Salvatore, Knight Adamo
, simply known as Adamo
(born 1 November, 1943) is a Belgian composer and singer of ballads, mainly in French, but also in other languages such as Italian and Spanish. He had commercial success during the sixties and seventies, mostly in Europe and Latin America, but also in Japan and the US. Adamo has sold 100 million albums worldwide. He now lives in Belgium near the city of Mons, and is still touring. He is of Sicilian/Italian ancestry.
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SALVATORE ADAMO TICKETS
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Biography
Adamo was born in
Comiso,
Sicily,
Italy. His father Antonio, a
well digger, emigrated to
Belgium in February 1947 to work in the mines of
Marcinelle, and in June of the same year, his wife, Concetta, a housewife, and their son Salvatore joined him in the town of
Ghlin before moving to
Jemappes. In 1950, Salvatore was bedridden for a year with meningitis. Salvatore's parents did not want their son to become a miner, so Salvatore 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. Adamo grew up in
Jemappes where he was a dedicated student at school and distinguished himself in Music and the arts, in general, from an early age, making an impression with his singing abilities. Although Adamo has spent most of his life in Belgium, he remains a citizen of Italy and a permanent resident of Belgium because Belgium, as many other countries, does not accept dual citizenship.
At the end of the sixties, Adamo married Nicole. Their son, Anthony, was born in 1969, while in the eighties Benjamin and then Amélie were born. At the height of Adamo's stardom, his father died by drowning on
7 August 1966.
In 1984, Adamo had heart problems which necessitated a
heart bypass operation and a temporary though total withdrawal from work. Since 1993, he is an honorary
UNICEF ambassador from
Belgium and, in this capacity, has visited countries such as
Vietnam,
Lebanon,
Bosnia,
Kosovo,
Afghanistan and others. In 2001, Adamo was named a
chevalier
by
Albert II,
King of the Belgians. In 2004, health problems forced Adamo to cancel a scheduled tour but, since 2007, he is touring again. Recently. he has performed in
Espinho,
Portugal.
There are versions of
Tombe la Neige, (one of his many international hits) in
Portuguese,
Spanish and
Italian, plus other languages.
Career
Adamo's early influences were the poetry of
Victor Hugo, the music of French
crooners such as
Jacques Prévert or
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, in
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, "Tombe la neige" ("The snow falls "), "Vous permettez Monsieur" ("May I, Sir"), "La Nuit" (The Night) (1964) - "Dolce Paola" ("Sweet Paola"), "Les Filles du bord de mer" ("The girls at the beach"), "Mes mains sur tes hanches" ("My hands on your hips") (1965) - "Ton Nom ("Your Name"), "Une meche de cheveux" ("Lock of golden hair") (1966) - "Une larme aux nuages" ("A tear to the clouds"), "Inch'Allah" (1967) - "L'amour te ressemble" ("The love resembles to you"), "F... comme femme" ("F... like woman") (1968) - "A demain sur la lune" ("See you tomorrow on the moon"), "Petit bonheur" ("Small happiness") (1969) - "Va mon bateau" ("my boat goes"), "Les belles dames" ("Beautiful ladies") (1970) - "J'avais oublié que les roses sont roses" ("I had forgotten that the roses are pink") (1971) - "C'est ma vie" ("It's my life") (1975)...
Other songs: "En blu jeans...", "Manuel", etc.
Amália Rodrigues ("Queen of
portuguese fado) ,recorded "Inch'Allah" in
French.
Adamo briefly attempted movie acting when he was cast in the film
Les Arnaud
(1967), which starred
Bourvil.
He has recorded in many languages and, besides
France and
Belgium, had hits in
Italy,
The Netherlands,
Germany,
Spain,
Portugal and also in
Japan, where he toured repeatedly.
Adamo has had hits and toured also in
Latin America in countries, such as
Chile, where 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 Internationally famous seaside resort of
Viña del Mar, where he once had to sing in three different, sold-out venues in the same night.
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In the
eighties, Adamo's career faltered, as the style of his music was no longer fashionable. Since the
nineties, however, and on the crest of a
nostalgia wave, Adamo has successfully resumed composing, issuing records and touring, starting with a full season at the
venue in April 1990.
Albums CD
- 1998 Regards
- 2001 Par les temps qui courent
- 2002 Les mots de l’âme
(compilation)
- 2003 Zanzibar
- 2004 Un soir au Zanzibar
(compilation Live
) + DVD
- 2005 Platinum Collection
(compilation)
- 2007 La part de l'ange
- 2008 Le bal des gens bien
- Duets
(compilation)
Biography book
ADAMO - C'est sa vie
, Thierry Coljon *, éditions du Félin (France), 2003
References
- Biography