Salvatore Adamo

Salvatore Adamo is a truly international star who has recorded in at least seven languages, in the process selling 80 million albums and 20 million singles worldwide. He was born in Comiso, Sicly, the eldest of seven siblings, to colliery worker Antonio Adamo and his wife Concetta Girlando. A sister, Delizia, also ended up becoming a musical artist. Salvatore's family moved to Belgium when he was three years old. From the beginning, his parents encouraged their son's musical inclinations as a singer and songwriter. When his grandfather presented him with a guitar as a present, young Salvatore mastered the instrument within days without any formal tutoring. Sadly, his father, who had managed his career at the onset, died in an accidental drowning in 1966.

Adamo drew his inspiration from French chansonniers like Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour and from their Italian (especially Neapolitan) counterparts, while the poetry of Jacques Prévert and Victor Hugo have influenced his lyrics. He debuted in a song contest at Radio Luxemburg in 1960, winning with his song "Si j'osais". In 1964, he had his first major hit with the sad love ballad "Tombe la neige" (also released in Italian as "Cade la neve"), followed the next year by "Inch'Allah" and "La Nuit" (which became even more popular in Italy as "La Notte", with the B-side of the single "Non sei tu").

By the second half of the sixties, Adamo had become the world's second best-selling musician after The Beatles, famous, in particular, for his romantic ballads. In addition to his huge following in Europe, he has been popular in Latin America, especially in Chile, where he performed live as late as 2018 to an audience of 50,000. Though he has sung mainly in French, Italian, German and Spanish, he has also recorded in English, Japanese and Turkish. Among the very best of Adamo's numerous hits are "Petit Bonheur "(which won a Gold Disc in 1970), "Perduto Amore" (1963), "Une meche de cheveux" (1966), "Une larme aux nuages", "Ensemble" (aka "Insieme), "Notre roman" (all 1967), "Pauvre Verlaine", "Une larme aux nuages", Tu somigli all'amore" (all 1968), "A demain sur la lune", "Accanto a te l'estate" (both 1969) and "Marie la Mer" (1973).

Adamo was knighted by King Albert II of Belgium in 2001. He became an officer of the French Légion d'honneur in 2005 and a Commander in the Order of the Star of Italy in 2015. An honorary UNICEF goodwill ambassador from 1993, he was also awarded the Order of the Rising Sun in 2016 for his influence on Japanese popular music. He holds Belgian, French and Italian citizenship.