rose, and on television. He won the Disco per l'Estate, an Italian song contest, with "Pensando a te" in 1968. He recorded some major hits such as "La siepe" and "Nel sole" at that time. "Nel sole" sold 600,000 copies in Italy within three months of release in 1967, and eventually over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc in July 1968.[6]

Al Bano & Romina Power in 1976

Soon afterwards, he started a musical collaboration with Romina Power (daughter of the American actor Tyrone Power), whom he married in 1970. After their marriage, they recorded "Storia di due innamorati". They sang as the duo Al Bano & Romina Power for almost thirty years; their work has been especially popular in Italy, Austria, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Germany. They released "Dialogo" in 1975 and took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the song "We'll Live It All Again" ("Noi lo rivivremo di nuovo"). They sang "Sharazan" in 1981 and the following year they took part in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Felicità", which came second.[7] They won first prize in 1984 singing "Ci sarà" and again took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with "Magic Oh Magic". Both their Eurovision entries placed 7th.[8][9] Other hits of 1987 include: "Nostalgia canaglia" (awarded 3rd prize at Festival di Sanremo '87) and "Libertà". Those successful songs were followed by "Cara terra mia", which came in third once more at the 1989 Sanremo Music Festival, and "Oggi sposi" which placed 8th at the 1991 Sanremo Music Festival.

Al Bano returned to his solo career in 1996 with "È la mia vita" which was followed by "Verso il sole" in 1997 and "Ancora in volo" in 1999 (that year, his duo – and his marriage – with Romina broke up). He also played in "Herşeye Rağmen" ("Nonetheless" in Turkish) music video of Sima (full name was Sima Sarıkaya), a Turkish singer in 1997.[10] In 2000, Al Bano returned to the Eurovision stage, providing backing vocals for the Swiss entry (performed in Italian) "La vita cos'è?" performed by Jane Bogaert. This song placed 20th out of 24 in the contest. On 16 October 2001, Carrisi was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).[11]

In 2005, he starred in the Italian reality show L'isola dei Famosi (Italian version of Celebrity Survivor) with his daughter, Romina Carrisi. Al Bano returned to Sanremo Music Festival in 2007, where he sang "Nel perdono" which came in second place.

Al Bano still tours all over the world. He is a constant on Italian television and has a large number of fans who follow his career very closely. To date Al Bano has sold 165 million albums around the world. Al Bano has visited Albania a number of times. He was there for a concert in 1989 and has been enjoying great popularity there.

In June 2016 Al Bano was granted the Albanian citizenship due to his close ties with the country and career successes in Albania.[5]

In March 2019 Al Bano was included in the blacklist of the Ukrainian website "Myrotvorets" and the Ukrainian government banned him from entering Ukraine because of his support of the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.[12][13]

In April 2020 Al Bano released a dual-language song in Italian and English praising the natural beauty of Latvia. Terra d'Ambra e di Emozioni / Land of Amber was written and composed by Charles Goodger with Italian lyrics by Alberto Zeppieri. The Latvian Tourist Board used it in a promotional video.

Opera

Al Bano grew up listening to opera for which he had a great passion. He has released several opera albums and is a tenor. In 1997, he released an opera solo album 1997 entitled Concerto Classico, which went double platinum in a short time. Songs he sang on that album include "Una furtiva lagrima", "Va, pensiero", "La nostra serenata", "E lucevan le stelle", and "Ave Maria".[lower-alpha 1]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1967 Nel sole Carlo Carrera Leading role
1968 L'oro del mondo Carlo Carrera
1969 Il ragazzo che sorride Giorgio
Il suo nome è Donna Rosa Andrea
Pensando a te Carlo
1970 Mezzanotte d'amore Andrea
Angeli senza paradiso Franz Schubert
1984 Champagne in paradiso Marco Allegri
1985 I promessi sposi Renzo Tramaglino
2016 Poveri ma ricchi Himself Cameo appearance
Quo Vado?

Personal life

On 26 July 1970, Al Bano married Romina Power (daughter of the American actor Tyrone Power), who had already started to share her musical career with him, and remained his stage partner for about 30 years.

Carrisi and Power separated in 1999.[14] Their divorce was finalized in 2012.[15] They have a son, Yari (1973), and three daughters: Ylenia Maria (1970) (who went missing in New Orleans in 1994), Cristel Chiara (1985) (starred in the Reality TV show La Fattoria, an Italian version of The Farm) and Romina Iolanda (1987). He has one daughter and one son from girlfriend and showgirl Loredana Lecciso, Jasmine Caterina (2001) and Albano Giovanni (2002).

In the summer of 2013, Al Bano and Romina Power reunited, reportedly only on a professional basis and for one final time, for a concert performance in Moscow.[16][17] They later performed as guests at the Sanremo Festival 2015. They also performed together in Atlantic City, USA, in April 2015, and following that, in Los Angeles.

On 30 May 2015, Al Bano produced a show at the Arena di Verona, before a sold-out audience of 11,000, in which he starred with Romina Power. The show, featuring Tyrone Power Jr. and other special guests was transmitted by the Italian national TV network RAI, and was watched in over eight countries by 51,000,000 viewers around the globe, a 37 ratings share.[18]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ It is unclear as to which version of "Ave Maria" this was, but the best-known ones are those by Bach/Gounod and by Schubert.

References

  1. ↑ "Al Bano Carrisi: l'agronomo da 25 milioni di dischi venduti convola a nozze con Loredana Lecciso". mauxa.com. 30 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "Le Voci Delle Aquile Italiane". The Voice of the Italian Eagles. 28 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Albano Carrisi - singer". Italy On This Day.
  4. ↑ "Al Bano: «Vi racconto i miei 16 Sanremo»". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (in Italian). 7 February 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Italian singer Al Bano receives Albanian citizenship". top-channel.tv. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-214-20512-5.
  7. ↑ "Festival di Sanremo 1982" (in Italian). www.sorrisi.com. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1976 Year page". www.eurovision.tv. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1985 Year page". www.eurovision.tv. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Music video of Sima Archived 28 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Izlesene.com. Retrieved on 26 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "Al Bano Carrisi". Food and Agriculture Organization. 16 October 2001. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  12. ↑ "L'Ucraina mette al bando Al Bano: una "minaccia per la sicurezza nazionale"". rep.repubblica.it. 11 March 2019.
  13. ↑ Ukraine blacklists singer Al Bano as national security threat, UNIAN (11 March 2019)
  14. ↑ Celi, Rita. "Al Bano e Romina si separano". La Repubblica. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  15. ↑ Venegoni, Arianna (3 February 2020). "Albano e Romina Power se la meritano una timeline con tutte le tappe della loro storia d'amore". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  16. ↑ Bild.de: Al Bano and Romina Power: Reunion after 14 Years (German). Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  17. ↑ Express.de: Comeback: Al Bano and Romina Power Singing Together Once More Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine (German). Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  18. ↑ Romina Power – A Message Now Available from. Creative and Dreams Music Network (30 May 2015). Retrieved on 2015-07-26.
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