In 2009, a Musical Journey began! The American music industry opened its door to three teenage boys who were the first Italian artists in history to sign a contract directly with a major American music label.
Their music was Operatic pop or popera. What was this new movement? It’s singing Opera in a more classical style. While opera is very strict and regimented, popera is more ethereal it has a lighter feeling and it moves freely. It takes away the hard edges of opera and replaces it with a more ethereal feel while still presenting the drama and the high notes of the opera.
This along with the classical Neapolitan songs became a big draw. Why did it work? One reason is three amazing voices! If the voice wasn’t there, the song wasn’t going to sell.
When I’m writing these pieces, I do a lot of research and I watch a lot of videos. And this is what I found. I looked at videos of the promos the boys did, for their albums. They were 16 – 17 years old and I found many teenagers at these promos. I saw teenage girls and boys singing opera and Italian songs. They liked it because the music is easy and catchy and, they picked it up very easily. And I might add, the guys are very attractive and likeable. The young girls love them not because they are very handsome but because they can relate to them. They were 16 – 17 years old and they were telling these young kids we love this music and you can too. And they did and still do! Once the kids were sold the parents followed.
Who wouldn’t want their kids singing this music? In turn the parents found it just as pleasing. As to the grandmothers they were the ones who were fainting over these attractive young men.
In 2010, they joined Quincy Jones’ “We are The World for Haiti” charity event. They performed alongside 80 other international artist including Celine Dion, Bono, Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand, Usher, Natalie Cole, and more. They were unknown to the group and all were amazed at their voices and anxious to know who these three young men were. It didn’t take long for them to find out.
In May 2010 their first album Il Volo was released.
Their first album is self-titled Il Volo. It received platinum certification in Italy and the Spanish edition of the album received a nomination for Best Pop Album by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2011. The album also debuted at number 1 on the US Top Classical Albums Chart.
And so the awards begin!
In April 2013 they release a Spanish version of We Are Love, titled Más Que Amor, which includes a duet with Mexican singer Belinda. The album débuted at number 1 on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums. Más Que Amor was certified “Gold” in Mexico and Argentina. And this catapulted them into the Latin market. From that day on they took the Latin market by storm. This is unheard of! Three Italian kids taking over the Latin market!
In February 2014, they receive two nominations at the 2014 Latin Billboard Music Awards, as “Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year, Duo or Group” and “Latin Pop Albums Artist of the Year, Duo or Group.” At the awards show they were awarded as “Best Group of the Year in the Latin Pop Album” category and they won “El Pulso Social Award,” as the artist who dominated interactions on social networking sites during the Billboard Awards.
On February 14, 2015, they won the Sanremo Music Festival 2015 with “Grande Amore” winning 39.05% of the total vote over the 2 leading challengers. This win gave them the opportunity to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. As Italy is a member of the Big Five, the group went straight into the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Vienna on May 23, 2015. Grande Amore came in 3rd with 292 points but, they won the televote with 366 points and won the Marcel Bezencon Press Award, as best song according to the collective voting of the accredited press. The extended play Sanremo Grande Amore was released in Italy on February 20, 2015 and it was certified triple platinum by FIMI. At the Latin Billboard Awards, they dominated the social networking sites and now, they win the televote and the best song according to collective voting by the accredited press. The people speak!
This is just to mention a few of their achievements. There are so many more achievements but, they are too numerous to mention. And, let’s not forget they sang with entertainers like Placido Domingo, Eros Ramazzotti, and Belinda.
In 2012, Barbara Streisand invited them to join her “Back to Brooklyn Tour,” which included 12 performances in the United States and Canada.
The albums keep coming! The success keeps coming, the tours in North and South America keep selling out and the boys have grown into fine attractive young men. And, now they’re ready for a new experience. The music evolves and they are ready to crossover. In 2018 they release one of the most exciting Latin albums to come out in years. I would go so far as to say Amame is the most exciting Latin album that was ever produced. It’s opera, it’s rock, it’s classical, it’s pop and it never stops giving. The rhythm in songs like Noche Sin Dia is amazing. You have to move with the music. You can’t sit still.
Songs like Maldito Amor is a phenomenal experience for your ears. The delivery is smooth. It pulls away from the traditional Latin music and it delivers a sound that is very intense. Different! Very Different! The sound is pure and clean and, their voices are spot on! It’s one of those songs that stays with you forever.
This album is so Exciting! I thought about this album the other day and how I would write about it. These three amazing guys absolutely floored me. The beat is so intense and, they are spot on. I think they knocked it out of the box with Noche Sin Dia. With Latin music you don’t just sing it, you feel it, and if you don’t feel it, you don’t cut it. This album cuts it! Good move!
As if that wasn’t enough, they follow up with Musica! This is the album that proved that great can get greater. This album is representative of where these young men are now. It’s beautiful, it’s sensitive, it’s romantic. It’s about love. It’s about them being ready for love. It comes from deep within them. All the sweetness and humility of these guys is in this album. It moves your senses. What I am saying is they have evolved and, their voices have evolved. They’ve grown into their voices. Their voices are mature and have expanded in such an amazing way. There’s an intriguing balance in their voices. To experience this amazing evolution in voice and song you need go no further than “Be My Love.” Gianluca’s voice vibrates and expands to realms I’ve never heard before. Ignazio makes your heart stop as you journey along his notes which lead to absolute ecstasy. Piero fills all your sense and brings you to such heights that you have to stop and breathe.
This is Musica che resta!
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.