Francesco Tricarico

Emerging as one of the most distinctive and unconventional figures on the Italian music landscape during the 2000s, Francesco Tricarico came into the world on February 1, 1971, in Inzago near Milan as the child of an aviator who passed away when the boy was only three. He trained on flute at the Milan music academy before performing with several area jazz groups. Issued in September 2000, his debut single “Io Sono Francesco” recounted a poignant episode from his early years; its straightforward electronic textures and memorable tune propelled the track to instant popularity through heavy rotation and a top position on the Italian charts. The 2001 follow-ups “Drago” and “La Pesca” underscored Tricarico’s singular artistic innocence yet did not match the breakthrough of “Io Sono Francesco.” Although he had vowed to issue nothing but singles, he assembled his self-titled debut album in 2002, gathering those earlier recordings onto one disc. Work with musicians and producers Patrick Benifei and Fabio Merigo yielded the 2004 sophomore release Frescobaldi nel Recinto. The next year Tricarico penned “Solo per Te,” the end-credits song for Leonardo Pieraccioni’s film Ti Amo in Tutte le Lingue del Mondo, and appeared in a brief cameo within the picture. After switching from Universal to Sony BMG, he put out the single “Un’Altra Possibilità” in 2007 and supplied the track “La Situazione Non È Buona” for Adriano Celentano’s album Dormi Amore, la Situazione Non È Buona. At the February 2008 Sanremo Music Festival, Tricarico performed “Vita Tranquilla,” which earned the Critics Choice Award and marked his strongest showing since “Io Sono Francesco,” helping the album Giglio achieve prominent chart placement in Italy.