1970–1986: early career and first albums His musical
career began in 1970, with several small bands such as I Duca, Le nuove luci, I Decals, Sugar & Daniel, Sugar & Candies. At that time, he was studying
veterinary medicine; although he liked animals and the course (taking 39 out of the 51 exams), However, he wrote and produced the festival hit song "Lisa" by Stefano Sani.
1987–1994: breakthrough in Italy and first international successes Although
Zucchero & The Randy Jackson Band and
Rispetto were commercially successful, it was the 1987 album ''
Blue's that went on to become the highest selling album in Italian history (until his following album in 1989), The single "Diamante" included new version of the song "Dune Mosse" recorded along Miles Davis. Davis himself insisted to re-record the song with Zucchero, describing it "interesting Mediterranean type of blues". As of 2015 are reported sales of over 8 million copies. By the Rolling Stone Italia'' it was included among the most beautiful Italian music albums of all time. After the million selling success of ''Blue's
and Oro Incenso & Birra
in Italy, and his live collaborations with Joe Cocker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton (whom supported on tour and performed at Royal Albert Hall in London) and Miles Davis, Other European singles from the Hits album include English versions of "Diamante", and "Wonderful World" (with Eric Clapton). Diamante was later released as a duet with Randy Crawford, a variant not available on any album until the special edition of Zu & Co. (2004). Although advised to record in English to achieve international popularity he expressed doubt; "unfortunately, the only songs you can translate easily into English are the ballads, the love songs. That is a shame".), Peter Maffay, Elton John, Brian May and Eric Clapton. Many of these duets would later be included in the compilation Zu & Co.'' (2004). The 1991 was released Fornaciari's first live album
Live at the Kremlin, recorded in
Moscow Kremlin 1990 (being the first Western artist to perform there after the fall of
Berlin Wall) and featuring guest appearances by Randy Crawford (on
John Lennon's "
Imagine") and
Toni Childs. In 1992 was invited by Brian May to perform at
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, with the remaining three members of
Queen - Brian May,
John Deacon and
Roger Taylor, singing "
Las Palabras de Amor". In 1993 was invited by
Dan Aykroyd to perform at
House of Blues in celebration of 46th birthday of
John Belushi, playing "Diavolo in me" and "You are so beautiful" supported by
The Blues Brothers Band. ,
Lucio Dalla and Zucchero on the first edition of
Pavarotti & Friends, 1992 Between 1992 and 2003 was the regular cast of the charity concerts
Pavarotti & Friends organized by Luciano Pavarotti, where also performed along Pavarotti and B.B. King, for the children in
Bosnia,
Liberia,
Guatemala,
Kosovo,
Cambodia,
Tibet,
Angola and
Iraq. In 1992 Fornaciari released the million selling album
Miserere. Again produced by Corrado Rustici, it was a much darker album than Fornaciari's previous works, which was made clear by the title track "Miserere" (Have Mercy), a duet with
Luciano Pavarotti.
1995–2008: peak of musical career The 1995 album
Spirito DiVino, that included the smash European hits "Il Volo", "Papà perché?" and "X colpa di chi", is one of Fornaciari's most successful up to date, selling over 2,5 million copies in Europe alone (until 1996) and ending up on the first place in the Italian year charts, and Top 5 in France and Switzerland, the album proved a huge commercial success. On the album Fornaciari adds a certain New Orleans blues feeling to his music (especially on songs like "Voodoo Voodoo") and is accompanied by musicians such as
David Sancious,
Jeff Beck (on "Papa Perché?"),
Sheila E. (on "Alleluja", written by Italian rapper
Jovanotti) and former
Chuck Berry pianist Johnny Johnson. It, with the upcoming compilation, was promoted with over 150 concerts, an estimated audience of 1.4 million people. During the sold-out tour Fornaciari sang with
Buddy Guy in Milan, and played "My Love" (the English version of "Il Volo") and "Un piccolo aiuto" (together with Eric Clapton) during the '96 Pavarotti and Friends show. The Best of Tour also brought Fornaciari to the US for the first time playing to four sold out consecutive concerts at House of Blue in
Los Angeles. On the 1998 album
Bluesugar, Fornaciari moved from
Spirito DiVino's New Orleans feeling to a more British rock style, like of
Robert Johnson and
Radiohead. The album
Shake, that followed two months later, ended up being another European million selling album. The album is described as "multi-layered blend of acoustic and electric guitars, and the interplay of various vocal ranges and languages set the tone for a stunning album with unfailingly excellent material". Zucchero performed the Italian versions of the songs from the DreamWorks animated drama
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002). On 29 November 2003, participated in the
46664 charity (
AIDS) concert at
Green Point Stadium,
Cape Town, as well again in 2005, organized by
Nelson Mandela. At the concerts, he was invited by Brian May to become the new singer for Queen replacing Freddie Mercury, but he declined, and they continued forming
Queen + Paul Rodgers. The spring of 2004 saw the release of the duet album
Zu & Co., top five success in Europe. On the album, which had been sixteen years in the making, Fornaciari duets with international stars. On 6 May 2004 the album was presented during a concert in London's
Royal Albert Hall, where many of the album's gueststars appeared to perform with Fornaciari. and managed to enter the
Billboard 200 and top the
World Albums chart. They included cover "Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo" ("
Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" by
The Korgis). In September 2006 was released million selling studio album
Fly, certified 5× Platinum in Italy. Produced by
Don Was, it included the European hit singles "Bacco perbacco" and "Occhi", and features collaborations with artists such as
Ivano Fossati and
Jovanotti. The album's track "L'amore è nell'aria", borrows the instrumental backing to the B-side "Broken" by UK rock band
Feeder, as was co-written by their lead singer
Grant Nicholas. The Fly Tour, kicking off in May in Paris, France, has included dates in most European countries, as well as the U.S. (including a show in
Carnegie Hall in New York), and Latin America, with over 100 concerts worldwide. In June 2008 also performed at the
Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute held in
Hyde Park, London. In 2009 at
Ischia Global Film & Music Fest received the Global Music Award.
