Calogero

Calogero Joseph Salvatore Maurici better known as Calogero (born on 30 July 1971 in Échirolles, near Grenoble) is a French singer.

By the age of six, Calogero had already taken an interest in music. He quickly learned to play several instruments, including the flute, piano, and bass, and in 1986 became the lead singer and song-writer for a band called Les Charts he started with his brother, Gioacchino, and a childhood friend, Francis Maggiulli. Between 1989 and 1997, Les Charts released five albums.

As the band began to lose its momentum, Calogero decided to launch himself as a solo artist and gathered important connections by writing songs and collaborating with already popular artists such as Zazie and Pascal Obispo. The latter helped produce Calogero's first solo album Au milieu des Autres (2000). His second album, Calogero (2002) was a huge success with the hit singles "En apesanteur" (In Weightlessness), "Aussi libre que moi" (As Free as Me), "Tien an men" and "Prendre racine" (To Take Root). Finally, in 2004, Calogero released 3, featuring "Face à la mer" a duet with French rapper Passi and several other top singles such as "Yalla" and "Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer". Calogero's moving lyrics and frail, tender voice have made him one of France's top pop/rock singers. Calogero released his fourth studio album Pomme C on 12 March 2007.

Since the late 1990s, Calogero composed songs for many artists, often in collaboration with his brother Gioacchino. For example, he composed songs for Florent Pagny ("Châtelet-les-Hâlles"), Hélène Ségara ("Au Nom d'une Femme" and "Regarde"), Ismael Lo ("L'Amour a tous les droits" and "Faut qu'on s'aime"), Pascal Obispo ("Millesime"), Jenifer Bartoli ("C'est de l'or"), Julie Zenatti ("La Vérité m'attire" et "Toutes les douleurs"), Patrick Fiori ("Que tu reviennes", "Être là", "Encore", "Tout le monde", "Tera umana" et "Il n'y a pas grand chose à dire"), Fred Blondin ("Je manque de toi" and "Perso et les Aimants"), Mario Barravecchia ("On se ressemble"). He also composed three songs for the musical The Ten Commandments: "Je n'avais jamais prié", "Une Raison d'espérer" and "Y'a tant d'amour". Calogero also participates in numerous charities. He is currently member of Les Enfoirés, he also participated in the single "Noël ensemble" recorded by many artists in 2002, he sang for the Sidaction with Jenifer, and recently, he participated in the single "Douce France" led by Marc Lavoine to fight discrimination and help young people to have work. In 2008, Stanislas Renoult recorded a duet with Calogero entitled "La Débâcle des sentiments".