Umberto Tozzi (born 4 March 1952) is an Italian pop and rock singer and composer. Over the course of his career, he has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally, and his biggest international hits are: "Stella Stai", "Gloria", "Tu" and "Ti Amo".

Tozzi was born on 4 March 1952 in Turin, Italy. In 1968, at the age of 16, Umberto Tozzi joined 'Off Sound', one of the many groups that performed in small venues around Turin. In Milan, he met Adriano Pappalardo, with whom he formed a 13-piece band and began a large-scale Italian tour.

In 1974 Tozzi had his first success as a songwriter, with the song "Un Corpo, un'anima" ("One Body, One Soul"), co-written with Damiano Dattoli and performed by Wess and Dori Ghezzi. It appeared on Canzonissima, an Italian music programme running from 1956 to 1974.

In 1976, he released his first album, Donna Amante Mia ("Woman, My Lover"), which contained the single "Io Camminerò" ("I Will Walk"), which was sung with great success by Fausto Leali. In 1977, "Ti Amo", one of Tozzi's most famous songs, was released. It stayed at number one on the Italian song charts for seven months, and went on to become an international success throughout continental Europe. It also achieved decent success in the Americas and Australia, primarily in nightclubs. The single was awarded a gold record award in Australia, despite the fact that it only made number 25 on the charts there in late 1979. In 1978 he released Tu, another hit in Italy, and held an Australian tour, which was organized by the Italo-Australian promoter Duane Zigliotto and concluded at the Sydney Opera House with two full house concerts.

The following year Tozzi recorded one of his most famous songs, "Gloria", which became a major hit in Italy in 1979 and 1980. Jonathan King wrote English lyrics for the song, which became popular in the UK as well in 1979, and was sung and recorded by the English singer Elkie Brooks in 1980. A cover version of the song by the American singer Laura Branigan in 1982 caused the song to grow in popularity in the US as well. Branigan worked with the arranger and keyboardist of Tozzi's own version, Greg Mathieson, to give the song what she called "an American kick." The song reached the top of the charts, reached gold and platinum status in several countries, and stayed on the US pop charts for 36 weeks.

By late 1980 he released "Stella Stai", another one of his major hits. In the early 1980s he released an album called Tozzi, which he recorded at a concert with a band of American musicians, and was his first live recording. Soon after, the Latin Group Menudo recorded the Spanish version of "Stella Stai", entitled "Claridad", which made it one of the highest selling records in the whole of Latin America.

After a period of absence from the music scene, Tozzi returned in 1987 and won the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Si Può Dare Di Più" ("More can be given"), which he sung with Gianni Morandi and Enrico Ruggeri. In 1987 he also released "Gente Di Mare'"("People of the sea"), which he performed with Raf at Eurovision, and won third place. In 1988, Tozzi released his second live album, The Royal Albert Hall. ...

Source: Article "Umberto Tozzi" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Umberto Tozzi est un chanteur italien né le 4 mars 1952 à Turin. Il est célèbre notamment pour ses chansons Ti amo, Tu et Gloria.

Il entre en 1968 dans le groupe Off Sound, composé de jeunes qui jouent dans de petites salles à Turin. Il rencontre Adriano Pappalardo et forment un groupe avec onze autres membres, puis font une tournée à travers l'Italie. En 1975, il participe au groupe La Strana Società.

À dix-neuf ans, Damiano Dattoli lui écrit la chanson Un corpo, un'anima, avec laquelle il remporte son premier succès. Il sort son premier album en 1976, Donna amante mia. L'année suivante, Umberto Tozzi sort Ti Amo, produite par Giancarlo Bigazzi, premier disque à sortir en France. Elle restera sept mois en première place du top 50, et battra tous les records de vente. Dalida reprend la chanson avec un texte français qui n'est pas la traduction de l'original. Ses deux autres chansons les plus connues en France, Tu et Gloria (reprise en anglais par Laura Branigan sur l'album Branigan et en français sous le titre Glori Gloria par Sheila), sortent en 1978 et 1979. Laura Branigan reprend ensuite en anglais Ti Amo.

Il sort d'autres succès dans les années 1980, tels que Notte Rosa ou Eva. En 1984, il s'accorde une pause pour revenir en force trois ans plus tard, avec la chanson Gente di Mare (avec Raf au Concours Eurovision de la chanson), véritable succès en Italie, et surtout Si può dare di più (avec Gianni Morandi et Enrico Ruggeri), grâce à laquelle il gagne le Festival de Sanremo. Sa carrière continue dans les années 1990 avec des chansons moins romantiques, mais plus recherchées, et qui veulent délivrer un message, comme Gli altri siamo noi, Le mie canzoni, Aria e cielo ou Il grido. il remporte également le Festivalbar en 1977 et 1994.

On revoit Umberto Tozzi chantant en duo avec Cerena une version franco-italienne de Tu en 2003.

La carrière d'Umberto Tozzi s'est ralentie depuis quelques années, mais dès la sortie d'un nouvel album, le succès est au rendez-vous: son dernier passage à l'Olympia (le 15 février 2006 avec Marco Masini en invité vedette) a remporté un grand succès. En septembre 2008, il fait une reprise de Petite Marie de Francis Cabrel et prépare une autobiographie pour la fin de l'année.

23 janvier 2009 a publié l'album Non solo live précédé par la chanson Cerco ancora te composée par Emilio Munda.

Fin mars 2012, il sort un nouveau best of double CD Yesterday.

Umberto Tozzi n'a jamais caché son admiration pour Paul McCartney avec lequel il aimerait faire un duo. Il est par ailleurs très reconnaissant envers le public français pour son accueil et son audience.

Source: Article "Umberto Tozzi" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.