Salvatore Adamo Explained

Adamo
Birth Date:1943 11, df=y
Birth Place:Comiso, Sicily, Italy
Nationality:Italian
Belgian (since 2019)[1]
Years Active:1963–present
Mother:Concetta Adamo
Father:Antonio Adamo
Website:http://adamosalvatore.fr/

Salvatore Knight Adamo (November 1, 1943) is a Belgian-Italian musician, singer and composer, who is known for his romantic ballads. Adamo was born in Comiso, Sicily, Italy, and has lived in Belgium since the age of three, which is why he has dual citizenship. By 1964, he was the world's best-selling artist behind The Beatles.[2] Through his career, he sold more than 80 million albums and 20 million singles worldwide, making him the best-selling Belgian artist of all time, and one of the most commercially successful musicians in the world.[3]

He first gained popularity throughout Europe and later in the Middle East, Latin America, Japan, and the United States. Adamo mainly performs in French but has also sung in Italian, Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Turkish. "Tombe la neige", "La nuit", "Vous permettez, Monsieur?", "Inch'Allah" and "C'est ma vie" remain his best known songs.

Since 2001 Adamo holds the Belgian noble title of Ridder, similar to the English title of "Knight".[4]

Early life

The father of Adamo, Antonio, emigrated to Belgium in February 1947 to work as a colliery worker in the mines of Marcinelle. Four months later his wife, Concetta, and their son, Salvatore, joined him in the town of Ghlin, before moving to Jemappes (Mons).

In 1956, Salvatore was bedridden for a year with meningitis.

Salvatore's parents did not want their son to become a miner, so he went to a Catholic school run by the Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes. By 1960, the family of Antonio and Concetta Adamo had seven children overall. Salvatore was a dedicated student at school and distinguished himself in music and the arts.[5]

Career

Adamo's early influences were the poetry of Victor Hugo and Jacques Prévert, the music of French singer-songwriters like Georges Brassens, and the Italian canzonette. He started singing and composing his own songs from an early age. His debut was in a Radio Luxembourg competition, where he participated as singer and composer of the song "Si j'osais" ("If I dared"), winning the competition's final held in Paris on 14 February 1960.

Adamo's first hit was "Sans toi, ma mie", in 1963, from his debut album 63/64. He followed this with a series of hits, the most famous being "Tombe la neige" ("The snow falls") in 1963, "La nuit" ("The Night") in 1964, "Mes mains sur tes hanches" ("My hands on your hips") in 1965 and "Inch'Allah". The self-penned "Petit bonheur" ("Little Happiness") sold over one million copies by April 1970, and was awarded a gold disc.[6]

Adamo has sold over 100 million copies of recordings worldwide. He has recorded in many languages and, besides France and Belgium, had hits in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and also in Japan, where he toured repeatedly. He has had hits and toured also in Latin America and throughout the Middle East.

In Chile, the audience awarded him an appreciation prize known as the "Antorcha" (Gold and Silver Torch) at the "Festival de Viña del Mar" held yearly in the "Quinta Vergara", at the seaside resort of Viña del Mar, where he once had to sing in three different, sold-out venues in the same night. In the 1980s, Adamo's career faltered, as the style of his music was no longer fashionable. Since the 1990s, however, and on the crest of a nostalgia wave, he has successfully resumed composing, issuing records and touring, starting with a full season at the Casino de Paris venue in April 1990.[7]

In 2003, he released the album Zanzibar, in collaboration with his friend the singer Arno, whose repertoire already included a famous cover of the song Les Filles du Bord de Mer. During a 2004 tour, Adamo was admitted to a Paris hospital because he had become unwell during a performance. Consequently, a number of performances were cancelled.[8] Even later in life, Adamo proved to still have a lot of fans in Latin America. In 2018, during a tour, 50,000 people gathered at Santiago airport in Chile to see their idol. [9] In 2023, he produced an album of French adaptations of English language hits by Elton John, Pearl Jam and 10cc. The album is entitled In French Please![10] A concert tour in 2023, celebrating his 60 year career was jeopardized due to the ongoing health problems of the 79-year-old Adamo.[11] In the end, the first concerts went ahead as planned.

Filmography

Adamo acted in a few French-language movies. He made his film debut in Les Arnaud (1967), which starred Bourvil. He acted in L'ardoise (1970) of Claude Bernard-Aubert, together with Michel Constantin and Jess Hahn. Adamo himself co-wrote, directed and acted in L'île au coquelicot (1972).[12]

Years later, he reappeared in the series La Légende de Croc-Blanc (1992) and in the movie Laisse tes mains sur mes hanches (2003). Adamo acted as himself in Lili David (2012) and Les Chamois (2017).

In popular culture

Amália Rodrigues recorded "Inch'Allah" in French. More than five hundred different versions of his chanson "Tombe la neige", one of his many international hits worldwide, exist. It has been covered in Bulgarian, Turkish ("Her Yerde Kar Var"), Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Chinese (Cantopop).

