Luciano Ligabue

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Ligabue
Luciano Ligabue in a press conference in Varese
Luciano Ligabue in a press conference in Varese
Background information
Birth nameLuciano Riccardo Ligabue
Born (1960-03-13) 13 March 1960 (age 64)
OriginCorreggio, Province of Reggio Emilia, Italy
GenresRock
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • composer
  • multi-instrumentalist
  • film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
  • author
Instrument(s)
Years active1986–present
Websiteligachannel.com

Luciano Riccardo Ligabue (born 13 March 1960), commonly known as Ligabue or Liga, is an Italian singer-songwriter,[3] film director, and writer.

Biography[edit]

Ligabue was born in Correggio, in the province of Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy). Before becoming a successful singer, he held various jobs, working in agriculture and in factories. He entered the music world in 1987 when he founded the amateur band Orazero. For this band, he wrote several original songs, with which they participated in several local and national contests. The following year his fellow Emilian singer-songwriter Pierangelo Bertoli was the first to discover Ligabue's writing talents, and included one of Ligabue's songs, "Sogni di Rock'n'Roll" ("Rock n roll dreams"), in his new LP.

The following year Bertoli introduced him to producer Angelo Carrara, to finish an LP of his own, Ligabue, which was released in May 1990. Ligabue soon gained fame as one of the most successful Italian rock stars, finding fans mainly among younger audiences. His most famous hits include Balliamo sul mondo (Let's Dance on the World), Ho perso le parole (I've lost words) and the most successful of all, Certe Notti (Certain Nights), which was voted as "Italian song of the 1990s" in a poll held by a popular music magazine. He also collaborated with another famous singer-songwriter, Francesco Guccini, who also had a part in Ligabue's first movie.

Ligabue directed his first movie, Radiofreccia, in 1998, a semi-autobiographical story of a local radio station. Critics acclaimed it as surprisingly well shot for a newcomer, and the film received three David di Donatello Awards (the highest award in Italian cinema).[4] He also composed the soundtrack. Four years later he shot Da zero a dieci ("From Zero to Ten"): however, it was not as well-received as the first work, by both critics and fans.

Ligabue performing in Turin on 2010–09–18

On 10 September 2005, Ligabue held a concert in Reggio Emilia to celebrate his first 15 years of activity. The audience of around 180,000 set a European audience record for the one, non-free event for a single artist. However, due to problems with the audio system, several thousand people were unable to listen to the music and left the concert early. Ligabue later apologized for the problems.

Ligabue has also published a short story collection, Fuori e dentro il Borgo ("In and out the village"), which won several literary awards, a science fiction novel La neve se ne frega ("Snow doesn't care") (2005), and collections of poems Lettere d'Amore nel frigo ("Love Letters in the fridge") (2006).

He considers himself a "believer", even if he shows strong criticism towards the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church.[5]

He is a passionate Inter Milan fan.

Political involvement[edit]

In the 1980s Ligabue was a member of the communal council of his native Correggio, elected for the Italian Communist Party. Though he no longer assumes a public high-level political position, Ligabue, together with Jovanotti and Piero Pelù, released in 1999 the single "Il mio nome è mai più" ("My Name Is Never Again"), a song against the Kosovo War to collect funds for the Italian NGO Emergency.

Discography[edit]

  • Ligabue (1990)
  • Lambrusco coltelli rose & popcorn (1991)
  • Sopravvissuti e sopravviventi (1993)
  • A che ora è la fine del mondo? (1994)
  • Buon compleanno Elvis! (1995)
  • Su e giù da un palco (1997)
  • Radiofreccia (1998)
  • Miss Mondo (1999)
  • Fuori come va? (2002)
  • Giro d'Italia (2003)
  • Nome e Cognome (2005)
  • Primo tempo (2007)
  • Secondo tempo (2008)
  • Sette notti in Arena (2009)
  • Arrivederci, mostro! (2010)
  • Campovolo 2.011 (2011)
  • Mondovisione (2013)
  • Giro Del Mondo (2015)
  • Made in Italy (2016)
  • Start (2019)
  • 7 (2020)
  • Dedicato a Noi (2023)

Tour and live[edit]

NAME TOUR YEAR/DATE LOCATION
Neverending tour 1990–1993 square, club, palasport, theatre
Buon compleanno Elvis! Tour 1995–1996 palasport
Il Bar Mario è aperto 1997 stadium
Buon compleanno Elvis! Tour – Europa 1997 club (Europe)
Miss Mondo tour 1999 palasport, Verona Arena
1990–2000: 10 anni sulla mia strada 2000 stadium
LigaLive 2002 stadium
Fuori come va? Tour 2002–2003 palasport
Ligabue in teatro 2002–2003 theatre
Campovolo 10 September 2005 airport "Campovolo" in Reggio Emilia
Nome e cognome tour 2006 2006 club, palasport, stadium, theatre
Ellesette November – December 2007 PalaLottomatica, Mediolanum Forum
European tour 2008 club (Europe)
ElleElle Stadi 2008 stadium
...Sette Notti in Arena, Orchestra e R'N'R! September – October 2008 Verona Arena
Live 2009 2009 club (Europe)
Ligabue con la sua band
Solo Rock'n'roll
19–20 September 2009 Verona Arena
Ligabue
con la band e l'orchestra dell'Arena di Verona
Sette notti... non-bastano!!
September – October 2009 Verona Arena
Stadi 2010 2010 stadium
Tour Teatri "Quasi Acustico" 2011 2011 Theatre
Campovolo 2.0 16 July 2011 airport Reggio Emilia
Sotto bombardamento rock in... May-June 2012 Royal Albert Hall in London, Piazza Grande in Locarno, Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples, Parco della Lesa in Cividale del Friuli, Teatro antico di Taormina in Taormina
Ligabue Live 4-5 April 2013 Royal Albert Hall in London
Ligabue in Arena 2013 16-17-19-20-22-23 September 2013 Verona Arena
Mondovisione Tour March 2014-April 2015 palasport, stadium, club (Canada, U.S.A., Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Japan, China)
Campovolo-La festa 2015 19 September 2015 airport Reggio Emilia
Liga Rock Park 2016 24-25 September 2016 Monza Park, Monza
Dedicato a Noi Indoor Tour September - December 2023 palasport

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Credited as Role Notes
Writer Director Actor Soundtrack
1997 Partigiani No Yes No Himself Documentary film
1998 Radiofreccia Yes Deejay Debut as director and screenwriter
2002 Da zero a dieci Yes No Yes Second film as a director and writer
2010 Niente Paura No Yes Himself Documentary film
2018 Made in Italy Yes No Yes Third film as a director and writer

Bibliography[edit]

  • Fuori e dentro il Borgo ("In and out the village") (1997)
  • La neve se ne frega ("Snow doesn't care") (2004)
  • Lettere d'amore nel frigo ("Love Letters in the fridge") (2006)
  • Made in Italy (2018)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Used during 2011 acoustic tour.
  2. ^ Used during "Arrivederci Mostro – acoustic's recording session.
  3. ^ "Ligabue: da oltre un mese con dieci dischi in classifica". La Voce d'Italia (in Italian). 13 August 2011. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  4. ^ Passarin, Sara Greta (15 May 2022). "Luciano Ligabue: la biografia dell'artista emiliano". True News. (in Italian). Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  5. ^ Brighenti, Flavio (8 May 2013). "Intervista a Ligabue" [An Interwiew to Ligabue]. Repubblica XL (in Italian). Rome. Retrieved 27 May 2015.

External links[edit]