2009–2014: Chocabeck and cuban parenthesis during the Chocabeck World Tour, 2011 In November 2010, Fornaciari released a studio album entitled
Chocabeck, certified 5× Platinum in Italy. The album was produced by Don Was,
Brendan O'Brien, and Zucchero and includes collaborations with
Brian Wilson,
Roland Orzabal ("God bless the child"), and
Bono ("Someone Else's Tears"). The first single in Italy was the song "È Un Peccato Morir", followed by hits "Chocabeck", and "Vedo Nero". In March 2011, after three years, Zucchero started the Chocabeck World Tour, notably with five consecutive concerts at the
Arena in Verona. In the response to the
2012 Northern Italy earthquakes in
Emilia-Romagna, Zucchero participated and opened the "Concerto per l'Emilia" (€1-2 million) at
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara in Bologna, and "Italia Loves Emilia" (€4 million) at the airport in
Reggio Emilia in front of over 150,000 people. He received the premium awards "Premio Pavarotti", and "Giovani di Collisioni". On 20 November 2012, was released album
La Sesion Cubana which was recorded in
Cuba with Cuban musicians, including older and newer songs in
Latin,
Cuban,
Tex-Mex rhythm arrangement. It was anticipated in October by the single "
Guantanamera (Guajira)", and later was extracted single "Love is All Around" which video was filmed in the streets of
Havana. In 2013 the album was certified 3× Platinum in Italy. On 8 December the album was presented with a special free concert at the park of
Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, in front of nearly 70,000 people. The concert was organized in the collaboration with both Cuban and Italian Ministries, cultural institutions, with advanced technology brought from Europe, resulting with the biggest foreigner concert in Cuba up to date. It was recorded and filmed, being released as live album and DVD,
Una Rosa Blanca, in 2013. Zucchero became the honorary member of the
National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, recognition received by the Cuban Minister of Culture, Fernando Rojas. In February 2013 performed and received a special "L.A. Italia Excellence Award" at the
Grammy Museum. In March 2013, on stage in
Bologna, he dedicated to
Lucio Dalla, who had died a year earlier, his free Italian translation of the piece
Ave Maria No Morro by
Herivelto Martins, with some fragments of a poem by
Gabriele Moreno Locatelli. The sold-out La Sesión Cubana World Tour started on 5 April in
Tahiti,
French Polynesia, with an audience of 10,000 people. It included three consecutive sold-out performances in the Arena of Verona. In June performed at the protest-against poverty concert Agit8 organized by Bono at the
Tate Modern in London. In March 2014 started the Americana Tour with over 50 concerts in Canada and the United States. A special concert was held on 23 April at a sold-out
Madison Square Garden in New York, with many notable guests including Sting, Sam Moore, Jovanotti and Elisa. In 2014 he performed at the
Night of the Proms concerts in Europe.
2015–present: back to roots and new experiments Zucchero and
Alejandro Sanz recorded the Italian duet version of Sanz's single "
Un Zombie a la Intemperie", and Zucchero performed at his concert in Madrid. For
U2's
5 September show in
Turin, Zucchero was the special guest and played "
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". In October 2015, Fornaciari performed at the concert in
Vienna, the Europe's first solidarity concert for refugees, in front of an audience of 120,000. He performed "Love Is All Around", and covered "
Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" and "
Va pensiero", the latter with the children's choir. On
CNN it was announced that the album will include a new song
Streets of Surrender (S.O.S) which lyrics written by Bono, dedicated to the victims of
November 2015 Paris attacks. It was presented at a series of 11 consecutive concerts at the Arena in
Verona in September, and a subsequent world tour. The Arena concerts, held between 16 and 28 September, were his only concerts in Italy in 2016, and they were characterized by a vast and diverse repertoire of old and new songs, and some special guests. After guesting at
Sanremo Music Festival 2017, the
Black Cat Word Tour continued during 2017 reaching 137 events in thirteen months, 22 of them at the Arena di Verona. At the end of 2017, in order to celebrate the thirty-five years old career,
Wanted (The Best Collection) was released. In 2018 the Italian bluesman continued touring around Europe. The most important concerts were held in
Piazza San Marco and in
Hyde Park, London, for the
British Summer Time Festival. In October he won his first "
Premio Tenco", one of the most important Italian music award. In 2019 his fourteenth studio album
D.O.C. was released while a new acoustic version of the album was released in 2021. Being the subsequent world tour postponed due to
COVID-19 pandemic just few weeks after being guest at
Sanremo Music Festival 2020, a short reduced capacity acoustic tour was held in Italy and some European festivals during summer 2021. At the end of 2021 the first cover album in Zucchero's career was released, called
Discover, and followed by the
Word Wild Tour during 2022. ==Personal life==