Biography
Born in Siracusa on October 28, 1963, Mario Venuti came to embody the sound emerging from Catania during the 1980s and 1990s after his family relocated several times across Sicily and finally settled beneath Mt. Etna. Early exposure to the Beatles accompanied piano and guitar lessons, and in 1984 he entered Denovo just as a fresh wave of Italian rock, led by figures such as Ligabue and Vasco Rossi, began to gain ground. Serving as guitarist and vocalist, he contributed to the group’s five albums before its 1990 dissolution, after which he journeyed to Brazil—an experience that would shape his subsequent recordings. His debut solo effort, Un Po’ di Febbre, appeared in 1994 and fused his Mediterranean roots with British pop and Brazilian bossa nova elements; Microclima followed two years later.
Also in 1996, Venuti partnered with Francesco Virlinzi’s latest discovery, fellow Catanian Carmen Consoli, co-authoring the single “Amore di Plastica” from her first album, Due Parole. Consoli reciprocated by joining him on the duet “Mai Come Ieri,” the title track of his 1998 release that elevated his profile. Following Virlinzi’s death in 2001, Venuti signed with the independent label Musica & Suoni, distributed through Universal, for the 2003 album Grandimprese; its singles “Veramente” and “Crudele” expanded his national reach, the latter earning two top prizes at the San Remo Festival. In the ensuing period he composed material for other performers, took part in the Taormina, Sicily, staging of the musical Datemi Tre Caravelle chronicling Christopher Columbus, and prepared his fifth solo album, Magneti, issued in 2006.
Also in 1996, Venuti partnered with Francesco Virlinzi’s latest discovery, fellow Catanian Carmen Consoli, co-authoring the single “Amore di Plastica” from her first album, Due Parole. Consoli reciprocated by joining him on the duet “Mai Come Ieri,” the title track of his 1998 release that elevated his profile. Following Virlinzi’s death in 2001, Venuti signed with the independent label Musica & Suoni, distributed through Universal, for the 2003 album Grandimprese; its singles “Veramente” and “Crudele” expanded his national reach, the latter earning two top prizes at the San Remo Festival. In the ensuing period he composed material for other performers, took part in the Taormina, Sicily, staging of the musical Datemi Tre Caravelle chronicling Christopher Columbus, and prepared his fifth solo album, Magneti, issued in 2006.
Albums
Singles
