Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Laura Alice Rossella Pausini, omri (Italian pronunciation: [pauˈziːni]; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian soul singer-songwriter. She debuted in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which became an Italian standard and an international hit, reaching the top spot on the Italian Singles Chart and the top 10 in France and the Netherlands.
Her eponymous debut album was released in Italy on 18 May 1993 and later became an international success, selling two million copies worldwide. Her second studio album, Laura, was released in 1994 and confirmed her success, selling 3,000,000 copies worldwide and spawning the hit singles "Strani amori" and "Gente". In November 1994 she released her first Spanish language album, titled Laura Pausini and composed of ten songs included in her previous works. The album was certified Diamond by the Association of Phonographic and Videographic of Spain, making her the first non-Spanish artist to sell more than 1,000,000 copies in Spain.
During her career, she won three Latin Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Album, with her records Escucha (2005), Yo canto (2007) and Primavera anticipada (2009). On 8 February 2006 she also became the first Italian female artist to win a Grammy Award, receiving the prize for Best Latin Pop Album with Escucha. As of November 2011, she had released 10 Italian-language studio albums, 9 Spanish-language albums and a greatest hits album. In 2004, Allmusic's Jason Birchmeier considered Pausini's sales "an impressive feat for someone who'd never really broken into the lucrative English–language market".
Biography
Childhood and early beginnings
The elder of two daughters, Laura Pausini was born in Faenza (Province of Ravenna, Italy) to Fabrizio Pausini and Gianna Ballardini and raised in Solarolo. Her first live performance was on 16 May 1985, when she sang together with her father in a piano bar in Bologna. Since then, her father started giving her singing lessons and she continued to perform alongside him in local piano bars. In the meanwhile, she also started singing in a church choir.
In 1987 she recorded her first demo album, produced by her father and released to promote her live shows. Titled I sogni di Laura, it consisted of 8 covers and 5 new songs. In 1991 she participated in the Castrocaro Music Festival singing Liza Minnelli's "New York, New York", but failed to reach the final stage of the competition.
Career breakthrough: 1993
Her career was launched in 1993, when she debuted in the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd San Remo Music Festival. On 27 February, she won the competition with her entry "La solitudine", which later became one of her best-known hits. In March 1993, the song peaked at number one on the Italian Singles Chart, maintaining the top spot for three consecutive weeks. Following the success obtained with her first single, she signed a contract with Warner Music Italy to produce her first professional album, Laura Pausini. Released by CGD Records in May 1993, the album reached the sixth position on the Italian Albums Chart, selling 400,000 copies in Italy.
In late 1993, the album was released in the rest of Europe, peaking at number three on the Dutch Albums Chart. Moreover, "La solitudine" became a radio hit in Belgium and the Netherlands, and peaked at number five on the French Singles Chart and at number two on the Dutch Singles Chart.
The album also spawned the singles "Non c'è" and "Perché non torna più".
Spanish-language debut and international success: 1994–1995
In February 1994, Pausini participated for the second time in the Sanremo Music Festival, competing in the "Big Artists" section with the song "Strani amori". The song ranked third in the competition and was included in her second studio album, Laura, released in February 1994. According to CGD Records, the album sold 150,000 copies in Italy in its first week, with initial shipments of 200,000 copies. It also peaked at number one on the Dutch Albums Chart and entered the charts in Belgium and Switzerland, selling three million copies worldwide. Other singles from the album were "Gente", "Lui non sta con te" and "Lettera".
In November 1994, Pausini released her first Spanish-language album, Laura Pausini, a compilation of ten adapted versions of hits from her first two Italian albums. The record became the best selling album of 1994 in Spain and was later certified Diamond by the Association of Phonographic and Videographic of Spain, selling more than 1,000,000 copies in Spain and making Pausini the first non-Spanish artist to achieve this result.
