2/17/14 
Hi Everyone,
It’s only a few weeks until Il Volo is back in the USA, yay!!! Makes us feel better when they’re here!!
It’s been an exciting week for “The Boys” they went to Rome and met the Pope!!! In the pictures published we can see Piero giving “The Holy Father” CD’s and DVD’s. I hope he enjoys them!!! 
Did you know How to introduce the Pope?
More excitement when Il Volo was nominated for 2 Latin Billboard awards and for 3 World Music awards!! Their tour last year has certainly made them and their beautiful voices more well known. They are receiving more recognition from their peers. We Ilvolovers, of course knew it all along!!!
If you have not voted for The World Music Awards, click on the link below to vote!
http://www.worldmusicawards.com/index.php/vote/
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born on August 3, 1926, in Astoria, Queens, New York City, to grocer John Benedetto and seamstress Anna Suraci.In 1906, John had emigrated from Podàrgoni,a rural eastern district of the southern Italian city of Reggio Calabria. Anna had been born in the U.S. shortly after her parents also emigrated from the Calabria region in 1899. Other relatives came over as well as part of the mass migration of Italians to America. Tony has an older sister, Mary, and an older brother, John Jr. With a father who was ailing and unable to work, the children grew up in poverty. John Sr. instilled in his son a love of art and literature and a compassion for human suffering.
Raised in New York City, Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as an infantryman with the U.S. Army in the European Theatre. Afterwards, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records, and had his first number-one popular song with “Because of You” in 1951. Several top hits such as “Rags to Riches” followed in the early 1950s. Bennett then further refined his approach to encompass jazz singing. He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. His career and his personal life then suffered an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era.
Bennett staged a comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, putting out gold record albums again and expanding his audience to the MTV Generation while keeping his musical style intact. He remains a popular and critically praised recording artist and concert performer in the 2010s. Bennett has won 17 Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented in 2001) and two Emmy Awards, and has been named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
Tony Bennett continues to make appearances at the wonderful age of 87!!
Piero visited Milan last week. Here is a look at this historic city.
Milan (English; Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno] Milanese: Milan [miˈlaŋ]) is the second most populous city in Italy and the capital of Lombardy. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area is the 5th largest in the EU with an estimated population of about 5,248,000. The massive suburban sprawl that followed the post-war boom of the 1950s–60s and the growth of a vast commuter belt, suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of its administrative limits and its agglomeration, creating a metropolitan region of 7-9 million people, stretching over the provinces of Milan, Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Lodi, and Brianza, Pavia, Varese and Novara. It has been suggested that the Milan metropolitan region is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density. 
Milan was founded by the Insubres, a Celtic people. The city was later conquered by the Romans, becoming the capital of the Western Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, Milan flourished as a commercial and banking center. In the course of centuries, it has been alternatively dominated by France, Habsburg Spain, and Austria, until when in 1859 the city was eventually annexed by the new Kingdom of Italy. During the early 1900s, Milan led the industrialization process of the young nation, being at the very center of the economic, social and political debate. Badly affected by the World War II devastations, and after a harsh Nazi occupation, the city became the main centre of the Italian Resistance. In post-war years, the city enjoyed a prolonged economic boom, attracting large flows of immigrants from rural Southern Italy. During the last decades, Milan has seen a dramatic rise in the number of international migrants, and today more than one sixth of it’s population is foreign born.
DID YOU KNOW?
Updated biographies of Il Volo will be here soon, so be on the lookout!!
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca we look forward to your return!! Love and Luck,
Linda
I love this feature, always has some interesting things. Has Gianluca ever mentioned interest in Tony Bennett? I’m still excited the guys got to meet the pope. I’m sure there is a story in there about why Ignazio was late or why Piero mentions going to the Vatican with only Gianluca, but then I might be too nosey. Oy.
Connie
Ignazio was with them, in the pictures we have he doesn’t show. He was behind Piero and Gianluca.
All I know Connie is that he wasn’t with me! Darn!
I’m happy The Boys are coming back to the states. Even when I don’t get to see them, I’m glad when they’re here.
“I Left My Heart in San Francisco”, what a classic!
Thanks Linda
I love your priorities Marie. Btw, I actually got to hear Tony Bennett live singing ” I left my heart in San Francisco” when I was at the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. I wish I could say I saw him but he was just a speck from where I was
Thanks for all the info! I didn’t know any of this about either Tony Bennett or Milan.
