Loredana Bertè
Encyclopedia
Loredana Bertè is an Italian
singer. In her long career she has worked with some of the best Italian songwriters such as Enrico Ruggeri
, Pino Daniele
, Ivano Fossati
, Mario Lavezzi, Enzo Jannacci
and Mango
, among others. She has experimented with different genres, from rock
to reggae
, from funk
to pop
. Her sister Mia Martini
was also a singer. Berté is known for the eccentric clothing she wears onstage for her performances.
, Province of Reggio Calabria
, southern Italy.
She started her singing career in 1974 with the album Streaking. She became successful the following year with the release of Normale o Super album, as well as "Sei bellissima", a ballad that eventually became one of her biggest hits.
In 1977 the album T.I.R. updated her sound, and two years later the LP Bandabertè spawned the hits "Dedicato", "E la Luna bussò" (the first Italian reggae
song ), "Folle città", and "Robin Hood".
Bertè next released two albums with a strong funky vibe. The first was Loredanabertè (1980) which included the huge hit "In alto mare"; the song was covered in 2004 by the group 2 black. In 1981 Bertè released Made in Italy, recorded with the American funk group Platinum Hook.
The album included the single "Movie", probably the first Italian song featuring rap
.
The following year she left her long-time producer Mario Lavezzi to record with a new producer, Ivano Fossati
. With Fossati she recorded what many consider to be her masterpiece album, Traslocando, containing Loredana's signature song "Non sono una signora".
The following years the albums Jazz (1983) and Savoir faire (1984) spawned two hits: "Il mare d'inverno", penned by Enrico Ruggeri
, and "Ragazzo mio", a cover of a Luigi Tenco
classic.
Bertè released an innovative album in 1985 called Carioca, a tribute to Brazil
ian singer Djavan
and included "Acqua" and other hits.
Many songs from the album were subsequently covered by The Manhattan Transfer
.
Bertè became engaged to tennis champion Björn Borg
in 1988, and they were married in September 1989. Their marriage was reportedly very troubled.
Bertè has had numerous notable performances at the Sanremo Music Festival, also known as the Festival della canzone italiana
. Her first appearance was in 1986 with a rock song called "Re".
For the performance, Loredana was dressed to look like a pregnant woman, which caused a scandal . Notably, the critic's award at Sanremo is called the Mia Martini
after Bertè's sister, who won the first critic's award offered in 1982. To date, Bertè has not yet won a top award at the festival.
In 1988, along with her second appearance at the Sanremo festival, she released the Io album with producer Corrado Rustici, who has also worked with Whitney Houston
.
In the spring of 1992 Bertè and husband Björn Borg
officially split. Their divorce was finalized in 1993.
That year, she released a new album, Ufficialmente dispersi. That same year, Mia Martini
joined Bertè at Sanremo for a duet. Their song, titled "Stiamo come stiamo", was the first single of Bertè's new album.
Later that summer, Bertè released a second song from the album. The single, titled "Mi manchi", was an Italian radio hit.
Bertè's also appeared at Sanremo in 1994 when she performed an emotional song called "Amici non ne ho".
The song was a hit and was included in her first live compilation entitled Bertex Ingresso Libero.
Her 1995 performance of the funky song called "Angeli & Angeli", a single from Bertè's Ufficialmente ritrovati, a greatest hits compilation.
On Friday, 12 May 1995, her sister Mia Martini
committed suicide by overdosing on drugs. The death of her sister caused Bertè to go into shock and depression.
In mid-1996 she began work on her following album, Un pettirosso da combattimento, considered by some to be one of her most beautiful recordings thus far.
Released in 1997, the album is one of Bertè's most personal to date, featuring a new hard rock
sound and lyrics based on the tragic loss of her sister. Bertè's seventh appearance at the Sanremo Festival featured a song titled "Luna", a desperate cry about her life.
Her second live compilation album was released in 1998 and was recorded with a live orchestra.
In 2002 she returned to Sanremo for the eighth time with a song called "Dimmi che mi ami". That same year she dropped her current record label (one she had joined just a few months before) and began searching for a new label. She eventually signed with NAR.
Bertè joined a reality show called Musicfarm in 2004. With the money she earned from her appearance she began to work on a new album.
This became her 2005 effort titled Babybertè, which was released in September of that year.
Her first album in seven years, the CD debuted at #2 in the official album chart, making it one of her most successful albums ever . The second single from the album, titled "Strade di fuoco", hit #3 in the official single chart. In May, 2006 the album was re-released with a bonus CD and a bonus DVD.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
singer. In her long career she has worked with some of the best Italian songwriters such as Enrico Ruggeri
Enrico Ruggeri
Enrico Ruggeri is an Italian rock singer-songwriter.-Biography:A native of Milan, Ruggeri made his debut in the 1970s with the punk band Decibel...
