Virginio (singer)
Virginio | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Virginio Simonelli |
Born | Fondi (LT), Lazio, Italy | January 31, 1985
Genres | Pop |
Instrument | piano |
Years active | 2005–present |
Labels | Universal Music (2005-2006, 2011-2014, 2022-present) iMean Music (2015-2019) MP Film (2020-present) |
Website | virginiosimonelli.it |
Virginio Simonelli (Italian pronunciation: [virˈdʒiːnjo simoˈnɛlli]; born January 31, 1985), simply known as Virginio, is an Italian pop singer.
He made his debut in 2006 in the Sanremo Festival's New Proposals category with the song Davvero.[1] In 2011 he won the tenth edition of the Italian singing competition Amici di Maria De Filippi in the singers-songwriters category and published his record Finalmente. Between 2012 and 2023 he has released fourteen singles. He has sold more than 30,000 copies of his albums and won a Gold Wind Music Award.[2]
Biography
As a child, Virginio showed a natural predisposition to music. As a teenager, he learned to play the piano, sing, and compose his first songs, also experimenting with dancing and acting. After graduating from the Gobetti High School in his hometown, Fondi, he moved to Milan. There, he enrolled in the Nuova Accademia Delle Belle Arti (New Academy of Fine Arts), where he graduated in Graphic Design And Art Direction, getting in touch with producers Paolo Agosta (his professor) and Ivo Grasso, with whom he began collaborating.
First steps in music: Sanremo Nuove Proposte and the first album Virginio
In 2006 he took part in the 56th Sanremo Music Festival in the category New Proposals with a song written by him, Davvero that anticipated his first album Virginio, produced by Ivo Grasso and Fabrizio Grenghi. The album contains ten tracks and the lyrics were written by the singer along with Paolo Agosta,[3] who also composed the music. The second single Instabile was released in May and the third one Novembre in October.
In 2010 he made his first experience as an author, writing with Paola & Chiara the tracks Milleluci and Adesso Stop!, of which he also composed the music, contained in their album Milleluci.
Winner of "Amici di Maria De Filippi" and the EP "Finalmente"
In September 2010 Virginio passed the selections of the tenth edition of Amici di Maria De Filippi.[4] During the contest Virginio presented Ad Occhi Chiusi, Non Ha Importanza and Dolcenotte and won the competition in March 2011.[5]
On March 8, 2011, he published his second studio album Finalmente promoted by the singles Ad occhi chiusi and Sale. The album sold over 30,000 copies and it was certified gold and therefore awarded at the Wind Music Awards.[2]
"Ovunque" and second experience in Amici
On March 26, 2012, Virginio published his third album "Ovunque",[6] featuring the singles Alice and La Dipendenza and a song, Catch Me, that Gary Barlow, leader of Take That, gave to Virginio, who translated it into Italian with the title Tu Mi Senti.
From March 31, 2012 Virginio attended the eleventh edition of Amici in a special contest, called Big, where former contestants of previous editions of the show challenged each other, but Virginio was eliminated during the 3rd episode.
In 2013 he composed and wrote for and with Laura Pausini the songs Limpido, in duet with Kylie Minogue, and Dove resto solo io.
2015-2019
In 2015 he was the opening act for one of the shows of Malika Ayane's Naïf tour and released the single Hercules, produced in San Francisco by Corrado Rustici and written with Andy Marvel, Dimitri Ehrlich and Jesse Harris. In the same year he was one of the authors of the lyrics to Raf's Rimani tu. In 2016, together with Andrea Ferrara, he wrote and composed the m music for Weird by Lorenzo Fragola.[7]
In 2016, Virginio participated with a cover of Royals by Lorde to the compilation A.M.I. - Rarities of Artists for Amatrice was released.[8] In 2017 he co-authored lyrics and music for Chiara Galiazzo's song Chiaroscuro.
