More than 200 million records sold, over 40 films and a world hit that became Italy’s unofficial anthem – on his 85th birthday, the Italian artist Adriano Celentano can look back on a successful life as a singer, composer, music, film and television producer and moderator.
It is the story of a young man from a humble background, who grew up in “Via Gluck” on the outskirts of Milan, as the son of Apulian immigrants, who achieved meteoric rise to the premier league of Italian pop stars.
From cover band singer to chart topper
It all started in 1956 when the trained watchmaker – inspired by the US rock ‘n’ roll band Bill Haley & His Comets – founded his first rock band. Celentano initially covered titles such as “Tutti Frutti” before recording in his native language. In 1961 he founded his own label, Clan Celentano.
One of his biggest hits is “Azzurro” – the song written by Paolo Conte is still considered the unofficial national anthem of Italy. With his unmistakable deep, raspy voice, Celentano sings about a lover who is staying on the beach while the protagonist is trapped in the sweltering heat of the city.
“Prisencolinensinainciusol” also made it to the top of the charts throughout Europe in the early 1970s. One hit after the other followed – and to this day everyone has their very own favorite Celentano song.
Achievements in film and television
In addition to his music career, Celentano also acted in dozens of films – first as a singer, then increasingly as an actor. His comedic talent is shown, for example, in “Give the monkey sugar” from 1981 with film partner Ornella Muti. While filming in 1963, he met his future wife, the actress and singer Claudia Mori, with whom he has three children.
From 1964 Celentano presented several TV shows on the state broadcaster RAI. The singer became political on television: he demonized nuclear power and called for an active peace policy. In his show “Rockpolitik” in 2005, Celentano used his popularity to criticize the then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi before the parliamentary elections.