The album was successful in Latin America too, being certified Platinum by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers and by the Asociación Colombiana de Productores de Fonogramas. Moreover, the first four singles from the album, "La soledad", "Se fue", "Amores extraños" and "Gente", entered the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks. Thanks to these results, Billboard ranked Pausini the second female revelation of 1994, after Mariah Carey. In 1995 Pausini also received the World Music Award for Best Selling Italian Recording Artist and the Lo Nuestro Award for Best New Artist of the Year.
Pausini's first record for the Anglophone market was a self-titled compilation released in 1995, including 9 Italian-language hits and an English-language version of her first single, "La solitudine (Loneliness)", adapted by Tim Rice and released as a single in the United Kingdom on 19 June 1995. However, the album and the single failed to chart.
Third album and World Wide Tour 1997: 1996–1997
Following the success obtained by Pausini's debut Spanish album, her third album was released in 1996 both in Italian and Spanish, starting "a practice that [has] come to define her career and compound her success". The album, titled Le cose che vivi / Las cosas que vives, was released on 12 September 1996 and was preceded by the single "Incancellabile". A special edition of the album was released in Brazil, featuring three additional bonus tracks in Portuguese.
On 1 March 1997, Pausini launched from Ginevra the World Wide Tour in support of her new album, giving concerts around the world for four months. The album sold 3,500,000 million copies worldwide and was certified Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, for European sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies.
La mia risposta / Mi respuesta and second World Tour: 1998–1999
In 1998, Pausini released La mia risposta / Mi respuesta, her fourth studio album, including a song penned by Phil Collins. The album was dubbed by music critics as a mature work, with influences from soul music, but was a moderate commercial success, selling two million copies worldwide.
To promote the album, Pausini began in early 1999 the La mia risposta World Tour '99, during which she performed in theatres throughout Europe. On 1 June 1999, she was one of the artists performing along with Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti in Modena during his annual "Pavarotti and Friends" concert. Pavarotti and Pausini duetted in the Italian version of the aria Dein ist mein ganzes Herz, titled Tu che m'hai preso il cuor, from Franz Lehár's operetta Das Land des Lächelns. The live performance was later included in the album Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Guatemala and Kosovo.
In 1999 she also contributed the Richard Marx composition "One More Time" to the Message in a Bottle soundtrack. The track was produced by David Foster who was featured on piano.
Tra te e il mare / Entre tú y mil mares and greatest hits album: 2000–2001
In 2000, she recorded the song "The Extra Mile" for the soundtrack of the movie Pokémon 2000: The Power of One. The song was included in the album Tra te e il mare / Entre tú y mil mares, released on 11 September 2000 and preceded by the homonymous single, written by the Italian pop singer Biagio Antonacci. The album also features the song "Viaggio con te", awarded in 2001 with the Italian Lunezia Award for Best Songwriter of the Year.
2001 saw the release of Pausini's first hits compilation both in Italian and Spanish: The Best of Laura Pausini: E ritorno da te / Lo mejor de Laura Pausini: Volveré junto a ti. The first single's video, "E ritorno da te" / "Volveré junto a ti", was filmed by Italian film director Gabriele Muccino. The album also includes the single "Una storia che vale" and features guest appearances by Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil in "Seamisai" and by Italian singer Nek, who plays the bass in "Non c'è". Supported by the 2001/2002 World Tour, which started in Miami on 19 October 2001, the greatest hits became one of Pausini's biggest commercial successes, selling 700,000 copies in Italy and 800,000 copies in France.
On 30 November 2002, Pausini released Live 2001-2002 World Tour, her first live DVD, filmed during the concert she gave in Milan on 2 December 2001.
