Marco Mengoni

Marco Mengoni, an Italian pop vocalist, achieved widespread recognition in 2009 after competing on the television program X Factor, with his chart-topping debut single “Dove Si Vola” appearing soon afterward. Born December 25, 1988, in Ronciglione, Viterbo, Italy, he joined the show’s third season and claimed victory over runner-up Giuliano Rassu on December 2, 2009. During the season he interpreted a range of Italian- and English-language pop and rock covers, including Lucio Battisti’s “Insieme a Te Sto Bene,” Mia Martini’s “Almeno Tu Nell’universo,” Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

Immediately after the win, he issued his first recording, “Dove Si Vola,” written for him by Italian pop veteran Bungaro. The track reached number one on the Italian singles chart and anchored the 2009 mini-album Dove Si Vola, a seven-track set drawn from his X Factor performances that also contained the English-language songs Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.” Released within days of the finale, Dove Si Vola was succeeded several months later by the 2010 mini-album Re Matto, another seven-track collection that introduced original Italian-language material. Among its tracks was the Top Five single “Credimi Ancora,” which Mengoni performed at the 2010 Sanremo Music Festival; Re Matto held the top spot on the Italian albums chart for several weeks, and by year’s end the live album Re Matto: Live had also reached number one.

Mengoni’s first full-length release, Solo 2.0, appeared in 2011 and maintained his momentum, driven by the hit single “Solo (Vuelta al Ruedo).” Barely eighteen months afterward he returned to number one with both the single “L’essenziale” and the album #prontoacorrere. Issued in spring 2013, the album surpassed the sales of Solo 2.0 and also performed strongly in Spain following the release of its Spanish-language counterpart #prontoacorrerespain. Early in 2015 he delivered Parole in Circolo, his third full-length album, which spent two weeks at number one in Italy thanks in part to “Guerriero,” his strongest-selling single since “L’essenziale.” Later that year he released Le Cose Che Non Ho, his fourth album to date; positioned as a companion to Parole in Circolo, it again topped the Italian albums chart and became the first album to head the Italian vinyl albums chart. He also issued the live set Marco Mengoni Live, which captured material from his successful 2016 tour.