Adriano Celentano (born in Italy for his manner of moving on stage he was nicknamed "Molleggiato" ("on springs").
He is one of the most successful and influential artists in the history of Italian music. In 2007 he topped the list of "100 Brightest Movie Stars" according to the publication "Time Out".
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Celentano, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Adriano Celentano.
Celentano's biography
Adriano Celentano was born on January 6, 1938 in Milan. He grew up and was brought up in a poor family that has nothing to do with cinema. His mother Giuditta, who gave birth to him at 44, he became the fifth child.
Childhood and youth
Adriano lost his father when he was still young, as a result of which the mother had to take care of him and the rest of the children herself. The woman worked as a seamstress, doing her best to support her family.
Due to the difficult financial situation, Celentano decided to leave school and start working.
As a result, a 12-year-old boy began working as an apprentice for a watchmaker. And although his life was hardly carefree, he loved to have fun and make people around him laugh.
In his youth, Adriano often parodied the famous humorist Jerry Lewis. He did it so skillfully that his sister decided to send one of the photographs of his brother in the image of this artist to the doubles competition.
This led to the fact that the young man became the winner of the tournament, receiving a cash prize of 100,000 lire.
At this time in his biography, Celentano became seriously interested in rock and roll, which, by the way, was adored by his mother. Over time, he became a member of the Rock Boys.
At the same time, Adriano began writing songs, and about a year later he began to collaborate with his friend Del Prete. In the future, Prete will write many compositions for him, and for many years will be the producer of the shocking Italian.
Music
In 1957, Adriano Celentano, together with the Rock Boys, was honored to perform at the First Italian Rock and Roll Festival. It is worth noting that this was the first time that the musicians participated in a serious event.
Almost all the groups covered songs of famous performers, but the Rock Boys ventured to present their own song “I'll tell you ciao” to the court. As a result, the guys managed to take 1st place and gain some popularity.
In the summer of the following year, Celentano won the pop music festival in Ancona. The company "Jolly" became interested in the young talent and offered him cooperation. Adriano signed a contract and released his debut CD a couple of years later.
Soon, the artist was called to the service, which he took place in Casale Monferrato and Turin. But even during this period of his biography, Celentano did not stop making music. Moreover, in 1961, with the personal permission of the Italian Minister of Defense, he performed 24,000 Kisses at the San Remo Music Festival.
An interesting fact is that during his performance on stage, Adriano turned his back to the audience, which was regarded by the judging panel as a gesture of ignorance. This led to him being awarded only 2nd place.
Nevertheless, the song "24,000 Kisses" gained such overwhelming popularity that it was recognized as the best Italian composition of the decade. Becoming a star, Celentano decides to break the contract with Jolly and create his own record label - Clan Celentano.
Gathering a group of familiar musicians, Adriano goes on tour to European cities. Soon the album "Non mi dir" was released, the circulation of which exceeded 1 million copies. In 1962, the guy won the Katajiro festival with the hit “Stai lontana da me”.
Celentano's fame turned out to be so great that a series of author's television programs of the singer began to appear on Italian TV. In 1966, at a competition in San Remo, he performed a new hit "Il ragazzo della via Gluck", which remained the leader of local charts for more than 4 months, and was also translated into 22 languages.
It is worth noting that this composition touched upon various social problems, as a result of which it was included in school textbooks as a call for nature conservation. Later, Adriano Celentano again performed in San Remo, presenting another hit called "Canzone".
Since 1965, discs have been published under the "Clan Celentano" label almost every year. At this time in his biography, the musician begins to collaborate with the composer Paolo Conte, who becomes the author of the famous hit "Azzurro".
An interesting fact is that “Azzurro” was chosen by Italian fans as the unofficial anthem for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In 1970, Celentano appeared for the third time at the San Remo competition and won for the first time.
After 2 years, the musician presented a new solo disc "I mali del secolo", which was attended exclusively by Adriano's works. Almost all the songs were dedicated to the global problems of humanity.
