Through music, films, books, and public speeches, the singer, composer, actor, director, producer, television host, and public figure has spent his life trying to convey to society what he believes in. In his work, the eccentric experimenter, embodying the persona of a “buddy” and a “sincere soul,” tackled pressing social issues, believing that the stage and microphone should be used to protest against injustice. A recipient of the Order of Merit for the Italian Republic, he saw his mission as being “the voice of the spirit that gathers the dreams of the world.” The charisma of this tireless opponent of authority could not be subdued by the politicians he criticized or by the passage of time: on January 6, the unyielding truth-teller turned 86 years old.
The “Barefoot Earthquake”
This nickname was given to Adriano Celentano by his neighbors almost from the time he was in diapers. His lively temperament matched the day of his birth: January 6, 1938, when Italians traditionally played pranks on each other during the Feast of Epiphany (similar to our April Fool’s Day). The childhood of this restless child, born to a mother at 44, unfolded in the surviving house number 14 on Via Gluck in Milan. His large peasant family moved to the industrial north of the country in search of work. Their restless fifth child found a profitable occupation here.
The house in Milan at Via Gluck 14, where Adriano Celentano spent his early years
At the age of 12, the youngest family member left school and got a job at a watchmaker’s workshop. Starting as an apprentice, he soon mastered the craft of watchmaking and began repairing all mechanisms on his own.
Celentano earned his first 100,000 lira by imitating a famous American comedian. For an easy win in a look-alike contest, he didn’t even have to perform: he was awarded first place… based on a photo. His sister submitted a picture of his brother dressed as Jerry Lewis for the contest while Adriano had already shifted his focus to music.
“Jungles” and “Rebels”
In 1954, Celentano wrote and performed his own compositions for the first time, and a year later, he discovered the world of rock and roll: after the release of the 1955 film “School Jungle,” he became captivated by the song “Rock Around the Clock,” which played in it, and wanted to perform similar melodies. His family shared Adriano’s enthusiasm. “Mom loved rock and roll just as much and would wake me up by playing upbeat rhythms,” Celentano recalled. “She did this an hour earlier than necessary to make sure I got up on time.”
His first professional experience came from participating in the rock band Rock Boys, which consisted of four musicians. With this group, Celentano won first place at the “First Italian Rock and Roll Festival” in 1957. Unlike other participants who performed English-language repertoires, Rock Boys dared to present an original composition, “Ciao ti dirò,” to the jury. Italian rock and roll left no chance for its competitors.
Rock Boys
The following year, the young musician won a light music festival in Ancona, released his debut studio album, and began collaborating with the author of his first hits, producer and friend Miki Del Prete. With another long-time friend, drummer Gianni Del Alio, Adriano continued his musical career in the rock group I Ribelli (“The Rebels”), which he formed for further performances in 1959.
Adriano Celentano and the band I Ribelli, 1961
With Permission from the Defense Minister
To participate in his first music festival in San Remo, Celentano needed permission from the military minister in 1961: since 1958, Adriano had been serving in the military, so he had to inform them of his reasons for leaving the barracks in Turin. These additional concerns did not prevent the debutant from taking second place. It could have been first if not for his unique performance style, which involved singing with his back to the audience. The song he performed, “Ventiquattromila baci” (“24 Thousand Kisses”), topped the national charts and became “the Italian hit of the decade.”
Celentano arrived from the army to perform in San Remo (1961)
A breakthrough in his career came with the creation of his own record label, Clan Celentano, a million-copy self-released record, successful foreign tours, a series of his own television programs, and a loud tribute (with the audience erupting in applause) to the leader of Italian rock and roll at the Milan theater “Smeraldo,” as well as worldwide recognition for his first socio-political song, “The Boy from Via Gluck.” The 1966 composition “Il ragazzo della via Gluck” was included in Italian school textbooks as a call for environmental care.
After his first victory in 1970 at the San Remo festival, where Celentano performed with his actress wife Claudia Mori (the duo proved to be successful both creatively and personally: the couple has three children: son Giacomo and daughters Rosita and Rosalinda), the artist continued to address pressing issues, conveying them to the public even without words.
Celentano and Claudia Mori’s victory at the San Remo festival in 1970
Innovator and Experimenter
For example, in the composition “Prisencolinensinainciusol,” Celentano performed in a made-up language called celentanesca (which sounded like a mix of English and Italian): the lyrics consisted of incomprehensible phrases that had no explanation. In this way, the performer conveyed human disconnection, which prevents us from understanding one another. This recitative is considered the first prototype of rap to enter European and American charts.
The problems of the modern world were reflected in his 1972 album “I mali del secolo,” all tracks of which Celentano wrote himself. The most famous composition, “Un albero di trenta piani” (“A Tree of Thirty Floors”), is a satire against environmental pollution. In the title song from the 1976 album “Svalutation,” the author ironically comments on the social crisis of the time, which drew attention to the record in the European market (the album became a bestseller in Germany and France). After the release of another musical album, Adriano Celentano also wrote and published a book of the same name.
Celentano turned out to be the first in many respects: he became an innovator in performing rock and roll and rap in Italian, one of the first to have his own independent recording studio, and he outpaced his peers in stadium performances. His cinematic career was equally brilliant. While simultaneously performing music, he appeared in about forty films, contributing to the art with his unique choreography and spontaneous witty jokes on screen.
Despite his controversial appearance, women of various generations considered the owner of the most rugged voice an attractive sex symbol. This was aided by his active lifestyle: Adriano is a fan of football, tennis, billiards, and chess. He toughens himself by swimming in cold water, enjoys photography, and takes pleasure in cooking.
Instinct and Madness
“He is all talent and madness, instinct and frenzy,” described Celentano by Italian director, painter, playwright, stagecraft theorist, and Nobel Prize-winning author Dario Fo. The artist, about whom the famous director spoke, criticized environmental pollution, the demolition of historical buildings and monuments, government dishonesty, and political censorship. He has repeatedly publicly condemned the actions of the Italian government (both past and present) and remains an active opponent to this day. A defender of animal rights, he calls for a cessation of meat consumption (he has been a vegetarian for many years), opposes the killing of conscious beings, and believes in a God who “lives in each of us.”
Adriano Celentano and Roberto Benigni writing a letter to Silvio Berlusconi (TV show “Rock Politician,” 2005)
The last of the singer’s four platinum albums was released, according to critics, as the “most minor.” The long-awaited performance of the veteran after a creative hiatus in 2012 at the San Remo festival became an indictment of those responsible for the European crisis. The performer of old and new hits accompanied his nearly hour-long performance with comments on the shortcomings of the “technical” government and the problems of the Catholic Church, the referendum, and the Constitutional Court. Celentano did not spare even the television company that broadcast his performance: he accused RAI of censorship. Two print publications also came under fire, which the artist called to cancel as unnecessary: the Italian newspapers Avvenire and Famiglia Cristiana were criticized by the patriarch of the stage for engaging in politics rather than doing God’s work and helping the suffering.
Adriano Celentano at the Rock Economy festival
The resonant return to the big stage with the new program “Rock Economy” took place in 2012 in Verona and became a global event. Tickets for the amphitheater, priced at 1 euro, sold out within the first hour of sales, and nine million viewers watched the live television broadcast of the concert. People resonated with Adriano Celentano’s stance that protesting against injustice is “the highest duty of an artist.”