Biography
Niccolò Fabi came into the world on May 16, 1968, in Rome, son of one of the leading producers in the 1970s Italian prog scene and grandson of a piano instructor. Music entered his life almost immediately: he began absorbing recording techniques at age three and took up classical piano two years later. By thirteen his focus had turned toward current songwriters; he joined a Police cover band on drums and picked up acoustic guitar so he could perform material by Bob Dylan and James Taylor. Bass followed soon afterward, and during high school he played in a funk group while continuing to spend time in his father’s studio, observing the recording process firsthand.
While studying medieval manuscripts at a Rome university in the early 1990s, Fabi performed regularly in local clubs, where he formed friendships and musical partnerships with fellow singer-songwriters Max Gazzè and Riccardo Sinigallia. The latter submitted Fabi’s demo to Virgin in 1996, securing him a recording contract. His first album, Il Giardiniere, appeared the following year and featured the singles “Dica” and “Capelli”; that same year Fabi also appeared at the San Remo Festival and earned favorable critical notice. His self-titled second album arrived in 1998 and contained a version of Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” retitled “Il Male Minore.”
After pausing his career for several years to reconsider his path, Fabi nevertheless continued recording at home, and many of those tracks surfaced on 2000’s Sereno ad Ovest. That year he also served as Sting’s opening act throughout Italy, an experience that broadened his national profile and sharpened his stagecraft. La Cura del Tempo followed in 2003, after which Fabi devoted time to touring and to various peace-benefit performances. In 2006 he issued both the retrospective Dischi Volanti 96-06, marking a decade of releases, and his fifth studio album, Novo Mesto. A second Spanish-language record, Dentro, appeared the next year.
Following his involvement in the multi-artist projects Violenza 124 and Artisti Uniti per l’Abruzzo, an earthquake-relief effort, Fabi left Virgin for Universal and released his sixth album, Solo un Uomo, in 2010. Months later tragedy struck when his two-year-old daughter, Olivia, known as Lulubella, died of meningitis. Fabi organized a memorial benefit concert in her honor, enlisting artists such as Elisa and Jovanotti; proceeds supported construction of a children’s hospital in Angola. The event was filmed and issued as the DVD Parole per Lulu, which included a duet with Italian diva Mina on her signature song “Parole, Parole.”
Fabi returned in 2012 with his seventh album, Ecco, which entered the Italian charts at number three, his first Top Ten debut. Four years afterward he reached the summit for the first time with the number-one album Una Somma di Piccole Cose.
While studying medieval manuscripts at a Rome university in the early 1990s, Fabi performed regularly in local clubs, where he formed friendships and musical partnerships with fellow singer-songwriters Max Gazzè and Riccardo Sinigallia. The latter submitted Fabi’s demo to Virgin in 1996, securing him a recording contract. His first album, Il Giardiniere, appeared the following year and featured the singles “Dica” and “Capelli”; that same year Fabi also appeared at the San Remo Festival and earned favorable critical notice. His self-titled second album arrived in 1998 and contained a version of Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” retitled “Il Male Minore.”
After pausing his career for several years to reconsider his path, Fabi nevertheless continued recording at home, and many of those tracks surfaced on 2000’s Sereno ad Ovest. That year he also served as Sting’s opening act throughout Italy, an experience that broadened his national profile and sharpened his stagecraft. La Cura del Tempo followed in 2003, after which Fabi devoted time to touring and to various peace-benefit performances. In 2006 he issued both the retrospective Dischi Volanti 96-06, marking a decade of releases, and his fifth studio album, Novo Mesto. A second Spanish-language record, Dentro, appeared the next year.
Following his involvement in the multi-artist projects Violenza 124 and Artisti Uniti per l’Abruzzo, an earthquake-relief effort, Fabi left Virgin for Universal and released his sixth album, Solo un Uomo, in 2010. Months later tragedy struck when his two-year-old daughter, Olivia, known as Lulubella, died of meningitis. Fabi organized a memorial benefit concert in her honor, enlisting artists such as Elisa and Jovanotti; proceeds supported construction of a children’s hospital in Angola. The event was filmed and issued as the DVD Parole per Lulu, which included a duet with Italian diva Mina on her signature song “Parole, Parole.”
Fabi returned in 2012 with his seventh album, Ecco, which entered the Italian charts at number three, his first Top Ten debut. Four years afterward he reached the summit for the first time with the number-one album Una Somma di Piccole Cose.