From the Inside, the debut in the United States: 2002–2003
In 2001, Pausini started working with producers such as Patrick Leonard and John Shanks on her first English language album, From the Inside. Released in Canada, Mexico and the United States by Atlantic Records on 5 November 2002, the album did not get the expected success, selling 100,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen-Soundscan. The album singles "Surrender" and "If That's Love" reached the top spot on the Hot Dance Club Songs Chart, but Pausini, disappointed at her English language debut being ignored in the U.S. outside the club scene, abandoned the promotion for From the Inside. The album was later released in Europe too, selling 800,000 copies worldwide.
In 2003 Luciano Pavarotti invited her for the second time to the "Pavarotti and Friends" concert, where they duetted again in "Tu che m'hai preso il cuor".
Resta in ascolto / Escucha and the Grammy: 2004–2005
In October 2004 Pausini released her eight studio album, Resta in ascolto / Escucha. Influenced by international artists including Phil Collins and Celine Dion, the recording is on the subject of a break-up and was written in 2002, during her separation from her ex-boyfriend and producer Alfredo Cerruti.
The album features the song "Mi abbandono a te" / "Me abandono a ti", co-written by Pausini, Rick Nowels and Madonna. It also includes the ballad "Vivimi" / "Viveme", written by Biagio Antonacci, and the single "Benedetta passione" / "Bendecida pasión", penned by Italian rock-star Vasco Rossi. Well-received by music critics, the album is mainly focused on themes of anger, bitterness, desire for independence and interior peace, but also features a song about the Iraq War, in which Pausini sings about Ali Ismail Abbas, a boy who was severely injured in a nighttime rocket attack near Baghdad in 2003.
The album debuted at number one on the Italian Albums Chart and sold 350,000 copies in Italy. Its Spanish version later won Best Female Pop Vocal Album at the Latin Grammy Awards of 2005 and Best Latin Pop Album at the 48th Grammy Awards, making Pausini the first Italian female artist to win a Grammy Award.
Pausini made a guest appearance on Michael Bublé's 2005 live album Caught in the Act, singing a duet with Bublé of Lou Rawls' hit "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". The duet was placed on both the audio CD, and the full concert DVD that aired on PBS as an episode of Great Performances.
At the 2006 Lo Nuestro Award, Pausini was nominated in the sections Album of the Year for Escucha, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for "Viveme" and won the Award for Best Female Pop Artist.
In January 2005, Pausini started a new tour to promote the album. The concerts she gave at the Zénith de Paris on 22 and 23 March 2005 were filmed and released as a live album in November 2005, titled Live in Paris 05.
Io canto and the concert in San Siro: 2006–2007
In November 2006, Pausini released the album Io canto / Yo canto, consisting of covers of Italian pop rock songs. On the album liner notes, Pausini wrote: "here is the music I listen to when I'm at my saddest, or when I feel a moment is special, the songs I used to sing as a young girl when I first started performing, and above all those which taught me to love music, and how music can move you so deeply, regardless of its genre or style".
The album also features duets with Tiziano Ferro, Juanes and Johnny Hallyday. It debuted at number one on the Italian Albums Chart and held the top spot for 8 non-consecutive weeks. It also became the best-selling album of 2006 in Italy, selling 500,000 copies in less than two months. On 8 November 2007, the album won Best Female Pop Vocal Album at the Latin Grammy Awards. Laura dedicated the award to the memory of Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Later on during the show she sang "Vivere (Dare to Live)" alongside Italian singer Andrea Bocelli.
In Summer 2006, Pausini played a Juntos en Concierto tour with Marc Anthony and Marco Antonio Solís, consisting of 20 concerts throughout the United States.
On 2 June 2007, Laura Pausini was the first female artist to play at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, in front of a crowd of 70,000 spectators. On 30 November 2007, the concert was released on CD and DVD, under the title San Siro 2007.