, Pino Daniele
Pino Daniele
Pino Daniele is an Italian vocalist, composer, and musician, whose influences cover a wide number of genres, fusing pop, blues, jazz, Italian and Middle eastern music into his own unique brand of world music.-Studio albums:...
, Ivano Fossati
Ivano Fossati
Ivano Alberto Fossati is an Italian pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and percussionist born in Genoa. Fossati has several albums to date and has worked with such musicians as Fabrizio De André, Riccardo Tesi,Anna Oxa, Mia Martini, Ornella Vanoni, Francesco De Gregori and...
, Mario Lavezzi, Enzo Jannacci
Enzo Jannacci
Vincenzo Jannacci , more commonly known as Enzo Jannacci , is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor and stand-up comedian...
and Mango
Giuseppe Mango
Mango is the stage name of Giuseppe Mango , an Italian singer.- Albums :* La mia ragazza è un grande caldo * Arlecchino * È pericoloso sporgersi...
, among others. She has experimented with different genres, from rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
to reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, from funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
to pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Her sister Mia Martini
Mia Martini
Mia Martini was an Italian singer.-Early life:Born Domenica Bertè in 1947 in Bagnara Calabra , she moved to Rome with her sister and her friend Renato Zero.-Career:She recorded her first records as Mimì Berté, but she soon decided to change her name to Mia...
was also a singer. Berté is known for the eccentric clothing she wears onstage for her performances.
Career
Bertè was born in Bagnara CalabraBagnara Calabra
Bagnara Calabra is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 100 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 25 km northeast of Reggio Calabria.-Overview:...
, Province of Reggio Calabria
Province of Reggio Calabria
The Province of Reggio Calabria is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Reggio., it has an area of 3,183 km², and a total population of 565,866. There are 97 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Reggio Calabria.- Economy :The region is...
, southern Italy.
She started her singing career in 1974 with the album Streaking. She became successful the following year with the release of Normale o Super album, as well as "Sei bellissima", a ballad that eventually became one of her biggest hits.
In 1977 the album T.I.R. updated her sound, and two years later the LP Bandabertè spawned the hits "Dedicato", "E la Luna bussò" (the first Italian reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
song ), "Folle città", and "Robin Hood".
Bertè next released two albums with a strong funky vibe. The first was Loredanabertè (1980) which included the huge hit "In alto mare"; the song was covered in 2004 by the group 2 black. In 1981 Bertè released Made in Italy, recorded with the American funk group Platinum Hook.
The album included the single "Movie", probably the first Italian song featuring rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
.
The following year she left her long-time producer Mario Lavezzi to record with a new producer, Ivano Fossati
Ivano Fossati
Ivano Alberto Fossati is an Italian pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and percussionist born in Genoa. Fossati has several albums to date and has worked with such musicians as Fabrizio De André, Riccardo Tesi,Anna Oxa, Mia Martini, Ornella Vanoni, Francesco De Gregori and...
. With Fossati she recorded what many consider to be her masterpiece album, Traslocando, containing Loredana's signature song "Non sono una signora".
The following years the albums Jazz (1983) and Savoir faire (1984) spawned two hits: "Il mare d'inverno", penned by Enrico Ruggeri
Enrico Ruggeri
Enrico Ruggeri is an Italian rock singer-songwriter.-Biography:A native of Milan, Ruggeri made his debut in the 1970s with the punk band Decibel...
, and "Ragazzo mio", a cover of a Luigi Tenco
Luigi Tenco
Luigi Tenco was an Italian singer, songwriter and actor.-Biography:Tenco was born in Cassine in 1938, the son of Teresa Zoccola and Giuseppe Tenco. He never knew his father, who died in unclear circumstances...
classic.
Bertè released an innovative album in 1985 called Carioca, a tribute to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian singer Djavan
Djavan
Djavan is a Brazilian singer/songwriter, Djavan combines traditional Brazilian rhythms with popular music drawn from the Americas, Europe and Africa. He can arguably be categorized in any of the following musical genres: Música Popular Brasileira , samba, or Latin dance...
and included "Acqua" and other hits.
Many songs from the album were subsequently covered by The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
.
Bertè became engaged to tennis champion Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
in 1988, and they were married in September 1989. Their marriage was reportedly very troubled.
Bertè has had numerous notable performances at the Sanremo Music Festival, also known as the Festival della canzone italiana
Festival della canzone italiana
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...
. Her first appearance was in 1986 with a rock song called "Re".
