Antonella Ruggiero

She made her first recording, Io Matia ("I Matia" in English), in 1974. Matia is the stage name under which Antonella Ruggiero officially began her solo career with the first and rare 45 rpm vinyl record (Matia in Genoa's language means "crazyness" or "crazy woman"), however she had already collaborated (unofficially) with the Jet in their LP vinyl record Faith, Hope and Charity lending her leading voice in the choruses. It was from the union of some members of both the Jet and Matia that in 1975 the band Matia Bazar was created.

Ruggiero is classified as a light soprano and has an extraordinary voice that far exceeds 4 octaves thanks to the use of the whistle register.

In 1975 with Piero Cassano (voice and keyboards), Aldo Stellita (bass), Giancarlo Golzi (drums), and Carlo Marrale (voice and guitars) she established the historical group Matia Bazar. Pop hits from the band included: "Ma perché", "Solo tu", "Per un'ora d’amore", "Stasera che sera", "Cavallo bianco", "Il video sono io", "Mister Mandarino", "Souvenir", "Ti Sento" and "Vacanze romane".

"Ti Sento" was their major hit. It was number one in Belgium and Italy. As a member of Matia Bazar, they represented their homecountry of Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, with their song "Raggio di luna". In total, they garnered 27 points, and finished in fifteenth place.

Ruggiero continued to tour with Matia Bazar, however, her partnership with the group ended in 1989.

Seven years after leaving Matia Bazar, in 1996, she made her solo debut with the album Libera, the result of a cathartic journey carried out in new cultural and musical atmospheres.

In the 1998 edition of the Sanremo Festival Ruggiero placed second with "Amore lontanissimo", which also earned the critics' award for best arrangement. In 1999 she performed at the Ariston Theater stage with "Non ti dimentico (Se non ci fossero le nuvole)" written together with her husband Roberto Colombo, and was classified in second place again. This song was dedicated to Aldo Stellita, former stage companion (he was founder member/author/bass player of Matia Bazar) and for many years her friend, who died prematurely in 1998. Immediately after the festival, Ruggiero released her third CD as soloist, Sospesa. This album included the participations of Ennio Morricone, who companied "And Will You Love Me", and Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, who co-wrote "Di perle e inverni" with Ruggiero and Roberto Colombo.

In 2003 she was back in the Sanremo contest with "Di un amore" (where she finished in ninth place).

On 4 June 2004 she performed a concert in the Brooklyn Museum of New York as a worldwide preview of her CD/DVD entitled Sacrarmonia Live (Il viaggio) with sacred songs of Christian inspiration from several parts of the world. On 25 November 2004 she performed at The Sugar Club in Dublin, accompanied by Mark Harris (piano), Carlo Cantini (strings) and Ivan Ciccarelli (percussions). ...

Source: Article "Antonella Ruggiero" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.