Excellent biography of Tony Bennet Linda, I LOVE his singing
Also the history of Milan is comparable with the histories of the cities & places that Michele shows, congratulations on this site, its always interesting to read what you are posting.
Also I just saw on Mondial the video of the program RAI2 interview of the guys. In my opinion since Ignazio has made the video he showed the boys at the Radio City Hall.he is more relaxed & more open & the comparaderie & the love between is more pronounced & stronger.
Everytime I see them now their singing has become stronger & they seem more relaxed & open.
Now when I see Ignazio he is growing into the most handsomest man & with that beautiful smile the girl who wins him will have won a treasure
Thank you Linda for another wonderful and enlightening article about one of Italy’s beautiful cities. How I wish I could visit there sometime. Maybe in my next life – ha!
And also for reminding me of my love for anything Tony Bennett sang. What a remarkable man he is to be still singing at 87!
I just heard that they are not sure if they are coming to Miami for the Latin Billboard awards in April . Up in the air yet.
Hey Crew. This is a comment that was made on our “Welcome to Il Volo Flight Crew” page. I was so touched by it, that I moved it here so everyone could welcome her:
Hi everyone. New to your site and I love it. I wrote a bday greeting to GG and I was so thrilled to see it posted on the video. I am 68 yrs old fan of IL VOLO. Met them 8/27/13 in concord, CA . My kids, grandkids bought VIP ticket and was in the 3rd row center seat. GG is so handsome , Piero & Ignazio so cute and friendly.They were great huggers. I’m still trying to figure out how to share my concert Picts with you. I’m not very good with computers. Got, for X-MAS, all of IL VOLO’s CD, DVD collection from my family. Since my husband (THE LOVE OF MY LIFE) of 45 yrs at the time of his death 2005, I sometimes feel so lonely and it was in 2012 that it all changed for me. I discovered IL VOLO. They actually saved me from a life of dispair. Without my husband, days were so long and the nights longer. Now, I listen and watch everything about them. starting around 5 am. Thank you boys. TODAY (217/14) WOULD HAVE BEEN MY 52 YEARS WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. I WAS 15 AND BEN WAS 19. JUST AS OLD AS GIANLUCA.. HE PLAYED THE SAXOPHONE. THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS GREAT SITE WHERE I CAN TO READ NEWS ABOUT OUR COMMON LOVE WHICH ARE IL VOLO. MY NAME IS PRESE PASCO.
Prese, there are many things about our website that I love. But nothing moves me as much as comments like yours. We are all here because Il Volo has touched each one of us in a special way. The way the Love Of Il Volo has brought peace to you is beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Welcome Prese, we’ll be looking forward to your future comments.
I wish you even more Il Volo Love.
~Marie
Hi Prese, lovely to have you on this site. Sharing our feelings for the love of our lives is what we do so your in the right place.
Marie, Michele or someone here will be able to tell you how to share your pictures. Looking forward to seeing them
Hi Prese, nice to meet you and welcome to a site that loves Il Volo!!
Our “Boys” are our pride and joy, we love them and love to talk about them.
Hi Prese and welcome to this site,
I just have to tell you that I know just what you have gone thru. I lost the love of my life at Christmas time 2008. There was no joy or happiness in my life until I discovered Piero, Ignazio, and Gianlica on a PBS special made ;in Detroit in 2011.
My heart went soaring when I heard their glorious voices and I was in love and they have made my life full to bursting with joy and happiness ever since. I really and truly love these Boys with all my heart. By the way, my husband played jazz trumpet.
Welcome to the Crew Ms. Pasco! All of us here are always ready to listen and share our different Il Volo experiences.
I’ve seen my heartthrob, I’ve had my Ignazio fix I have heard him sing I am set for the day
Loretta! You have seen OUR hearthrob! WE’VE had OUR Ignazio fix WE are set for the day. Don’t be selfish!
Not selfish, you think he’s yours I’ll tink he’s mine. I already know I can’t have him to myself but In can dream
Welcome Prese! We love IL VOLO and each other here! It is such a wonderful place to be. You will meet the best people here and can share thoughts and feelings about three outstanding young Italian men who have captured our hearts for ever! Their music is simply the best! Hope you join us often.