2015–2016: Formation Members
Damiano David,
Victoria De Angelis, and Thomas Raggi first met each other as students during their
high school days in
Rome, with Ethan Torchio from nearby
Frosinone soon joining them when they inquired on
Facebook in a "Musicians Wanted" advert for a drummer to complete the line-up. Although the band's origins can be traced to 2015, it was officially formed in 2016 when the members had to choose the band's name because they had decided to register for Pulse, a local music contest for emerging bands. While brainstorming, De Angelis, who is half Danish, was asked by her bandmates to toss out some Danish words, and they agreed on ('moonlight'), although its meaning is not related to the band itself. The Pulse contest also marked a turning point in their career, since they had to start writing their own songs. The competition led them to perform at the Felt music club & school in front of 200–300 people, and they later went on to win first prize. They later performed as
buskers in the streets of the Colli Portuensi district of Rome, as well as in the historical centre of Rome, including in
Via del Corso. After a trip to Denmark, during which the band also performed some live shows, Måneskin strengthened their cohesiveness, and started to play together for several hours a day.
2017–2019: X Factor and Il ballo della vita , 2018 In 2017, they took part in the
eleventh season of the Italian
talent show X Factor, under the guidance of mentor
Manuel Agnelli, finishing in second place behind
Lorenzo Licitra. There they covered "
Beggin'" by
the Four Seasons, "
Take Me Out" by
Franz Ferdinand, and "
Somebody Told Me" by
the Killers, among others. The original song they performed during the show, "
Chosen", was released as a single on 24 November 2017 by Sony Music and charted at number two on the Italian
FIMI Singles Chart. It was included in the
extended play of the same title, released in mid-December 2017 and mainly consisting of covers previously performed during the
X Factor live shows. The EP was later certified double platinum by FIMI. On 23 March 2018, the band released their first Italian-language single, "
Morirò da re", which continued their commercial success. Måneskin's first full-length studio album, featuring "Morirò da re" and preceded by the ballad single "
Torna a casa", was released on 26 October 2018. Both the album, titled , and the single "Torna a casa" topped the charts in Italy. To promote the album, the band theatrically released a
documentary film, titled
This Is Måneskin. The film premiered in Italy on 26 October 2018. In January 2019, the band released their fourth single "
Fear for Nobody", while in April 2019 their fifth single "
L'altra dimensione" rose to fourth on the FIMI Singles Chart. Their sixth single "
Le parole lontane", which was released in September 2019, reached top 5 of the FIMI Singles Chart and was certified platinum. During their first tour, held between 2018 and 2019, they sold-out over 70 dates along with selling more than 140,000 tickets, a figure that also included their first European tour with eleven sold-out dates in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
2020–2021: ''Teatro d'ira: Vol. I'', Eurovision and global recognition From late 2019 until spring 2020, the band lived in London where they worked on their music style and new material. In October 2020, their seventh single "" was released. On 6 March 2021, the band won the
Sanremo Music Festival 2021 with the song "", ahead of runners-up
Francesca Michielin and
Fedez, and
Ermal Meta. Their win was viewed by many to be a surprise, as rock is considered an atypical contesting music genre in the history of the Festival. Prior to Sanremo, the band announced their second studio album ''
Teatro d'ira: Vol. I'', which was released on 19 March 2021. As the winners of Sanremo 2021, Måneskin was designated as the
Italian representatives at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2021, held in
Rotterdam,
Netherlands, with "". On 15 May, Italy climbed to the top of the betting odds to win the contest, surpassing competitors from France, Switzerland and Malta, all of whom had occupied the top spot at one point between the release date of their songs and the night of the grand final. On 22 May, the band confirmed the predictions by going on to win the contest with an energetic performance, having received a total of 524 points, thus giving Italy its third Eurovision triumph after
Gigliola Cinquetti in
1964 and
Toto Cutugno in
1990. Måneskin also became the first band and "" the first rock song to win the contest since
Lordi with "
Hard Rock Hallelujah" for
Finland in
2006. Upon accepting the winner's trophy, Damiano shouted into the microphone: After the contest, the album ''Teatro d'ira: Vol. I
, its single "", tracks "I Wanna Be Your Slave" and "Coraline", as well as other releases from the band entered weekly charts across Europe and beyond, including several Spotify global charts. "" and "I Wanna Be Your Slave" also entered the top ten of the Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S. chart. "" also became the first Italian-language song in 30 years to chart on the top 20 of the
UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 17, as well as "I Wanna Be Your Slave" peaking at number five, which was the first song by an Italian rock band to reach the UK top ten, thus making the band the first Eurovision winners since
Celine Dion to have two songs in the UK top 40, and a top 10 hit with a non-contest song. Their 2017 cover of
the Four Seasons "
Beggin'" also peaked at number six, thus making them the first Italian act and the first Eurovision-associated act to have two songs charting in the top ten of the UK Singles Chart at the same time. "Beggin'" later debuted on the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 78 and went on to peak at number 13, making them the second Eurovision-winning act in recent history to break into the chart. The band went on a European promotional tour between June and July, and performed at a number of open-air summer music festivals in 2021, including
Rock for People and
Nova Rock Festival. A live recording of "Beggin'", recorded at Ronquières Festival 2021, was released as a digital single on 27 September 2021. The band's tenth single "
Mammamia" was released on 8 October. On 26 October, they made their US television debut performing "Beggin'" on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and later in November performed on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the
MTV Europe Music Awards where they won the award for
Best Rock act, and at the
American Music Awards. During this period, they also held a sold-out London concert at the
O2 Academy Islington, sold-out US concerts at the
Roxy Theatre and
Bowery Ballroom, and opened for
the Rolling Stones at
Las Vegas'
Allegiant Stadium.
2022–2024: Rush! in 2022 On 22 January 2022, Måneskin was the musical guest on
Saturday Night Live. The band's eleventh single "
Supermodel" was released on 13 May, and was performed at the final of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2022, held in
Turin the following day. They also performed a short rendition of "
If I Can Dream" which was later included in the soundtrack of the film
Elvis. The band performed "Supermodel" with
Jimmy Fallon subbing for an ill DeAngelis on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on 20 May, and at the
2022 MTV Video Music Awards (where the band won the
Best Alternative Video category for "I Wanna Be Your Slave") on 28 August. Måneskin embarked on the Loud Kids Tour Gets Louder, which visited Japan, the Americas, and Europe between fall 2022 and summer 2023. Their twelfth single "
The Loneliest" was released on 7 October, and won on 12 September 2023 for
Best Rock Video at the
2023 MTV Video Music Awards. The band's third studio album,
Rush!, was released on 20 January 2023. They were nominated for the
Best New Artist category for the
65th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to jazz singer
Samara Joy. On 13 January 2023, the band released the single and music video for "
Gossip", featuring
Tom Morello. In February 2023,
Variety ran a profile piece on Måneskin, referring to them as "the biggest rock band to emerge in years", and
The New York Times followed with its own profile that September, calling them "almost certainly the biggest Italian rock band of all time." The band made their debut at the
Glastonbury Festival in June 2023, followed by the Rush! World Tour, which visited Europe, the Americas, Oceania and Asia from September to December 2023. On 1 September, they released the single "
Honey (Are U Coming?)", which was later included in
Rush! (Are U Coming?), a reissue of
Rush! that was released on 10 November. == Musical style and influences ==