In July 2017 he participated to the festival Symphonic Night Vol 2 Napoli Fantasy at Shibuya O-EAST in Tokyo,[9] as the guest vocalist of Corrado Rustici's prog-rock band Cervello, an event from which a live CD and DVD entitled Live in Tokyo 2017 was released.[10] In September 2018 she is part of the cast, at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan, of the musical event Buon compleanno Mimì, organized by the cultural association Minuetto in memory of Mia Martini, paying tribute to the artist with a cover of Il fiume dei profumi, a song written for her by Biagio Antonacci.[11] In 2017 he released the single Semplifica, produced by Gianluigi Fazio and written in collaboration with Fazio himself and Edwyn Roberts, which was promoted live by Virginio during the 2018's edition of the Italian event Festival Show.[12]
In 2018 he collaborated again with Laura Pausini with whom he co-authored the lyrics of Fantastico (Fai quello che sei), E.sta.a.te and Il caso è chiuso,[13] he was then an opening act of five of Pausini's Fatti sentire World Wide Tour 2018 shows.[14] In November 2018, he performed in Osaka at the "Italia, amore mio!" festival, an event organized by the Italian Chamber of Commerce that promotes made in Italy music, art, food and wine in Japan.[15] In the same year, he released the single Rischiamo tutto[16] and in 2019 Cubalibre, whose video inspired by Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, directed by Alessandro Congiu, was awarded as Video revelation of the year at the Premio Roma Videoclip 2019.[17]
With a conference at the Chamber of Deputies[18] in June 2016, it was announced that Virginio would collaborate on Parole liberate: beyond the prison wall, a poetry contest, conceived by Duccio Parodi and Michele De Lucia, reserved for people in prison. The winning poem, P.S. post scriptum, by then inmate Giuseppe Catalano, in fact, was set to music by Virginio and recorded and published in 2019. P.S. post scriptum was awarded Best Lyrics at the International Short Film Festival Tulipani di Seta Nera.[19]
Between 2018 and 2019 he collaborated with Officine Buone, a non-profit organization that brings live music to hospitals, also participating in the MTV series Involontaria inspired by the project.[20] On September 2, 2019 Virginio announced, during the 76th edition of the Venice International Film Festival, that he is the artist who won the SIAE's Per chi crea contest for the national and international promotion of Italian music, winning the production of a tour in the United States, planned for spring 2020 but currently postponed due to the 2019-2021 COVID-19 pandemic.[21]
2020-today
In 2020, he participated in Tale e quale show (the Italian version of Sing Your Face Off) and took on the role of music artistic director of MP FILM, a film-music production company.[22] In the same year he also signed the sound direction of Donne - Storie che ispirano, a docu-series about women with breast cancer by Italian TV channel LA7d,[23][24] and of Manteniamoci Informate, an ovarian cancer awareness campaign.[25] He also supported his hometown, Fondi, which became a "red zone" during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy with a charitable concert, Artisti ProFondi, streamed on April 2, 2020, featuring Marco Masini, Arisa, Noemi and other colleagues[26][27][28]
In 2021 he released the singles Rimani[29] (also presented in Latin America in its Spanish-language version Mañana in 2022[30][31]) and Brava gente.[32] Also in 2021 he co-wrote Ti vedo da fuori by Alessandra Amoroso, featured on the album Tutto accade.[33]
Between February and April 2022 he co-wrote the song Quello che abbiamo perso by Giusy Ferreri, featured on the album Cortometraggi[34] and he sang in duet with Bianca Atzei on Collisioni. In the summer he released the single M'incanta for Universal Music Italy[[35] and wrote with Daniele Coro Il panda con le ali, a song that participated in the 65th edition of the Zecchino d'Oro and was the winner of the event.[36][37]
In September 2022, he announced, during the 79th edition of the Venice International Film Festival, his new single Non dirlo a nessuno, and its Spanish version No le digas a nadie, the main song of the soundtrack of Alessio Russo's film of the same name, in which Virginio also takes part with a cameo.[59][60][61] On December 11, 2022, he participated in and won the second edition of the Christmas version of the Italian TV program Tale e quale show with his performance as George Michael, singing Last Christmas.[38]
In winter 2023 he collaborated in the creation of the song Un milione di piccole tempeste performed by Gianni Morandi. On May 25, 2023, he released his new single Il giorno con la notte in Italian and El día con la noche in Spanish, featuring Teo Bok and with the production of Julio Reyes Copello.[39] In June 2023 he worked again with Laura Pausini, writing for her the new single Il primo passo sulla Luna.
