Beginning (Ti lascio una canzone) (2009–2010) In 2009, Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble were among the teens competing in the Italian televised singing competition
Ti lascio una canzone, held at the
Teatro Ariston in
Sanremo and broadcast by
Rai 1. During the first episodes, they performed several songs as solo artists. Among the others, Gianluca Ginoble's rendition of "
Il mare calmo della sera", originally by
Andrea Bocelli, won the first episode of the show, and later came in first place during the final held on 2 May 2009. Director and creator of the show, Roberto Cenci, had the idea to put them together, with the purpose to create a trio similar to
The Three Tenors (
Plácido Domingo,
José Carreras and
Luciano Pavarotti). During the fourth episode of the show, they performed together for the first time, singing Neapolitan classic song "
'O sole mio". While in
Los Angeles, Italian singer-songwriter and music producer
Tony Renis casually discovered their performance through
Rai International. Impressed by the trio, he decided to call Cenci to arrange a meeting with them. Since they were under the age of 18, Cenci talked with the singers' families, and they decided to trust Renis' proposal to work with him. Producer Michele Torpedine started to work with them as a manager. The group was initially named "I Tre Tenorini", but their name was later changed to "The Tryo". With this name, in 2010 the group participated in the
charity single "
We Are the World 25 for Haiti", a remake of the 1985 hit song "
We Are the World". In February of the same year, they also performed the songs "
Granada" and "Un amore così grande" for
Queen Rania of Jordan during the
60th Sanremo Music Festival. In late 2010, their name was finally changed into "Il Volo" (English:
the flight)
Il Volo (2010–2012) Il Volo began working on their first studio album in 2010, recorded at
Abbey Road Studios in
London and produced by
Tony Renis and
Humberto Gatica. The
eponymously titled album largely covers international and Italian standards, including "Il mondo", "Un amore così grande", "’O sole mio", "El reloj" and
Charlie Chaplin's "
Smile", but also features original songs written by
Diane Warren and
Walter Afanasieff. The international edition of the album was released in the United States by
Geffen Records on 12 April 2011, and was promoted with a performance during the final three results show of
American Idol's
tenth season, as well as with appearances on
The Tonight Show,
Good Morning America,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show and
The Early Show. The lead single from the album in the United States was "’O sole mio". During its first week,
Il Volo reached the tenth spot of
Billboard 200 and topped the
Classical Albums chart, with sales of 23,000 copies. The album also entered the top ten in other countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, New Zealand and the Netherlands, and it peaked at number one on the
Ö3 Austria Albums Chart. The Spanish version of the album
Il Volo (Edición en Español) was released in June 2011. The record achieved commercial success in Mexico, peaking at number six and being certified platinum by the
Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas, as well as in the United States, where it topped the
Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and it received the
RIAA Latin gold certification, denoting shipments in excess of 50,000 units in the country. This also allowed the group to receive two nominations at the
12th Latin Grammy Awards, in the categories
Best New Artist and
Best Pop Album by a Duo or Group with Vocals, for the album
Il Volo (Edición en Español). The trio performed for the TV show
The Talk in February 2011 and on 13 October 2011. On 31 July 2011, the trio performed "’O sole mio" and "
This Time" for the President's Star Charity show in Singapore to help raise funds for the handicapped. On 4 September 2011, the trio performed "’O sole mio" and "
Smile" for the
MDA Labor Day Telethon. On 11 September 2011, the trio made a cameo appearance on the series finale of
Entourage. Il Volo performed live at the
Detroit Opera House on 27 October 2011, later released as
their first concert DVD. The group's EP
Christmas Favorites, featuring a track with
Pia Toscano, was released 21 November 2011. On the same date, their début album was reissued in a special Christmas edition augmented with the
Christmas Favourites EP. Il Volo performed as the closing guest for
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 22 December 2011, singing "The Christmas Song". The Detroit Opera House recording
Il Volo Takes Flight aired 7 December 2011 on local PBS station
WTVS, with the CD/DVD release 28 February 2012. The concert aired on PBS stations across the US and Canada, and the group toured the countries beginning that August. In October and early November 2012, the group performed with
Barbra Streisand during the North American leg of her
Barbra Live tour. They joined her onstage for the songs "Smile" and "
Make Our Garden Grow", and performed singles "O Sole Mio" and "Un Amore Cosi Grande".
We Are Love (2012–2013) On 19 November 2012 Il Volo released their second album,
We Are Love (
Billboard 200 number 100), which include 12 tracks in three different languages (Italian, English and Spanish) and duets with
Plácido Domingo and with Italian pop singer
Eros Ramazzotti. The album contains eight unreleased songs, written by
Diane Warren,
Luis Bacalov and Latin Grammy winner Edgar Cortazar among others, and four covers. It also includes the theme song of film
Hidden Moon, "Luna Nascosta", that Il Volo recorded in 2012. "Luna Nascosta" was selected by the
Academy among the seventy-five songs in the running for nominations in the Original Song category for the
2013 Oscars. On 28 November 2012 Il Volo performed at the 80th annual
Christmas at Rockefeller Center tree lighting in New York, which was broadcast live nationwide on NBC, and on 11 December they performed at the 2012
Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, with
King Harald V in attendance, singing "Il Mondo" and album title track "We Are Love". They released
Más Que Amor on 9 April 2013, a Spanish version of
We Are Love that includes an additional duet with Mexican singer
Belinda. The album débuted at number 1 on the
Billboard Latin Pop Albums and peaked at number 2 on the
Billboard Top Latin Albums.
