Zucchero, whose real name is Adelno Fornaciari, is an Italian musician and songwriter born in Emilia-Romagna, specifically in the North italian city of Reggio-Emilia, on September 25th, 1955. One of the most renowned celebrities in the realm of European music, Zucchero got his stage name from an elementary teacher who nicknamed him as such (zucchero means Sugar in Italian). His songs are classified within the blues, soft rock and soul genres, with an occasional gospel music flavor (though he has stated that he's an atheist).
During his early life, he was raised under a rural family, and initially he wasn't aspiring to be a musician, but instead an Association Football player (in fact, he played in the youth categories as a goalkeeper for AC Reggiana 1919). But thanks to his liking for American souls and blues music in his early teen years, attibuted to an African American friend who was living hear his house to study in Italy, his love for music was conceived. That friend taught him how to play guitar, and Adelno also practiced with an organ to play for a local church. Shortly afterwards, he wrote his first own songs, and wanted to combine the aforementioned genres with black music. At age 16, he finished his high school studies and moved to Carrara to start a veterinary medicine.
During that time frame, he had his first foray by being part of several small music bands. While he liked the field he was studying in the university, his interest in music outgrew that. He moved to San Francisco in 1975, where he met fellow Italian aspiring musician Corrado Rustici; both planned a project that would incorporate an African-American style of music. From 1979 onwards, he began writing songs for other Italian musicians, and participated in the popular Sanremo Music Festival between 1982 and 1983, where he excelled at writing songs for other musicians but not at winning with the ones he played on his own. His first album was released in the latter year and, despite enjoying a decent success, didn't meet his expectations. He went to California once again in 1984, and collaborated once again with Rustici in several sessions, this time with American musician Randy Jackson joining them. In 1985, they published the album Zucchero and the Randy Jackson Band, which fared worse critics-wise than Adelno's prior participations, but became a Sleeper Hit audience wise thanks to the single Donne. However, it was the next album, Rispetto (1986), which marked the moment when Zucchero truly found a voice in the stage, yielding his group a platinum certificate. This was quickly followed by Blue's, an album released in 1987, which sold 1.5 million discs that year alone in Italy (one of the songs, Senza Una Donna, later got a duet cover with Paul Young); and starting with the similarly successful Oro Incenso & Birra (1989), Zucchero and his band would prepare duets with other musicians (including fellow Italian musician Ennio Morricone).
From The '90s onwards, Zucchero and his band would continue producing albums with varying degrees of success, but always maintaining (and on many occasions increasing) his brand power. While his popularity was initially limited to Italy, he would perform tours around Europe which made him a well-known artist all over Europe, and eventually the world. He was one of the musicians who participated in the first (1992) edition of the series of charity-based concerts known as Pavarotti & Friends . Among the musicians who collaborated with Zucchero, we have Luciano Pavarotti, Elton John, and the Blues Brothers. He has two daughters, one of whom is a singer as well, from his first marriage, as well as a son from his second and current. He did go through personal struggles over the course of the years, however, such as his divorce from his first wife, which impacted negatively his self-esteem. One of his songs (Miserere, sang in duet with Pavarotti) is a reflection of this sorrowful chapter in his life.
In addition to Italian, he's also fluent in English and Spanish.
Albums:
- Un po' di Zucchero (1983)
- Zucchero and the Randy Jackson Band (1985)
- Rispetto (1986)
- Blue's (1987)
- Oro Incenso & Birra (1989)
- Miserere (1992)
- Spirito DiVino (1995)
- Bluesugar (1998)
- Shake (2001)
- Fly (2006)
- Chocabeck (2010)
- La Sesión Cubana (2012)
- Black Cat (2016)
- D.O.C. (2019)
- Discover (2021)
His music provides examples of:
- 13 Is Unlucky: Inverted with the song "13 Buoni Ragioni" (13 Good Reasons). He frequently sings in the chorus that he can think of 13 good reasons (and sometimes he instead sings 13 holy reasons) to prefer drinking a beer and eating a salami sandwich over dating someone like the woman he's unflatteringly describing. The song's video shows the woman flirting with a stranger despite being accompanied by her boyfriend (who is not Zucchero himself, thus hinting that he used to be his former partner until a breakup), so it makes sense.