Private life
On May 24, 2023, he came out as gay in an interview with Vanity Fair Italy.[40]
Discography
Albums
- 2006 – Virginio (March 3, 2006)
- 2011 – Finalmente (March 8, 2011) (ITA #4; Gold – 30,000+ copies)
- 2012 – Ovunque (March 26, 2012) (ITA #12)
Compilation
- 2011 – Amici 10 (with other contestants of Amici)
Singles
- 2006 – Davvero
- 2006 – Instabile
- 2006 – Novembre
- 2011 – Ad occhi chiusi
- 2011 – Sale
- 2012 – Alice (Elis)
- 2012 – La Dipendenza
- 2015 – Hercules
- 2018 – Semplifica
- 2018 – Rischiamo tutto
- 2019 - Cubalibre
- 2019 - P.S. post scriptum
- 2021 - Rimani
- 2021 - Brava gente
- 2022 - Collisioni feat. Bianca Atzei
- 2022 - Mañana
- 2022 - M'incanta
- 2022 - Non dirlo a nessuno
- 2023 - Il giorno con la notte
- 2023 - El día con la noche
Videos
- 2006: Davvero
- 2006: Instabile
- 2011: Ad occhi chiusi
- 2011: Sale
- 2012: Alice (Elis)
- 2012: La Dipendenza
- 2015: Hercules
- 2018 - Semplifica
- 2018 - Rischiamo tutto
- 2019 - Cubalibre
- 2019 - P.S. post scriptum
- 2021 - Rimani
- 2021 - Brava gente
- 2022 - Collisioni feat. Bianca Atzei
- 2022 - Mañana
- 2022 - M'incanta
- 2022 - Non dirlo a nessuno
- 2023 - Il giorno con la notte
- 2023 - El día con la noche
Tours
- 2011
- Finalmente Tour
- 2012
- Ovunque Tour
- 2017
- Acoustic Live Tour
Other tours
- 2011
- Nokia Amici in Tour
- Sete di Radio Tour
- Radio Bruno estate tour
- Radionorba Battiti Live
- Company Contatto
Author and composer for other singers
Year | Title | Artist | Album |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Milleluci (Lyrics: Chiara Iezzi, Paola Iezzi, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Virginio Simonelli) |
Paola & Chiara | Milleluci |
Adesso stop! (Lyrics: Chiara Iezzi, Paola Iezzi - Music: Virginio Simonelli) | |||
2012 | Riflessi di me (Lyrics: Francesca Michielin, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Elisa Toffoli) |
Francesca Michielin | Riflessi di me |
2013 | Limpido (Lyrics: Laura Pausini, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Virginio Simonelli) |
Laura Pausini feat. Kylie Minogue | 20 – The Greatest Hits |
Dove resto solo io (Lyrics: Laura Pausini, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Virginio Simonelli) |
Laura Pausini | ||
2014 | Qualcosa resta sempre (Lyrics: Virginio Simonelli - Music: Chris Loco, Natalia Hajjara e Philippe Marc Anquetil) |
Chiara | Un giorno di sole |
2015 | Rimani tu (Lyrics and music: Chiara Civello, Alessandra Flora, Raffaele Riefoli, Virginio Simonelli and Luca Vicini[41]) |
Raf | Sono io |
Como yo sabría (Lyrics and music: Laura Pausini and Virginio Simonelli[42]) |
Maverick López Sánchez | 18+1 | |
2016 | Weird (Lyrics and music: Andrea Ferrara, Virginio Simonelli) |
Lorenzo Fragola | Zero Gravity |
2017 | Chiaroscuro (Lyrics: Chiara Galiazzo, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Gianluigi Fazio, Virginio Simonelli) |
Chiara | Nessun posto è casa mia |
2018 | Fantastico (fai quello che sei) (Lyrics: Laura Pausini, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Laura Pausini, Paolo Carta) |
Laura Pausini | Fatti sentire |
Il caso è chiuso (Lyrics: Laura Pausini, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Daniel Vuletic) | |||
E.sta.a.te (Lyrics: Laura Pausini, Virginio Simonelli - Music: Paolo Carta) | |||
Tra le mani (Lyrics and music: Andrea Bonomo and Virginio Simonelli[43]) |
Carmen Ferreri | La complicità | |
2019 | Punto a capo (Lyrics and music: Virginio Simonelli[44]) |
Più forti del ricordo | |
Magnifico donare (Lyrics and music: Virginio Simonelli[45]) Promotional song for AVIS, Italian charitable organisation for blood donation[46] |
Chiara | — | |
2020 | Ognuno per sé (Lyrics and music: Virginio Simonelli[47]) |
Francesco Bertoli | Carpe Diem |
2021 | Ti vedo da fuori (Lyrics and music: Federica Camba, Daniele Coro, Virginio Simonelli[48]) |
Alessandra Amoroso | Tutto accade |
2022 | Quello che abbiamo perso (Lyrics and music: Diego Mancino, Daniele Coro, Virginio Simonelli[49]) |
Giusy Ferreri | Cortometraggi |
2023 | Un milione di piccole tempeste (Lyrics and music: Diego Mancino, Daniele Coro, Federica Camba, Virginio Simonelli[50]) |
Gianni Morandi | Evviva! |
Il primo passo sulla Luna (Lyrics: Virginio Simonelli, Cheope, Laura Pausini - Music: Virginio Simonelli, Jason Rooney[51]) |
Laura Pausini | - |
Awards
- 2011 - Winner of the singer category of Amici di Maria De Filippi[52]
- 2011 - Gold Wind Music Award for Finalmente[53]
- 2018 - Premio internazionale Palinuro (International Award of Palinuro)[54]
- 2018 - Riconoscimento Giovanni Paolo II (Recognition Pope John Paul II) [55]
- 2019 - Premio (Award) Roma Videoclip for Cubalibre[56]
- 2020 - Premio #SocialClip for P.S. post scriptum at Tulipani di Seta Nera 2020[57]
- 2022 - Premio speciale al Fara film festival (Fara Film Festival Special Award) 2022[58][59][60]
- 2022 - Premio persona dell'anno 2022 di Fondi (Person of the year 2022 of the city of Fondi)[61]
- 2022 - Zecchino d'oro as an author of Il panda con le ali
- 2023 - Premio (Award) Roma Videoclip for International Video for El día con la noche [62]
References
- ^ "Virginio – Sanremo 2006 – 56º Festival di Sanremo". Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ a b "Virginio: "Finalmente" è disco d'oro - Festival". festival.blogosfere.it. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011.
