ORnow at home on the Ariston stage, Ermal Meta returns to the race in Sanremo 2026 with Little starone of the most anticipated songs of this year’s Festival. Winner in 2018 with You haven’t done anything to methe Albanian singer-songwriter, naturalized Italian, over the years he has forged a very personal style. Made of rock, pop and committed lyrics who forcefully denounced horrors such as war and violence against women.
Ermal Meta at Sanremo 2026 with Little star. Meaning and lyrics of the song
Written by Ermal Meta and Dardust, Little star Right from the title it recalls an essential imagery and universal, in line with a writing style that has become increasingly direct and responsible over the years. The song is inspired by a lullaby for his daughter and addresses the theme of war in the dedication to a little girl from Gaza.
Meta tells the story of an unnamed Palestinian girl whose life was cut short by war, told from the point of view of a man who finds his doll in his hands. Rich in Middle Eastern soundscurated by Meta together with Dardust, the oud, an Arab instrument, is used in the song similar to the lute that strengthens the emotional impact of the story.
Ermal Meta at the Sanremo Giovani 2025 final. (Getty Images)
Ermal Meta, the biography: from Albania to Italy
Born in Fier, Albania, in 1981, Ermal together with his mother and brothers moved to Bari in 1994. These were the years of continuous migratory flows in our country and the teenager, like many of his fellow countrymen, initially struggled to fit in. It is the music that will be the glue between Ermal and the new life in Italy.
At 16 he took guitar lessons and piano and soon he joins the Bari band as a guitarist Amoeba 4. The group was signed by Sugar Music, the record company of Caterina Caselliand will participate in the Sanremo Festival in 2006, Youth section, with the song I laugh… maybe I’m wrong.
After the sudden elimination from the Youth section competition, the Albanian founds the rock band Camilla’s Hunger. With adventure companions he records 3 EP albumsparticipate in Sanremo, again in the Youth category, but their song Darkness and light does not achieve the desired success. After three albums and a few too many disappointments, the band broke up in 2013. For Ermal the time has come to run alone.
The solo career and the first successes
Much appreciated by professionals, in 2013 Ermal wrote songs for Annalisa and the poignant one I am not interested for Patty Pravo. His style, halfway between rock and pop suggestions, becomes highly sought after, especially among emerging artists. As Marco Mengoni and Lorenzo Fragola, who rely on him for successes like 20 cigarettes And Our life is today. He is also added to the bouquet of artists now bewitched by Ermal’s talent Emma Brown For Love will come.
In 2016 returns to Sanremo, again in the Youth category, with I hate fairy tales and ranks third behind Mahmood and Francesco Gabbani. The following year Ermal finally participates in Sanremo in the Big section and The song is heartbreaking Forbidden to diea song dedicated to the mother and to all women victims of violence. At the end of the Festival it is still in third place, with the great satisfaction of winning the Cover evening thanks to the highly original rereading of My bitter land Of Domenico Modugno.
The victory at Sanremo 2018 and the relationship with Chiara Sturdà
Inspired by dramatic attack in Manchester during Ariana Grande’s concert, You haven’t done anything to me it is a heartfelt pacifist prayer, peppered with the angry voice of Moro who screams the absurdity of all the wars being fought in the world.
From the first listen it’s inevitable to think that Sanremo will be able to make a splash, and that’s what happened. The couple wins the victory and flies, two months later, to the Eurovision Song Contest where she placed fifth. The video clip directed by was also very successful Michele Placido.
Fabrizio Moro and Ermal Meta winner of Sanremo 2018. (Getty Images)
Coinciding with the Sanremo triumph, For Ermal, the almost ten-year love story with the radio speaker Silvia Notargiacomo also ends. The reasons for the separation are unclear but, after a couple of years of mourning, it appeared on the singer-songwriter’s Instagram account a new partner: Chiara Sturdà. In 2024 daughter Fortuna is born and the couple also decides to adopt two Albanian girls I met in an orphanage.
The Cover evening with Dardust
Friday 27 February, on the cover evening of the Sanremo Festival 2026, Ermal Meta will go on stage at the Ariston together with Dardust to propose Golden Hour, the song by the American singer-songwriter Jvke became a global success in 2022 also thanks to virality on TikTok.
The choice of Golden Hour it’s not accidental: Meta and Dardust wanted to bring something modern, internationalcapable of communicating with the present. A contemporary pop song which, in their hands, promises to assume new emotional and sound nuances.
