2012–2018: X Factor and beginnings In 2012, Mahmood auditioned for the
sixth season of the
Italian version of
The X Factor. He became part of the boys category mentored by
Simona Ventura. He was originally eliminated at Judges Houses, then returned as a wildcard, before eventually being eliminated in the third episode. After this experience, he worked in a bar and attended a music school, studying piano, solfeggio and music theory, where he also started writing songs. In 2013, he released his debut single "Fallin' Rain". In 2016, Mahmood participated in the Newcomers Section of
Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Dimentica". In 2017, he released the single "Pesos", with which he participated in the fifth edition of the Wind Summer Festival, winning the third episode of the Youth section. In September 2018, he released his debut
extended play,
Gioventù bruciata. In November 2018,
Marco Mengoni released his fifth album,
Atlantico, which features three tracks co-written by Mahmood, including the single "Hola (I Say)". Mahmood was placed first in the second episode of the show, with his entry "Gioventù bruciata", also receiving the Critics' Award among acts performing in the second final. "
Soldi" was later announced as his entry for the Sanremo Music Festival 2019. Mahmood performed the song for the first time during the first live show of the 69th Sanremo Music Festival, which was held on 5 February 2019.
Dario "Dardust" Faini, co-writer of the song, directed the Sanremo Orchestra during his performance. During the third live show, "Soldi" was the first performance of the night. On 8 February 2019, Mahmood performed the song in a new version, featuring rapper
Gué Pequeno. During the first round of the final, "Soldi" placed 7th in the televote, but was the most voted by the experts jury, and the second most voted by the press jury. As a result, Mahmood gained a spot in the top three acts of the competition and after an additional performance, the song was declared the winner of the 69th Sanremo Music Festival. Mahmood also received the "Enzo Jannacci" Award for Best Performance. and the "Premio Baglioni d'oro" award for best song voted by the participating artists. On 22 February 2019, Mahmood reissued
Gioventù bruciata as a full-length
studio album, which topped the Italian albums chart. In April 2019, Mahmood was featured on the single "
Calipso" by
Charlie Charles and Dardust, which topped the Italian singles chart. In May 2019, he represented
Italy at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in
Tel Aviv,
Israel. He performed "Soldi" in the grand final of the contest on 18 May, placing second in the final ranking. The song topped the charts in Greece, Israel, Italy and Lithuania and reached the top 10 in five more countries, eventually becoming the most-streamed Eurovision song ever on
Spotify, a record held until late January 2021 when it was surpassed by the 2019 Eurovision winner, "
Arcade" by
Duncan Laurence. Mahmood performed at the closing ceremony of the
2019 Summer Universiade in
Naples with three of his songs "Soldi", "
Gioventù bruciata" and "Anni 90".
2020–2023: Ghettolimpo, return to Sanremo and Eurovision On 11 June 2021, Mahmood released his second studio album,
Ghettolimpo. The album's release was preceded by five singles: "
Rapide", "
Dorado" (in collaboration with fellow Italian rapper
Sfera Ebbasta and Colombian singer
Feid), "
Inuyasha", "
Zero" (also included in the soundtrack of the
2021 Netflix series of the same name) and "
Klan". Mahmood made his return to Sanremo in
2022 alongside
Blanco with the song "
Brividi", with which they won and thus earned the right to represent at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in
Turin. The song reached number 15 on the
Billboard Global 200 chart dated 19 February 2022. At the contest in Turin, "Brividi" finished in sixth place with 268 points. Being a popular Eurovision star, Mahmood was one of the guest artists invited to sing at the grand final interval act "Liverpool Songbook" of the
ESC 2023, he sang
Imagine by John Lennon.
2024–present: Third Sanremo entry and Nei letti degli altri He competed again in Sanremo in
2024 with the song "
Tuta gold", the song immediately peaked at number one in Italy. He co-hosted the fourth night of the
2025 festival alongside
Geppi Cucciari and
Carlo Conti. == Public image ==