In 1979, Celentano began a fruitful collaboration with the composer Toto Cutugno, which contributed to the emergence of a new disc "Soli". Curiously, this disc stayed at the top of the charts for 58 weeks. By the way, this album was also released in the USSR with the assistance of the Melodiya company.
An internationally popular performer, Adriano Celentano decides to visit the Soviet Union. This happened in 1987, when Mikhail Gorbachev was the head of state. It is worth noting that the artist was terrified of flying on airplanes, but in this case he made an exception, overcoming his fear.
In Moscow, Celentano gave 2 major concerts at the Olimpiyskiy, thanks to which the Soviet audience was able to see the performances of the world star with their own eyes. In the 90s, he devoted himself entirely to music, giving up filming.
Adriano is actively touring Europe, publishing new discs, performing at charity concerts and shooting video clips. In the new millennium, he continued to publish albums and receive prestigious prizes at major music festivals.
Adriano Celentano is considered one of the brightest oppositionists to the Italian government. So, in 2012, at the San Remo festival, he performed for about an hour in front of the audience, not being afraid to openly discuss the European crisis and social inequality. An interesting fact is that he also criticized the actions of the Catholic clergy, while being a Catholic.
That year, Italy was going through a crisis, as a result of which Adriano, for the first time in a long time, decided to speak to his compatriots in the amphitheater. Tickets for his concert cost only 1 euro. Thus, the artist gave up his own benefit in order to maintain the spirit of the Italians in these difficult times.
In 2016, the new disc “Le migliori” went on sale, in the creation of which Celentano and Mina Mazzini participated. An interesting fact is that over the years of his creative biography, he performed about 600 songs, having published 41 studio albums with a total circulation of 150 million copies!
Films
Adriano's first notable role was in Guys and the Jukebox, which was released in 1958. The following year, he starred with Federico Fellini himself in La Dolce Vita, where he played a minor character.
In the 60s, Celentano appeared in 11 films, among which the most significant were "I kiss ... you kiss", "Some strange type", "Serafino" and "Super robbery in Milan". It is curious that in his last work he acted as a director and main actor.
In 1971, the comedy The Story of Love and Knives premiered, with Adriano and his wife Claudia Mori playing the key roles. It is fair to say that the couple had previously filmed together several times before.
In the 70s, viewers saw the artist in 14 films, and in each of them, he played the main character. For his work in the film "Bluff" he was awarded the national prize "David di Donatello" as the best actor of the year.
And yet, the Soviet audience remembered Adriano Celentano first of all for the comedies with the unique Ornella Muti. Together they starred in films such as "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Madly in Love", the box office of which exceeded billions of lire.
An interesting fact is that in the USSR alone, "The Taming of the Shrew" in cinemas was watched by more than 56 million people! Also, the Soviet people remembered the film "Bingo-Bongo", where Celentano was transformed into a man-monkey.
In the 90s, Celentano starred in only one film "Jackpot" (1992), because at this time of the biography he completely switched to music. At the beginning of the new century, he last appeared on the big screen, playing Inspector Gluck in the television series of the same name.
Later, the artist admitted that he no longer acts in films, because he does not see suitable scripts.
Personal life
With his future wife, Claudia Mori, Adriano met on the set of the comedy "Some Strange Type". At that time, she met with a famous football player, but as time will tell, Celentano will be her chosen one.
It is curious that initially the future husband seemed strange to the actress, since he came to the set untidy and with a guitar. However, later he won her heart with natural charm and sincerity.
Adriano proposed to Mori on stage, dedicating a song to her. Their wedding took place in 1964. In this marriage, the couple had a boy Giacomo and 2 girls - Rosita and Rosalind. In the future, all three children will become artists.
The couple are still happy together and try to always be there. In 2019, they celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.
Celentano is fond of football, rooting for Inter Milan. In his free time, he enjoys repairing clocks, as well as playing tennis, billiards, chess, and photography.
Adriano Celentano today
In 2019, Celentano presented the animated series "Adrian", where he directed, produced and written. It tells about the adventures of a young watchmaker.
At the end of the same year, Adriano released a new disc "Adrian", which featured tracks from the series of the same name. By the way, the album contained several songs in English.
Celentano Photos
