Jovanotti

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Jovanotti
Jovanotti during a live concert in Milan.
Jovanotti during a live concert in Milan.
Background information
Birth name Lorenzo Cherubini
Born September 27, 1966 (1966-09-27) (age 41)
Origin Rome, Italy
Genre(s) Rap
Hip hop
Pop
Rock
Rumba
Years active 1988—present
Label(s) Universal
Website soleluna.com

Jovanotti (often misspelt as Giovanotti) is an Italian singer-songwriter and rapper. Jovanotti, real name Lorenzo Cherubini, was born in Rome on 27 September 1966. His family is from Cortona, in the Province of Arezzo.

Although his material is hip hop-influenced, most of his work should not be viewed as hip hop music per se. Many of his songs are not hip hop related and may probably be best viewed as part of the earlier Italian cantautore tradition. Some of his earlier work is also closer to keyboard-heavy 1980s pop. Most of his songs are sung in the Italian language; he also released a Spanish-language greatest hits album. His live album includes a short version of the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight". Jovanotti appears on several international compilations, most notably Red Hot + Rhapsody, a 1998 tribute to George Gershwin, on which he performed "I Got Rhythm". One of his most famous songs was "L'Ombelico del Mondo". Jovanotti has also appeared in one Luciano Pavarotti's charity concert in 1996.

His 2005 CD, Buon Sangue, includes influences from both rock and old school hip hop. It is one of his most innovative works to date. Edoardo Bennato collaborated on one track, while bass player Saturnino co-wrote two of the songs.

In 2007, he was featured at the end of Negramaro's song, "Cade la Pioggia", of their CD, La Finestra, and in 2008 he has released the new album Safari.

Contents

[edit] Television

Even though Jovanotti has never had a UK chart hit under his own name, he was briefly known in the United Kingdom as being the presenter of the DEF II programme Gimme 5. The show, which featured a brief introduction each week by Jovanotti, showcased youth television programmes from around the world.

[edit] Gino Latino

Jovanotti was behind one of two rival Gino Latino italo house tracks in the early 1990s. His Gino Latino single, "Welcome", reached Number 17 on the UK Top 75 Singles chart.

[edit] Trivia

The name Jovanotti derives from the plural form of the Italian word giovanotto ("young man"), i.e. giovanotti. Lorenzo Cherubini originally auditioned a band with the name "I Giovanotti", but the record producer only was interested in him. He then decided on an Italo-American name of Joe Vanotti before conjugating it to his famous moniker "Jovanotti". The spelling Jovanotti is anglicised, the letter j not being used in Italian per se. It was used instead of i and ii in some contexts, and not instead of gi, hence the name for the letter in Italian i lunga, or "long i". (sort of similar to the English y) an occurrence of this is the Italian football club Juventus and Jugoslavia.

Jovanotti is a vegetarian.

Jovanotti has a friendship with Bono in their quest for the cancellation of foreign debt in poor African countries. Also collaborated with Michael Franti of Spearhead on his Capohorn album. Both Michael Franti and U2 misspell his name as Giovanotti in the liner note credits.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions
ITA SWI NET AUT GER EUR
1988 "Gimme Five" 1 11 - - - -
1995 "L'Ombelico del Mondo" 14 - 17 23 - -
1997 "Bella" - 39 - - - -
1992 "Salvami" 3 44 - - - -
"Ti Sposerò" 11 - - - - -
"Morirò D'amore" 13 - - - - -
2005 "(Tanto)³" 6 - - - - 30
"Mi Fido di Te" - - - - 65 -
2008 "Fango"
(with. Ben Harper)		 4 - - - - 61
"Cade la Pioggia"
(with. Negramaro)		 15 - - - - 140
"A Te" 1 21 - - - 27

the singles discography is incomplete