Honours and awards

In 2001, Adamo was raised into the Belgian nobility (with motto Humblement mais dignement) by King Albert II and given for life the Belgian noble title Ridder.[13] He was appointed an Officer of the Belgian Order of the Crown in 2002.[14] In 2014, Adamo was honored at Victoires de la Musique in France.[15] For his 38 visits to Japan and over 500 concerts, his influence on Japanese popular music, and his work as UNICEF goodwill ambassador, Adamo was honored Order of the Rising Sun in 2016.[16]

Orders

Awards

Honours

Personal life

At the end of the 1960s, Adamo married Nicole. Their children were Anthony (born in 1969), Benjamin, and then Amélie. At the height of his stardom, his own father died by drowning on 7 August 1966. His younger sister Délizia was also a recording artist. He wrote a number of songs for his sister, including her debut hit "Prends le chien" in 1974. She also joined him in his tour in 1975. Adamo has two sons (1969 and 1981) and a daughter (1980). He has two granddaughters.[28]

In 1984, Adamo had heart problems which necessitated a heart bypass operation and a temporary though total withdrawal from work. Since 1993, he has been an honorary UNICEF ambassador from Belgium and, in this capacity, has visited countries such as Vietnam, Lebanon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan and others. In 2004, health problems forced him to cancel a scheduled tour but, since 2007, he started touring again. In December 2011, he performed in Espinho, Portugal and Bucharest, Romania.

Trivia

Discography

Studio albums

Albums (other languages)

In German
Spanish
Turkish

Compilation albums

In Italian

Live albums

Singles

(Selective)

Singles (other languages)

In German
In Italian
In Spanish

DVDs

Publications

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Adamo : Il change de nationalité ! . 15 November 2018 .
  2. Muziekcentrum, Salvatore Adamo
  3. Web site: 1 November 1943 . iTunes Music – Salvatore Adamo . 24 August 2015 . iTunes Store.
  4. Web site: Moniteur Belge – Belgisch Staatsblad . 28 October 2017 . Ejustice.just.fgov.be.
  5. Web site: 27 July 2023 . Salvatore Adamo, the gentle gardener of love . focusonbelgium.be . en.
  6. Book: Murrells, Joseph. 1978. The Book of Golden Discs. 2nd. Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. London, UK. 252. 0-214-20512-6. registration.
  7. Web site: ADAMO – BIOGRAPHY.. 11 February 2005. 28 October 2017. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20050211034441/http://www.adamosalvatore.com/bio.html. 11 February 2005.
  8. Web site: 29 May 2004 . Salvatore Adamo onwel geworden tijdens concerttour in Frankrijk . Salvatore Adamo unwell during concert tour in France . . nl.
  9. Web site: 11 November 2020 . Wat je nog niet wist over de carrière van Adamo . proximus.be . nl.
  10. Web site: 28 July 2023 . Salvatore Adamo . houbi.com/belpop . en.
  11. Web site: 17 January 2023 . "Ik ben klaar om te gaan": Adamo verontrust fans met nieuw interview . "I'm ready to go": Adamo alarms fans with new interview . . nl.
  12. Web site: 27 July 2023 . Salvatore Adamo . . en.
  13. Web site: Moniteur Belge – Belgisch Staatsblad. Ejustice.just.fgov.be. 28 October 2017.
  14. Web site: En 1998–2002 – Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. 31 May 2013. 28 October 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130531001636/http://www.federation-wallonie-bruxelles.be/index.php?id=432. 31 May 2013.
  15. Web site: 28 July 2023 . Salvatore ADAMO . adamosalvatore-dc.com . en.
  16. Web site: 15 June 2016 . Conferment Ceremony of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette Star on Mr. Salvatore Adamo . be.emb-japan.go.jp . en.
  17. Web site: 28 July 2023 . Salvatore ADAMO . damosalvatore-dc.com . fr.
  18. Web site: 28 July 2023 . Salvatore Adamo, Biographie en forme de portrait . cadenceinfo.com . fr.
  19. Web site: 1 December 2015 . Adamo Commandeur du mérite wallon . dhnet.be . fr.
  20. Web site: 15 December 2014 . Salvatore ADAMO remporte une Octave de la Musique . adamosalvatore-dc.com . fr.
  21. Web site: 26 May 2023 . Sabam huldigt Adamo in aanwezigheid van honderden fans op het podium van Kursaal Oostende . kw.be . nl.
  22. Web site: 23 June 2002 . Salvatore Adamo . mons.be . fr.
  23. Web site: 21 October 2002 . Adamo vous présente Comiso . dhnet.be . fr.
  24. Web site: Les 60 ans d'Adamo . dhnet.be . fr . 2 November 2003.
  25. Web site: 2 June 2010 . Zanger Adamo is ereburger van Ukkel . . nl.
  26. Web site: 7 February 2014 . Radio 2 neemt Adamo en Jimmy Frey op in Eregalerij . . nl.
  27. Web site: 3 October 2014 . Salvator ADAMO Docteur Honoris Causa - Université de Mons - Belgique . adamosalvatore-dc.com . fr.

  28. Salvatore Adamo: Ik voel mij nog altijd een adolescent. Plus Magazine, november 2013 (298), 10-14.

  29. Web site: 24 April 2022 . Het bewogen liefdesleven van Adamo: "Plots hadden wij zogezegd een affaire" . Adamo's eventful love life: "Suddenly we were having an affair, so to speak" . showbizzsite.be . nl.
  30. Web site: Salvatore Adamo. " L'amour n'a jamais tort ". Letelegramme.fr. 31 January 2016. 28 October 2017.
  31. Web site: Joyce Jonathan, Elton John et Salvatore Adamo dans les sorties d'album. Rtl.fr. 4 February 2016 . 28 October 2017.
  32. Web site: Salvatore Adamo : Son nouvel album en 2018 – evous. Evous.fr. 28 October 2017.

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