TOP		APC		PEAK		title		YEAR
	1		939		444		IL VOLO		1996
	2		1174		470		SENZA UNA DONNA		1988
	3		4161		2427		E' UN PECCATO MORIR		2010
	4		4361		2695		VEDO NERO		2011
	5		4541		1949		BAILA (SEXY THING)		2001
	6		5993		4015		GUANTANAMERA (GUAJIRA)		2012
	7		7253		3488		DIAMANTE		1990
	8		8379		4126		COSI' CELESTE		1995
	9		11576		10531		FREEDOM		2019
	10		12831		8810		CHOCABECK		2011
	11		13907		9610		UN SOFFIO CALDO		2011
	12		14472		9060		UNA CAREZZA		2008
	13		16112		14729		SPIRITO NEL BUIO		2019
	14		17282		10936		TUTTI I COLORI DELLA MIA VITA		2008
	15		17945		13381		NENA		2013
	16				15226		LOVE IS ALL AROUND (STILL)		2013
	17				11381		CON LE MANI		1987
	18				11663		DONNE		1985
	19				12413		DIAVOLO IN ME		1989
	20				12437		MADRE DOLCISSIMA		1990
	21				12464		OVERDOSE (D'AMORE)		1989
	22				18726		PARTIGIANO REGGIANO		2016
	23				12693		X COLPA DI CHI		1995
	24				15728		AMEN		2008
	25				14169		HAI SCELTO ME		1987
	26				14286		WONDERFUL WORLD		1991
	27				14841		ALLELUJA		1995
	28						QUALE SENSO ABBIAMO NOI		2013
	29				15434		VOODOO VOODOO		1995
	30				14439		BLUE		2005
	Adelmo Fornaciari, better known as Zucchero, was born on September 25, 1955, in Roncocesi, a small village near Reggio Emilia. He received his nickname at school, when a teacher called him “zucchero” — sugar — because of his gentle, kind nature. It was a name he would later embrace as his stage identity, though in his youth he had no idea he would one day become one of the most influential Italian musicians in the world. He grew up in a modest working‑class family, where music wasn’t a luxury but a refuge. His father worked long hours, his mother kept the household running, and Adelmo found his own world in the records he could get his hands on: blues, soul, gospel, American roots music. These sounds came from far beyond his village, yet they gave him a sense that he belonged somewhere else. As a teenager, he began playing guitar and tried to imitate the sounds of his heroes. He listened to Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and the great bluesmen. He felt that their music did something he rarely heard in Italy: it spoke directly to the heart, without filters. That was what he wanted too. He formed small bands, played at local parties and bars, and discovered that he had a voice unlike those of his peers. Rougher, deeper, more lived‑in. A voice that didn’t match his age, but certainly matched his soul. In the 1970s he moved to Forte dei Marmi, where he met musicians who took him more seriously than ever before. He began writing songs, sometimes in Italian, sometimes in English, and slowly but surely he found his own style. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that he truly broke through. His early albums received some attention, but it was “Donne” that introduced Zucchero to the Italian masses. The song was playful, rhythmic, and unlike anything else in the Italian charts at the time. It gave him his first taste of national fame, but he knew he had much more to offer. His real breakthrough came with the 1987 album Blue’s, where he fully merged his love of blues and soul with Italian melodies. The album included songs like “Senza una donna,” which later became a worldwide hit in its international version with Paul Young. This was the period in which Zucchero found his voice — not only musically, but personally. He began experimenting with arrangements, working with international musicians, and daring to be fully himself. His music grew warmer, deeper, more emotional. In 1989 he released Oro Incenso & Birra, an album often considered one of the greatest Italian albums of all time. It featured songs like “Diamante,” a touching tribute to his grandmother, and “Il mare impetuoso al tramonto salì sulla luna e dietro una tendina di stelle…,” a title only Zucchero could dream up. The album was an explosion of creativity, spirituality, and musical richness. It brought him success not only in Italy but across Europe. He became an artist who crossed borders — geographically and musically. Zucchero’s international ambitions took him to the United States, where he worked with legends such as Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, and B.B. King. His collaboration with King led to the song “Hey Man,” and later to “Dune Mosse,” where the blues icon’s guitar intertwined with Zucchero’s voice. It was a dream come true for the boy from Roncocesi who once listened to American records as if they were messages from another universe. In 1992, Zucchero became the first Western artist allowed to perform at the Kremlin after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was a symbolic moment: an Italian blues singer standing in Moscow, singing for an audience hungry for new sounds. His music proved universal, regardless of language or culture. He demonstrated this again in 1994 with “Miserere,” a duet with Luciano Pavarotti. It was an unusual pairing — the blues singer and the opera legend — but it worked because Zucchero always sought emotion, the human core of music. Pavarotti later said that Zucchero was one of the few artists who truly moved him. In the years that followed, Zucchero continued to experiment. He released albums such as Spirito DiVino, featuring songs like “Il volo” and “X colpa di chi?”, where humor, spirituality, and blues blended seamlessly. He kept collaborating with international artists, including Bono, Sting, Sheryl Crow, and John Lee Hooker. His music grew richer, more layered, more global — yet always recognizable through his voice: warm, gritty, full of life. One of his biggest international successes came in 2004 with “Baila (Sexy Thing),” a song that stormed charts across Europe. It was energetic, danceable, and unmistakably Zucchero. It proved that despite his deep roots in the blues, he could embrace pop and rock without losing his identity. Around the same time he released “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime,” a cover he completely transformed, once again showing how naturally he could translate emotion into music. Zucchero’s life also had darker chapters. His marriage ended, he struggled with periods of loneliness and doubt, and he lost people who shaped him. But time and again he found his way back through music. The 2006 album Fly included songs like “Occhi,” where he revealed his vulnerability, and “Un kilo,” where he rediscovered his playfulness. He kept performing, traveling, writing, and searching for new ways to express his feelings through melody. In 2010 he released Chocabeck, an album deeply influenced by his childhood in Emilia. The title refers to a dialect word his father used when there was nothing to eat: “chocabeck,” the sound of an empty beak. The album was a return to his roots, both musically and emotionally. It showed that despite his global success, Zucchero remained deeply connected to where he came from. His later albums, such as Black Cat and D.O.C., reveal an artist who is still evolving, still taking risks, still believing in the power of music. “Partigiano Reggiano” brought him back to the history of his region, while “Voci” and “Freedom” showed that even in his seventies he hasn’t lost an ounce of energy. He continues to perform in massive stadiums as well as intimate venues, where his voice perhaps shines even brighter. What makes Zucchero unique is his ability to blend genres without ever sounding forced. He can sing a blues song that feels like it came straight from the Mississippi Delta, and then deliver an Italian ballad that seems to rise directly from the heart. He can mix gospel, rock, funk, soul, and pop into something only he could create. His music is a bridge between worlds, between cultures, between emotions. But perhaps his greatest strength is that he always remains human. He sings about love, loss, longing, hope, and pain in a way anyone can understand. His voice carries the marks of his life: the highs, the disappointments, the battles, the victories. He is an artist unafraid to show himself, even when that means revealing his vulnerability. Zucchero Fornaciari is more than a musician. He is a storyteller, a traveler, a seeker. He is the man who brought the blues to Italy and Italy to the world. A man who received his nickname because he was sweet, yet built a career on rawness, honesty, and emotion. His music keeps evolving, but his heart remains the same: warm, open, and eager to connect. And as long as he keeps singing, that heart will continue to echo in every note.