Primavera in anticipo, Amiche per l'Abruzzo and Laura Live World Tour 09: 2008–2010
Pausini spent the first months of 2008 recording her tenth studio album, Primavera in anticipo / Primavera anticipada. The Spanish language edition of the album was released on 11 November 2008, while the Italian language edition was released in Italy on 14 November 2008. The album was preceded by the single "Invece no" / "En cambio no", released on 24 October 2008 and promoted with an appearance in Piazza Trinità dei Monti in Rome on 14 November 2008. The album also features a the single "Primavera in anticipo (It Is My Song)" / Primavera anticipada (It Is My Song)", a duet with British singer-songwriter James Blunt. In November 2009 the album won Best Female Album at the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2010 Pausini also won the Lo Nuestro Award for Female Artist of the Year.
On 21 June 2009, Pausini organized a mega-concert in the San Siro Stadium in Milan, raising money to support the victims of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. The concert, named Amiche per l'Abruzzo, involved 43 Italian female singers and was later released on a DVD, which sold 250,000 copies in Italy.
In the meanwhile, Pausini began on 5 March 2009 from Turin the World Tour 2009, which reached Europe in May 2009 and then South America and the United States in Autumn 2009. The last leg of the tour took place in Italy in November 2009. A CD of the tour, along with a DVD, was released on 27 November 2009 with the title Laura Live World Tour 09 / Laura Live Gira Mundial 09. The album also includes three new song, the singles "Con la musica alla radio" / "Con la musica en la radio", "Non sono lei" / "Ella no soy" and "Casomai" / "Menos mal".
Inedito and the 2012 World Tour: 2011–present
On 30 December 2010, Pausini announced her eleventh studio album, Inedito / Inédito, released both in Italian and Spanish on 11 November 2011. The title and the tracklist of the album were announced through Pausini's website on 10 September 2011. The first single from the album, "Benvenuto" / "Bienvenido", was released on 12 September 2011.
In order to promote the album, Pausini engaged the Inedito World Tour, starting with 11 shows in Italy in late December 2011. The tour reached Latin America in January and February 2012, and on 10 April 2012 Pausini will start the European leg of her Tour.
The album also spawned the singles "Non ho mai smesso" / "Jamás abandoné", "Bastava" / "Bastaba" and "Mi tengo" / "Me quedo".
Artistry
Laura Pausini is described as a mezzo-soprano with a classic and powerful voice. Due to her voice, Pausini has been compared by music critics to various female artists, including Milva, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Barbra Streisand.
At the beginning of her career, she has been described by music critics as a teen idol mainly singing about adolescent love affairs and problems. She was also strongly criticized for her songs, described as too much melancholic and trivial. Starting from her 1998's La mia risposta / Mi respuesta, Italian music critics considered her as a more mature singer and later praised her simplicity and her voice, describing Pausini as an interpret of her years.
Although her music is mainly based on typical Italian melody, her musical style evolved during her career, with influences from various genres, including Latin music, soul music and rock music. According to Musica e dischi's Antonio Orlando, the key elements in Pausini's style are romanticism, optimism, melancholy and surrounding melodies.
Starting from her 1996's album Le cose che vivi / Las cosas que vives, Pausini has also co-wrote most of her songs and starting from her 1998's La mia risposta / Mi respuesta she has been involved in the production of her albums.
Personal life
Pausini left her hometown in 1995, when she moved to Milan with her partner, manager and producer Alfredo Cerruti Jr. Their relationship ended in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 Pausini was romantically involved with her new manager, Gabriele Parisi. She is currently engaged with the Italian guitarist, composer, music producer and former singer Paolo Carta.
Pausini describes herself as a Roman Catholic woman, but expressed doubts about Roman Church's position on various themes, including contraception, abortion and premarital sex. In September 2000 she explained her position during an interview to the Italian newspaper la Repubblica:
I believe so much in God, and the Pope is the man I want to meet the most in the world. I've known him in 1996. I just have a few doubts about the Catholic Church, like for example the discrimination against homosexuals. I don't understand why they condemn racism, but at the same time they take issue with gay people.
Honours
– Commander Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: Awarded the fourth highest civil honor in Italy, by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on 6 February 2006.
