Ligabue

The Italian Bruce Springsteen, that's how many critics have described Ligabue and his music -- not only for his sound, strongly influenced by U.S. classic rock, nor for his lyrics about love, rock & roll, and dreams of escape (with Italy's Via Emilia in place of Route 66), and not even for his look. No, such a comparison is mainly due to the impact that Ligabue has on his wide audience and to the way in which his fans strongly identify with his songs. Authenticity, sweat, and electric guitars: these are the ingredients of a recipe that, with very small changes during the years, have made him one of the most successful Italian rockers of the last two decades, second only to Vasco Rossi. Born in Correggio, not far from Reggio Emilia, on the 13th of March, 1960, Luciano Ligabue had diverse work experiences during his pre-rock years, including farmhand, blue-collar worker, salesman, city councilman, and DJ. Accompanied by a band called OraZero, in 1987 Ligabue won a contest for unsigned bands, which during the following year allowed him to record his first 7", including the songs "Bar Mario" and "Anime in Plexiglass." Between 1988 and 1989 singer/songwriter Pierangelo Bertoli recorded two of Ligabue's compositions, "Sogni di Rock & Roll" and "Figlio di un Cane" (on the Tra Me e Me and Sedia Elettrica albums, respectively). With his new backing band, ClanDestino (Max Cottafavi on guitar, Gigi Cavalli Cocchi on drums, and Luciano Ghezzi on bass), and with Elio e le Storie Tese's Paolo "Feiez" Panigada as a sound engineer, Luciano released his debut, Ligabue, in 1990. Including both romantic ballads and crisp rockers, the album sold 500,000 copies, while the first single, "Balliamo Sul Mondo," won that year's edition of Festivalbar Giovani. Then Ligabue started a tour that...