- Big Damn Reunion: In the song "Diamante" (Diamond), Zucchero tells about his desire to return to a rural village where he lived as a child, during the years following the end of World War II. This is shown in the song's video as the story of a kid who lived in the village and met a little girl with whom he was in love, but was forcefully separated from her by an adult (who was her tutor); after a Time Skip the kid (now an adult) manages to return to the village, hugs some old friends in excitement, and in the night of that day he finds the girl (now an adult woman) and the two can finally express the love that bound them. During the last minute of the video, it's shown that the man who was the woman's tutor not only reconciles with Zucchero, but also attends their wedding.
- Break-Up Song: The theme of "Senza Una Donna" (Without A Woman) tells about Zucchero singing to a woman who used to be his Love Interest (it's left ambiguous whether they were married or merely engaged), saying that since they parted ways he's been alone and hasn't found any other woman to love, but he's learned to live with that reality.
- Burlesque: The song "Vedo Nero" (I See Black) tells about Zucchero going to a Burlesque stage where he is metaphorically seeing everything black (referring to the women who are sensually dancing while being barely dressed in black). The song's video even shows how the women rise to the stage of a bar while bearing black robes, only to put them away (which surprises everybody in front of them) and then begin dancing alluringly, before eventually approaching the audience to dance with them. Even the elderly woman (accompained by her husband) is enjoying the show.
- But Now I Must Go: The theme of "Il Volo" (The Flight) tells about Zucchero's Love Interest needing to go elsewhere and thus preparing to bid him farewell. Over the course of the song, the poor man tries to convince her to stay, because he needs someone to bring light to his life.
- The Casanova: The song "13 Buoni Ragioni" (13 Good Reasons) has Zucchero dedicate an unflattering song to a woman who is described indirectly as a maneater. In the song's video, the woman in question goes to a bar with her boyfriend, and when they reach the party hall she begins flirting very sensually with a stranger (a man of color); this upsets the boyfriend, who begins confronting the man despite his girlfriend being the one who began the problem. Near the end of the video (and song), the boyfriend takes the woman (while forcefully holding her hand) to the parking lot and, after a brief fight, the woman pushes him and shoots a weapon taken out of her purse... though it's actually a water gun and the projectile is beer (it's ironic because, per the song's chorus, Zucchero says he would prefer to drink beer instead of being with her, thus hinting that he used to be a former partner of hers), so she simply intended to scare him. She then leaves him alone with a smirk, dumping him.
- Commonality Connection: The song "Hey Man" tells about Zucchero having recently gone through a breakup, and as he walks across a busy street he sees a man who is going through a similar situation. He offers him some company so they can sing together and cope with the mutual sorrow.
- Cover Version:
- In 2006, he made a cover of "Broken", a 2003 remix by Junkie XL which in turn was a B-side taken of the song "Just the Way I'm Feeling" (originally conceived by Feeder earlier that year).
- In 2007, he made a cover of "Wonderful Life", originally conceived by Black in 1987 for the album of the same name.
- Dance Party Ending: Inverted with the song "Bacco Perbacco", whose video has Zucchero performing a country-flavored song in front of an audience that is dancing sensually in pairs. This is the first song of the album Fly; and the following songs are not only less cheery, but those that were released as singles don't involve any dancing in their videos.
- Darkest Hour: The theme of "Miserere" (Miserable), and to an extent the album of the same name it hosted. It tells about Zucchero's profound sorrow following his worst moments in life, and how he tries to cope with it by celebrating life. The song and its album were recorded around the time the musician divorced from his first wife, and was a way to express his heartbreak. A factor that actually helped him overcome the depression was that the song was also made as a duet with Pavarotti, who himself faced many struggles in his life and thus could relate to Zucchero's own.
- Devoted to You: The song "Cosi Celeste" (Very Celestial) tells about a woman Zucchero is hopelessly devoted to, describing her as "his babe", likening her to "a planet that is moving around him", and the ensuing love to "floating over a flower" (later specifying it's a water lily).
- Gratuitous English: Some of his songs contain minor lines in English, like "she's my babe" in the song "Cosi Celeste" (Very Celestial) or frequent mentions of "Yeah" in "E' Un Peccato Morir" (Dying is a Sin). Zucchero himself is Italian, but does understand English and has occasionally translated some of his songs into that language for his English-speaking audience, so it makes sense.
