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Il Volo

© EBU/Andres Putting

About

Quick Facts

Members
Piero Barone
Ignazio Boschetto
Gianluca Ginoble

Founded
2010

Nationality
🇮🇹 Italian

National Selection
Selection Method

In Eurovision
2015 Vienna

Song
Grande Amore (2015)

Biography

Il Volo is an Italian music group composed of two tenors and a baritone: Piero Barone (born on June 24, 1993, in Naro), Ignazio Boschetto (born on October 4, 1994, in Bologna), and Gianluca Ginoble (born on February 11, 1995, in Roseto degli Abruzzi).
 
The trio was formed in 2009 during the participation of the three singers in the second edition of the children’s singing talent show “Ti lascio una canzone”. Initially, they auditioned as soloists, not knowing each other before. However, at the request of director Roberto Cenci, they occasionally performed together as a trio. Due to their vocal talents and young age, they were given the nickname “tenorini” (little tenors).

After their television experience, the emerging music group caught the attention of record producers Michele Torpedine and Tony Renis. They signed a two-million-dollar contract for the release of an album on the international market. Before adopting the name Il Volo, the group was initially called The Tryo and participated in the recording of “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” to raise funds for the populations affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Shortly after, the three singers were invited back to the Ariston Theatre and, as guests of the 60th Sanremo Music Festival. They changed their name into Il Trio.

The title of their first album, “Il Volo,” marks the young singers’ new name. The album was released in Italy on November 30, 2010, and reached the sixth position on the Italian chart in the first week of 2011. In the last week of 2013, it was certified platinum by FIMI for selling over 60,000 copies. On May 17, 2011, the album was also released in the United States and Europe. Following several television appearances, including a live performance on the talent show American Idol, the album reached the tenth position on the Billboard 200 chart. “Il Volo” also entered the top 10 in France, the Netherlands, and the Belgian region of Wallonia. In Austria, it debuted at the second position and eventually topped the album sales chart.

On June 7, 2011, the album was released in Spanish and received the RIAA Latin Gold Award in the United States. It achieved double platinum status in Venezuela, platinum in Mexico, and gold in Colombia and Puerto Rico.

The album also received gold certification in Austria, France, and the Netherlands. In late July and early August, the group expanded their promotion to the Asian market with tours in Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore, followed by Australia and New Zealand. Il Volo was certified gold in New Zealand and Singapore as well.

Their first North American tour began on September 24, 2011, with seventeen dates in the United States and Canada. 

In November 2011, they embarked on a 13-concert tour in Europe. On February 28, the CD and DVD “Il Volo Takes Flight – Live from the Detroit Opera House” were released. In April and May, the group embarked on a twelve-concert tour for their first Latin American tour. From early August to early October, they toured the United States and Canada, performing in twenty-eight concerts.

In the fall of 2012, Barbra Streisand invited the group to be special guests on her North American tour, “Back to Brooklyn.” 

At the end of the year, their second album, “We Are Love,” was released. It featured duets with tenor Plácido Domingo and Eros Ramazzotti. In the United States, the album was reissued in the spring of 2013 as the “We Are Love Special Edition,” with five songs replaced. The album included the song “Luna nascosta,” which was the main theme of the movie “Hidden Moon.” A live album, “We Are Love – Live from The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater,” was released after the specials aired.

In May, the Latin version of “We Are Love” was released under the title “Más que amor.” In its first week of sales, the album reached the number one position on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and the number two position on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. “Más que amor” was certified gold in Mexico and Argentina. In August, the “We Are Love Tour,” their fourth North American tour, began and lasted for two months, featuring twenty dates in the United States and Canada. From October to November, the group embarked on the “Más que amor” tour, performing twenty-seven concerts in Central and South America.

On October 26, 2013, the international version of “Buon Natale – The Christmas Album” was released, featuring some of the most famous American Christmas songs, along with two songs in Latin and one in German. 

In 2014, Il Volo won the Billboard Latin Music Award award for Best Group of the Year in the Latin Pop Albums category and also won the El Pulso Social award, which recognizes the artist who dominated social media interactions during the Billboard Awards.

In June, they returned to North America for a summer tour of fifteen concerts in large outdoor theaters in the United States and Canada, accompanied by a band and orchestra. The concert setlist featured their most successful songs, and the tour received excellent reviews from critics. On August 21, the group won the Favorite Duo or Group award at the Premios Tu Mundo, held in Miami and broadcasted by the US television network Telemundo.

At the final evening of the 2015 Sanremo Festival, which began on February 14, 2015, and ended late at night, the song “Grande amore” won the competition with 39% of the votes. Released as a single, the song preceded the release of the trio’s EP titled “Sanremo grande amore,” which was released on February 17 of the same year. In addition to the new song, the EP included six reinterpretations of past Sanremo Festival winning songs, including “Ancora” by Eduardo De Crescenzo, which the trio performed during the third night of the festival. The EP was certified triple platinum by FIMI for selling over 150,000 copies.

As the interpreters of the winning song, Il Volo was automatically selected to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, held in Vienna on May 19, 21, and 23. They finished in third place and won the Marcel Bezençon Press Award, the award given by the press to the artist at the contest.

On March 5, 2015, during the Italian TV show “Porta a Porta,” the group was named the youngest Ambassadors of UNICEF Italy. On April 3, 2015, they released the single “Canzone per te,” a reinterpretation of Sergio Endrigo’s song.

On August 27, the trio announced their fourth studio album, “L’amore si muove,” which was released on September 25, preceded by the single of the same name on August 28.

On November 27, the group re-released “L’amore si muove” in a limited edition that also included the audio and video of the concert held in Pompeii in June. On the same day, the bonus content was separately released as “Live a Pompei.”

In 2016, the project “Notte magica – Tribute ai tre tenori” (A Magical Night – Tribute to the Three Tenors) was launched as a tribute to José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. The first concert took place in Florence, followed by a performance at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome. This project was realized as an album and a worldwide tour, which debuted on July 1 in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence and continued throughout 2017 in the United States, Italy, Europe, and Latin America.

On March 4, 2017, the “Notte magica – A Tribute to the Three Tenors” tour premiered at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The tour visited major cities in the United States, Italy, Europe, and Latin America.

In 2019, the trio participated in the 69th Sanremo Music Festival with the song “Musica che resta” (Music That Remains), finishing in third place.

On June 5, 2021, they held a concert at the Arena di Verona in honor of the Italian composer Ennio Morricone. On November 5 of the same year, they released the album “Il Volo Sings Morricone” as a tribute to Morricone. Also in 2021 and 2022, Il Volo did a new tour, “10 Years – live”. The tour should happen in 2020 but was postponed due to COVID19.

In March and April 2022, the group went on a new North American tour, “Il Volo sings Morricone – and more”. After that, the tour went throughout all Europe and Japan. In October, they went to Australia. In December 2022, a new Italian tour started: “Il Volo – live”. In 2023, this tour went on throughout Latin America and Europe. Also in 2022, a book about Il Volo was released: “Il Volo – Quello Che Porto Nel Cuore”. 

In 2024, Il Volo took part in the festival di Sanremo again, this time with the song “Capolavoro”. The song reached an 8th place.

Entries

Grande Amore

Country
🇮🇹 Italy

Year
2015

Language
Italian

Lyrics
Francesco Boccia
Ciro ‘Tommy’ Esposito

Music
Francesco Boccia
Ciro ‘Tommy’ Esposito

Backings

Results Semi

Points: –
Position: –
Running order: –

Results Finals

Points: 292
Position: 3
Running order: 27