Laura Valente

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Laura Valente
Laura Valente, 1993 (cropped).jpg
Valente in 1993
Background information
Birth nameLaura Bortolotti
Also known asLaValente
Born (1963-09-03) 3 September 1963 (age 61)
Milan, Italy
Genres Pop rock
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1984–present

Laura Bortolotti (born 3 September 1963), better known by the stage name Laura Valente, is an Italian singer.

Contents

Career

Early solo career

Valente was born in Milan. After winning a songwriting contest in Castellana Grotte with Storia di un drogato, a song about a teenage victim of drug addiction, she was invited by Gianni Bella to collaborate on his album G.B. 2 (1984). In 1985 she met singer Mango, with whom she started a personal and professional relationship. Valente provide vocals for Mango's albums Australia (1985), Odissea (1986), Inseguendo l'aquila (1988) and Sirtaki (1990). In 1986 Valente recorded her debut solo album Tempo di Blues (1986). Despite being very positively received by the music press, the album didn't sell well.

Matia Bazar

In 1990 Valente was invited to replace Antonella Ruggiero as the lead singer of Matia Bazar. Valente's first album with the band, Anime Pigre (1991), signalled a creative change of direction, focusing on a more modern, rocking style. [1]

Matia Bazar's participations in the Sanremo Music Festival in 1992 (with Piccoli Giganti, ranked #6) and 1993 (with Dedicato a te, ranked #4) were also a critical and commercial success, as well as their next albums Dove le canzoni si avverano (1993), [2] Radiomatia (1995) [3] and Benvenuti a Sausalito (1997).

After the death of Matia Bazar's bassist and main songwriter Aldo Stellita in 1998, however, Valente decided to leave the group to focus on her family.

Later solo career

During the 2000s, Valente mainly collaborated with Mango, notably duetting with him on his song Chissà se nevica during the third night of Sanremo Music Festival 2007. [4] She has also been active in theatre. [5] In 2011 she played Maria Callas in a production called Castaviva in Rome. [6] [7]

Personal life

Valente was the partner of musician Mango since 1983. They were married from 2004 to his death in 2014. Their children Filippo (b. 1995) and Angelina (b. 2001) are also in the music business and have collaborated with their parents on several occasions. [8] [9]

Discography

Solo

With Matia Bazar

Notes

  1. ↑ "MATIA BAZAR 2, IL RITORNO" (in Italian). 7 August 1991. p. 25. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "La terza via esiste: si chiama Matia Bazar" (in Italian). 17 April 1993. p. 28. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "I Matia Bazar decisi: ricominciamo a Sanremo" (in Italian). 23 November 1995. p. 37. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "Sanremo: annunciati gli accoppiamenti definitivi della terza serata" (in Italian). 27 February 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  5. ↑ "EVERYMAN/ L'Opera sacra con Branduardi e Mango sul tetto del Duomo di Milano" (in Italian). 22 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Ai Mercati di Traiano 'il giovane imperatore di Roma'" (in Italian). 31 July 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  7. ↑ "Intervista a Laura Valente che sarà Maria Callas in Casta Diva" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  8. ↑ "Buon viaggio, Mango" (in Italian). vanityfair.it. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Mango, La terra degli aquiloni: "Le canzoni devono arrivare agli occhi"" (in Italian). rockrol.it. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
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