- ^ "italiancharts.com - Virginio - Davvero". italiancharts.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Virginio Simonelli – singer". Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ "Amici, vincono Denny e Virginio. Premio di 100mila euro per ciascuno - televisione -Tgcom - pagina 1". www.tgcom.mediaset.it. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011.
- ^ "Virginio, Ovunque tracklist e cover". March 2, 2012.
- ^ "LORENZO FRAGOLA: Ecco la tracklist di "Zero Gravity", tra gli autori anche VIRGINIO". February 19, 2016.
- ^ "√ Esce la benefit compilation A.M.I. Rarità di Artisti per Amatrice con Syria, Gerardina Trovato e altri".
- ^ "MARQUEE presents SYMPHONIC NIGHT VOL.2 - MARQUEE LIVE". Archived from the original on June 29, 2017.
- ^ "Cervello - Live in Tokyo 2017".
- ^ "Buon compleanno Mimì 2018 a Milano con Bernabei, Tatangelo, Virginio e molti altri". September 11, 2018.
- ^ "Virginio annuncia "Semplifica", il nuovo singolo: "la leggerezza è il contrario della superficialità come diceva Italo Calvino"". June 17, 2018.
- ^ "Laura Pausini, Fatti sentire: Presentazione album, tracklist e significato delle canzoni". March 15, 2018.
- ^ "Laura Pausini: Ecco tutti gli opening act del suo tour da Thomas a Michele Bravi". September 13, 2018.
- ^ "Virginio a Osaka in Giappone ospite del festival "Italia, Amore mio!" per tre live". November 2, 2018.
- ^ "Virginio lancia il singolo Rischiamo tutto. Un incoraggiamento gentile su un tappeto elettronico". October 25, 2018.
- ^ Bartoli, Simone (December 9, 2019). "Roma Videoclip — Il Cinema incontra la musica: premiati Tommaso Paradiso e Noemi". Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Premio Parole liberate: Lunedì 13 giugno conferenza stampa alla Camera dei Deputati per presentare Virginio, l'artista che musicherà la lirica vincitrice della Seconda edizione, e per presentare il Bando della Terza edizione, dedicata alla memoria di Marco Pannella – PAROLE LIBERATE". June 7, 2016.
- ^ "Virginio: "PS Post Scriptum" vincitore il XIII Festival Internazionale Film Corto". July 2020.
- ^ "Involontaria, una serie tv racconta la musica che entra in ospedale grazie ai volontari. Gli ospiti? Da Levante a Lodo Guenzi a Maccarini". December 6, 2019.
- ^ "Virginio electroacoustic Tour America sarà presentato alla Biennale di Venezia". August 28, 2019.
- ^ "Il Team".
- ^ "Tumori: Storie di donne che ispirano, la docu-serie su la 7d". December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Virginio - Direzione Musicale della Docu - Serie "Donne - Storie Che Ispirano"". November 23, 2020.
- ^ "Manteniamoci Informate: La campagna di sensibilizzazione con Claudia Gerini". July 10, 2020.
- ^ "Arisa, Masini, Noemi e tanti big insieme in streaming per Fondi". April 2020.
- ^ "#iosuonodacasa: I concerti in live streaming del 2 aprile". April 2, 2020.
- ^ "Virginio and Friends: Il live streaming per aiutare la sua Fondi". March 30, 2020.