- Intercourse with You: The lyrics of the song "Chocabeck" describe, with a flowery wording, an intimate scene between Zucchero and his partner.Noi faremo l'amore (We will make love)
Tre nel cielo e due nel sole (Three in the sky and two in the sun)
Noi faremo l'amore (We will make love)
Dentro il mare e dentro il pane (Inside the sea and inside the bread)
Nella bocca e negli occhi (In the mouth and in the eyes)
Far l'amore nelle mani (Making love in the hands)
E nei baci e nei cuori (And in kisses and hearts)
Fiori a far così (Flowers to do so)
Ti ricordi l'amore (Do you remember love) - Lost in Translation: One of the things Zucchero noticed, both from his own songs and those by other musicians, is that translating a song for a foreign market can make them difficult to stand out since something (be it the message, the irony or the feel) ends up being astray in the process. He himself suffered from this when translating his own songs into English for the US and UK markets.
- Love Hurts: The song "Ci Si Arrende" (I Give Up) tells about a man (not Zucchero himself, since the song's video shows that it refers to a man of color) who hasn't seen a woman he was in love with for a long time. And the feeling of nostalgia due to not seeing her has tormented him to the point of suffering in soul (the video even implies at the end that the man never had the courage to tell her about his feeling, as he simply hugs her). This song is actually an Italian adaptation of a previous song in English ("Streets of Surrender") he composed in collaboration with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame (that song had a similar theme, with the difference that the heartbroken man tries to cope with his sorrow while walking the streets of Paris).
- Ode to Family: The song "Diamante" (Diamond) is dedicated to Zucchero's grandmother Diamante Arduini Fornaciari, who passed away before the song's album entered production. In fact, despite Zucchero being a songwriter, he didn't write this song at all, and it's because of how deeply emotional it was for him, so he asked fellow Italian musician Francesco de Gregori to write the lyrics for him.
- Ordinary People's Music Video: The video of the song "Overdose D'Amore" (Love Overdose) shows Zucchero singing the lyrics (which tell about his and everybody else's need of overflowing love, in every possible way) while several people from different ages and races dance. The video is themed around learning to embrace diversity, so it makes sense.
- Prized Possession Giveaway: In the video of the song "Diamante" (Diamond), Zucchero (as a kid) meets a girl he's in love with, but due to external factors he has to move elsewhere and won't be able to see her again (the girl's tutor didn't let him talk to her anyway). Shortly before his departure, the girl gifted him with her necklace, as a memento of their mutual affection. After a Time Skip, they manage to reunite once again as adults.
- Pun-Based Title: Two of his albums are titled in this fashion:
- Oro, Incenso & Birra ("Gold, Frankincense & Beer") is a pun on Oro, Incenso e Mirra (Mirra meaning "Myrrh").
- Spirito DiVino, thanks to the CamelCase, can be read as either Spirito Divino ("Divine Spirit") or Spirito di Vino ("Spirit of Wine").
- Rule of Symbolism: The lyrics of the song "Fiore di Maggio" (Flower of May) describe a seagull who was born in a sunny landscape next to a festive town, and at one point slowly descends from the bright skies to pose over a rock where a beautiful spring flower grew (the titular flower), seemingly blessing the happiness of a young human couple. Due to how the seagull and its flight is described, it seems more like Zucchero's song is dedicated to the Holy Spirit instead of the flower the bird poses next to, even though the Holy Spirit is typically portrayed as a pigeon.
- Silly Love Songs: Some of his songs portray romance with a noticeably flowery narrative, such as "Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo" (Indigo Like the Eyes of the Sky), where he describes love as an influx of "kisses falling from the sky" and which are "light as apple blossoms" and look like "mercury drops". The funny thing is that Zucchero himself claims that he wasn't always good at writing deeply romantic songs.
- Songs of Solace: The song "Hey Man!" tells about Zucchero trying to cope with a heartbreak, and as he walks in the streets he sees a man who is also emotionally hurt by a heartbreak, so he approaches him and proposes him to sing together to mutually alleviate their grief. The song was composed around the time Zucchero divorced his wife in real life, so it doubles as a Grief Song.
- Walking the Earth: The video of the song "Fiore di Maggio" (Flower of May) follows an Indian woman who leaves a lively town to travel around the natural world, going through a rocky mountain, a vast grassland, and finally a beautiful coast.
- You Can't Go Home Again: The song "Il Suono Della Domenica" (The Sound of Sunday) tells about Zucchero missing the rural homeland where he was born and raised. There's an English version of the song called "Someone Else's Tears", whose lyrics emphasize his tearful feelings about it, saying he can't stop crying.