Más Que Amor was certified Gold in Mexico and Argentina. On 25 April 2013, they performed the song "
El Triste" at the
2013 Latin Billboard Music Awards as a tribute to singer
José José. On 16 June Il Volo performed "Más Que Amor" during the "In Memoriam" tribute of the
40th Daytime Emmy Awards. On 11 July 2013 they sang the
national anthem of United States before the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Buon Natale – The Christmas Album (2013–2014) On 26 October 2013, they released the international version of
Buon Natale: The Christmas Album, which includes some of the most popular American Christmas songs, as well as two songs in Latin, one in Spanish and one in German, and duets with
Pia Toscano and
Belinda. The album debuted at number 1 on the
Billboard Holiday Albums and peaked at number 1 on the
Billboard Classical Albums chart. The single "O Holy Night" peaked at number 27 on the
Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. In November, a special Italian edition was released, including songs "Bianco Natale" and "Astro del ciel".
Rolling Stone published on its website a cappella performances of three tracks, "O Holy Night", "White Christmas" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". In February 2014, the trio received two nominations at the
2014 Latin Billboard Music Awards, as
Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year, Duo or Group and
Latin Pop Albums Artist of the Year, Duo or Group. The awards show took place at the
BankUnited Center of
Miami on 24 April, and broadcast live by
Telemundo. During the evening Il Volo is awarded as
Best Group of the year in
Latin Pop Albums category and won
El Pulso Social award, as artist who has dominated interactions on social networking sites during the Billboard Awards. The group also presented the
Latin Pop Songs artist of the Year, Duo or Group award. During 2014 the group focused on the preparation of a new album (Musica Che Resta is the current one in 2020), set to be released in 2015. In June they returned to North America for a series of 15 concerts in United States and Canada, accompanied by a band and an orchestra. The set list traced their career, including the most successful songs of their repertoire, and the tour gets very positive reviews from critics. In July and September they toured in Italy for first time. On 21 August 2014, Il Volo are awarded as
Dúo or Grupo Favorito in the
Premios Tu Mundo. The awards celebrates the Latin pop culture in the United States and are broadcast live by Telemundo. On 14 December 2014, Il Volo are announced as one of the participants in the 2015
Sanremo Music Festival (10–14 February 2015), with the unreleased song
Grande amore. On 21 December 2014, they performed at the traditional Christmas Concert in the
Italian Senate, in front of the highest offices of state, accompanied by a choir of children with hearing disabilities who perform the songs with sign language. At the end of the concert, the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano and the President of Senate Pietro Grasso praised the group.
Sanremo grande amore, Eurovision Song Contest, and Notte Magica (2015–2018) On 14 February 2015, they took part in the
Sanremo Music Festival 2015, winning 39.05% of the total vote over the 2 leading challengers. Grande Amore came 3rd with 292 points - winning the televote with 366 points - and won the
Marcel Bezençon Press Award, as best song according to the collective voting of the accredited press. The extended play
Sanremo grande amore was released in Italy on 20 February 2015 and was certified triple platinum by FIMI. Their fourth studio album was released worldwide on 25 September 2015 by
Sony Music Latin, in three different versions: an International version and a Spanish release
Grande Amore, and an Italian version ''
L'amore si muove''. The album is composed of original songs and covers of international and Italian standards and it was produced by
Emilio Estefan,
Celso Valli,
Cheche Alara and Michele Torpedine. It peaked at number 1 in Italy and on the Billboard
Top Classical Albums and on the
Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart. It was certified double platinum for more than 100,000 copies sold by FIMI. Il Volo was part of the 2015
Columbus Day Parade in New York City. On 30 September 2016, the group together with
Placido Domingo released
Notte Magica - A Tribute to the Three Tenors. The live album features many of the songs performed by
The Three Tenors (Domingo,
Pavarotti and
Carreras) for their iconic concert held on the eve of the
Italia '90 World Cup. On 4 March 2017 they debuted at the Radio City Music Hall in New York "Notte Magica – A Tribute to the Three Tenors" that will tour in the most important cities of the United States of America, in Italy, Europe and Latin America. The first date was held in Firenze their concert at the Baths of Caracalla, materialized in an album and a world tour that debuted on 1 July in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence.
Sanremo Festival, Musica, and The Best of 10 Years (2019–present) They took part in the
2019 Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Musica che resta". The piece, written and composed by
Gianna Nannini,
Emilio Munda, Piero Romitelli, Pasquale Mammaro and Antonello Carozza, ranking in third place. On 22 February 2019, Il Volo released their fifth studio album,
Musica, worldwide. Later that year on 8 November, they released their compilation album,
Il Volo: The Best of 10 Years, to celebrate their tenth anniversary of their career. The group has also embarked on a world tour, which kicked off in May 2019 in Japan, continued in Latin America beginning on 3 October, and arrived in North America the next year on 28 January 2020. On 5 June 2021, they held a concert in the Arena of Verona in honor of the Italian composer
Ennio Morricone, and subsequently released the tribute album
Il Volo Sings Morricone in November 2021. Il Volo competed in the Sanremo Festival
in 2024 with the song "
Capolavoro". ==Members==