For the performance, Loredana was dressed to look like a pregnant woman, which caused a scandal . Notably, the critic's award at Sanremo is called the Mia Martini
Mia Martini
Mia Martini was an Italian singer.-Early life:Born Domenica Bertè in 1947 in Bagnara Calabra , she moved to Rome with her sister and her friend Renato Zero.-Career:She recorded her first records as Mimì Berté, but she soon decided to change her name to Mia...
after Bertè's sister, who won the first critic's award offered in 1982. To date, Bertè has not yet won a top award at the festival.
In 1988, along with her second appearance at the Sanremo festival, she released the Io album with producer Corrado Rustici, who has also worked with Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
.
In the spring of 1992 Bertè and husband Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
officially split. Their divorce was finalized in 1993.
That year, she released a new album, Ufficialmente dispersi. That same year, Mia Martini
Mia Martini
Mia Martini was an Italian singer.-Early life:Born Domenica Bertè in 1947 in Bagnara Calabra , she moved to Rome with her sister and her friend Renato Zero.-Career:She recorded her first records as Mimì Berté, but she soon decided to change her name to Mia...
joined Bertè at Sanremo for a duet. Their song, titled "Stiamo come stiamo", was the first single of Bertè's new album.
Later that summer, Bertè released a second song from the album. The single, titled "Mi manchi", was an Italian radio hit.
Bertè's also appeared at Sanremo in 1994 when she performed an emotional song called "Amici non ne ho".
The song was a hit and was included in her first live compilation entitled Bertex Ingresso Libero.
Her 1995 performance of the funky song called "Angeli & Angeli", a single from Bertè's Ufficialmente ritrovati, a greatest hits compilation.
On Friday, 12 May 1995, her sister Mia Martini
Mia Martini
Mia Martini was an Italian singer.-Early life:Born Domenica Bertè in 1947 in Bagnara Calabra , she moved to Rome with her sister and her friend Renato Zero.-Career:She recorded her first records as Mimì Berté, but she soon decided to change her name to Mia...
committed suicide by overdosing on drugs. The death of her sister caused Bertè to go into shock and depression.
In mid-1996 she began work on her following album, Un pettirosso da combattimento, considered by some to be one of her most beautiful recordings thus far.
Released in 1997, the album is one of Bertè's most personal to date, featuring a new hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
sound and lyrics based on the tragic loss of her sister. Bertè's seventh appearance at the Sanremo Festival featured a song titled "Luna", a desperate cry about her life.
Her second live compilation album was released in 1998 and was recorded with a live orchestra.
In 2002 she returned to Sanremo for the eighth time with a song called "Dimmi che mi ami". That same year she dropped her current record label (one she had joined just a few months before) and began searching for a new label. She eventually signed with NAR.
Bertè joined a reality show called Musicfarm in 2004. With the money she earned from her appearance she began to work on a new album.
This became her 2005 effort titled Babybertè, which was released in September of that year.
Her first album in seven years, the CD debuted at #2 in the official album chart, making it one of her most successful albums ever . The second single from the album, titled "Strade di fuoco", hit #3 in the official single chart. In May, 2006 the album was re-released with a bonus CD and a bonus DVD.
Albums
- Streaking (1974)
- Normale o super (1976)
- TIR (1977)
- Bandabertè (1979)
- LoredanaBertè (1980)
- Made in Italy (1981)
- Traslocando (1982)
- Jazz (1983)
- Lorinedita (1983)
- Savoir faire (1984)
- Carioca (1985)
- Fotografando (1986)
- Io (1988)
- Best (1991)
- Ufficialmente dispersi (1993)
- Bertex, ingresso libero (1994)
- Ufficialmente ritrovati (1995)
- Un pettirosso da combattimento (1997)
- Decisamente Loredana (1998)
- Baby Bertè (2005)
- Baby Bertè – special edition Buch+cd+dvd (2006)
- BabyBertè live 2007 (2007)
- Bertilation (2008)
Singles
- Volevi un amore grande (1974)
- Sei bellissima (1975)
- Meglio libera (1976)
- Fiabe (1977)
- Grida (1997)
- Decisamente Loredana (1977)
- Dedicato (1978)
- E la luna bussò (1979)
- In alto mare (1980)
- Movie (1981)
- Non sono una signora (1982)
- Per i tuoi occhi (1982)
- Acqua (1985)
- Re (1986)
- Io (1988)
- In questa città (1991)
- Stiamo come stiamo (1993)
- Amici non ne ho (1994)
- Portami con te (1998)
- Dimmi che mi ami (2002)
- Sarà perché ti amo (chi se ne frega!!) (2004)
- Strade di fuoco (2006)
External links
- Stelleitaliane - unofficial web site Loredana Bertè.