- ^ "Dopo "Tale & Quale Show" Virginio torna con una ballata spaccacuore, "Rimani"". March 24, 2021.
- ^ "Univision Reaches More Hispanic Viewers Than Any Other Network in the USA - Señal News".
- ^ @PrimerImpacto (April 21, 2022). "Hoy te mostramos quién es @VirginioNero, el talentoso cantante italiano que le ha compuesto a Laura Pausini y que ha tomado clases de español para conquistar a los hispanos con su voz y su música" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Virginio racconta un'Italia pronta a cambiare nel nuovo singolo 'Brava gente'".
- ^ "Alessandra Amoroso: La tracklist del nuovo disco "Tutto accade"". October 18, 2021.
- ^ "Giusy Ferreri svela anche la tracklsit dell'album "Cortometraggi"".
- ^ "Il 24 giugno esce "M'incanta", il nuovo singolo di Virginio". June 24, 2022.
- ^ "Zecchino d'Oro 2022: 14 interpreti per 17 canzoni scritte da tanti autori. Da Ruggeri a Virginio, da Checco Zalone a Deborah Iurato". June 30, 2022.
- ^ ""Il panda con le ali" vince il 65° Zecchino d'Oro". December 24, 2022.
- ^ "Virginio vince "Natale e Quale show" con "Last Christmas" degli Wham (VIDEO)". December 12, 2022.
- ^ "Italia e America latina ancora più vicine... Teo Bok e Virginio lanciano "Il giorno con la notte" e "El dia con la noche"". May 19, 2023.
- ^ "Virginio: «Sono gay ma non chiamatelo coming out»". May 24, 2023.
- ^ ""Rimani tu" anticipa il nuovo album di RAF in uscita il 30 giugno (TESTO e LYRIC VIDEO)". April 23, 2015.
- ^ "Laura Pausini e Virginio Simonelli scrivono per Maverick Lopez di the Voice". August 7, 2015.
- ^ "Carmen lancia in radio venerdì "Tra le mani" firmata da Andrea Bonomo e Virginio". May 30, 2018.
- ^ "Carmen Ferreri nel nuovo album brani di Giordana, Virginio e Caccamo". February 14, 2019.
- ^ "Magnifico donare...una nuova campagna sulle note di Chiara Galiazzo". October 29, 2019.
- ^ Avis, Virginio scrive il brano 'Magnifico donare' con la partecipazione di Chiara Galiazzo Archived October 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Francesco Bertoli: Da Virginio a Giordana Angi tutti gli autori di "Carpe diem"". March 27, 2020.
- ^ "Alessandra Amoroso... "Tutto accade": 14 canzoni, 20 autori e tre produttori per il nuovo album". October 18, 2021.
- ^ "Giusy Ferreri: Tutti gli autori del nuovo album, "Cortometraggi". Da Marco Masini a Virginio, da Saverio Grandi a Giulia Anania". February 17, 2022.
- ^ https://www.allmusicitalia.it/news/guida-allascolto-brano-per-brano-del-nuovo-disco-di-gianni-morandi-evviva-un-disco-branderizzato-da-jovanotti.html
- ^ https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/cultura/musica/2023/06/16/laura-pausini-nuovo-singolo-il-primo-passo-sulla-luna_16b2b346-1f7c-4aa6-b663-4e1867e84525.html
- ^ "Amici di Maria de Filippi: Sfide di canto e ballo, video, news e anticipazioni".
- ^ "Wind Music Awards 7,14,21 giugno Italia1".
- ^ "Arte e spettacolo, nel Cilento torna il Premio internazionale Palinuro". September 21, 2018.
- ^ "Riconoscimento Giovanni Paolo II 2019: Tutti i nomi dei premiati". May 13, 2019.
- ^ "Virginio vince il premio rivelazione per il video di "Cubalibre" al Roma Video Clip". December 5, 2019.
- ^ Antonino Muscaglione (July 1, 2020). "Virginio: "PS Post Scriptum" vincitore il XIII Festival Internazionale Film Corto". faremusic.it. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "Fara Film Festival 2022, tutti i vincitori". July 26, 2022.
- ^ "Ricky Tognazzi: «Ugo padre distratto ma scialuppa di salvataggio»". July 22, 2022.
- ^ "Fara Film Festival: Vince Il grande Melies". July 27, 2022.
- ^ "E' il cantautore Virginio la "Persona dell'Anno 2022": Cerimonia al Castello Caetani di Fondi".
- ^ https://www.allmusicitalia.it/news/teo-bok-e-virginio-premio-roma-videoclip.html