Albano Antonio Carrisi (; born 20 May 1943), better known as Al Bano, is an Italian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, and

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

. He is one of the most recognisable Italian

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

s in the world whose career spans 7 decades. He has gained notability due to his vocal capabilities as well as mésalliance with

Romina Power Romina Francesca Power (born October 2, 1951) is an American actress and singer born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Hollywood matinée idol Tyrone Power and actress Linda Christian. With then-husband Albano Carrisi, she fo ...

, daughter of Hollywood star

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...

. In 2016, he was awarded

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n citizenship due to his close ties with the country.

Biography

He was born in the town of Cellino San Marco (

province of Brindisi The Province of Brindisi ( it, Provincia di Brindisi) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Brindisi. It has an area of and a total population of 401,652 (2013). Geography The Province of Brindisi is situated in ...

Puglia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

in Southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

), where he still lives. His mother Iolanda Ottino named him Albano because, when he was born, his father Carmelo Carrisi was fighting in

for the Royal Italian Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He has one brother, Franco Carrisi (Kocis). He made his debut in 1966 both as a singer, at the Festival delle Rose, and on television. He won the Disco per l'Estate, an Italian song contest, with "Pensando a te" in 1968. He recorded some major hits such as "La siepe" and "Nel sole" at that time. "Nel sole" sold 600,000 copies in Italy within three months of release in 1967, and eventually over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in July 1968. Eurovision Song Contest 1976 - Italy - Al Bano & Romina Power 2

Soon afterwards, he started a musical collaboration with

(daughter of the American actor

), whom he married in 1970. After their marriage, they recorded "Storia di due innamorati". They sang as the duo Al Bano & Romina Power for almost thirty years; their work has been especially popular in Italy, Austria, France, Spain, Bulgaria,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, Greece and Germany. They released "Dialogo" in 1975 and took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the song " We'll Live It All Again" ("Noi lo rivivremo di nuovo"). They sang " Sharazan" in 1981 and the following year they took part in the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...

with the song " Felicità", which came second. They won first prize in 1984 singing "

Ci sarà "Ci sarà" (Italian for "There Will Be") is a song by Italian duo Al Bano and Romina Power, released in 1984. It was met with an international commercial success and remains one of their best-known hits. The duo performed the song at the 1984 San ...

" and again took part in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1985 The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" by Herreys. Organised by the European ...

with "

Magic Oh Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

". Both their Eurovision entries placed 7th. Other hits of 1987 include: "Nostalgia canaglia" (awarded 3rd prize at Festival di Sanremo '87) and "Libertà". Those successful songs were followed by "Cara terra mia", which came in third once more at the 1989 Sanremo Music Festival, and "Oggi sposi" which placed 8th at the 1991 Sanremo Music Festival. Al Bano returned to his solo career in 1996 with "È la mia vita" which was followed by "Verso il sole" in 1997 and "Ancora in volo" in 1999 (that year, his duo – and his marriage – with Romina broke up). He also played in "Herşeye Rağmen" ("Nonetheless" in Turkish) music video of Sima (full name was Sima Sarıkaya), a Turkish singer in 1997. In 2000, Al Bano returned to the Eurovision stage, providing backing vocals for the Swiss entry (performed in Italian) " La vita cos'è?" performed by Jane Bogaert. This song placed 20th out of 24 in the contest. On 16 October 2001, Carrisi was nominated

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

of the United Nations (FAO). In 2005, he starred in the Italian reality show '' L'isola dei Famosi'' (Italian version of '' Celebrity Survivor'') with his daughter, Romina Carrisi. Al Bano returned to

in 2007, where he sang "Nel perdono" which came in second place. Al Bano still tours all over the world. He is a constant on Italian television and has a large number of fans who follow his career very closely. To date Al Bano has sold 165 million albums around the world. Al Bano has visited Albania a number of times. He was there for a concert in 1989 and has been enjoying great popularity there. In June 2016 Al Bano was granted the

n citizenship due to his close ties with the country and career successes in Albania. In March 2019 Al Bano was included in the blacklist of the Ukrainian website " Myrotvorets" and the

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ( uk, Кабінет Міністрів України, translit=Kabinet Ministriv Ukrainy; shortened to CabMin), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine ( uk, Уряд України, ''Uriad Ukrai ...

banned him from entering

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

because of his support of the

2014 Russian annexation of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...

. In April 2020 Al Bano released a dual-language song in Italian and English praising the natural beauty of Latvia
Terra d'Ambra e di Emozioni / Land of Amber
was written and composed by Charles Goodger with Italian lyrics by Alberto Zeppieri. The Latvian Tourist Board used it in a promotional video.

Opera

Al Bano grew up listening to

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

for which he had a great passion. He has released several opera albums and is a tenor. In 1997, he released an opera solo album 1997 entitled ''Concerto Classico'', which went double platinum in a short time. Songs he sang on that album include "

Una furtiva lagrima "" (A furtive tear) is the romanza from act 2, scene 3 of the Italian opera ''L'elisir d'amore'' by Gaetano Donizetti. It is sung by Nemorino (tenor) when it appears that the love potion he bought to win the heart of his dream lady, Adina, is wor ...

", "

Va, pensiero "" (), also known as the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves", is a chorus from the opera ''Nabucco'' (1842) by Giuseppe Verdi. It recollects the period of Babylonian captivity after the loss of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The libretto i ...

", "La nostra serenata", " E lucevan le stelle", and "Ave Maria"

Filmography

Personal life

On 26 July 1970, Al Bano married

(daughter of the American actor

), who had already started to share her musical career with him, and remained his stage partner for about 30 years. Carrisi and Power separated in 1999. Their divorce was finalized in 2012. They have a son, Yari (1973), and three daughters: Ylenia Maria (1970) (who went missing in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

in 1994), Cristel Chiara (1985) (starred in the Reality TV show ''La Fattoria'', an Italian version of '' The Farm'') and Romina Iolanda (1987). He has one daughter and one son from girlfriend and showgirl Loredana Lecciso, Jasmine Caterina (2001) and Albano Giovanni (2002). In the summer of 2013, Al Bano and Romina Power reunited, reportedly only on a professional basis and for one final time, for a concert performance in Moscow. They later performed as guests at the Sanremo Festival 2015. They also performed together in Atlantic City, USA, in April 2015, and following that, in Los Angeles. On 30 May 2015, Al Bano produced a show at the

Arena di Verona The Verona Arena ( it, Arena di Verona ) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in 30 AD. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the be ...

, before a sold-out audience of 11,000, in which he starred with Romina Power. The show, featuring Tyrone Power Jr. and other special guests was transmitted by the Italian national TV network

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, and was watched in over eight countries by 51,000,000 viewers around the globe, a 37 ratings share.Romina Power – A Message Now Available from
Creative and Dreams Music Network (30 May 2015). Retrieved on 2015-07-26.

Notes

References

External links

Official Website

Official YouTube ChannelOfficial Facebook PageOfficial Twitter Profile
*
Al Bano & Romina Power Russian Fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrisi, Albano 1943 births Living people Italian male actors Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Italy Italian winemakers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1985 People from the Province of Brindisi Sanremo Music Festival winners Survivor (franchise) contestants Participants in Italian reality television series Power family 20th-century Italian male singers 21st-century Italian male singers