Cesare Cremonini, interview: “Bologna, Valentino Rossi, Antonelli and…”

“It is no longer allowed to live life without a dream.” It is a solid conviction that Cesare Cremonini brings with him. It places it within the tightropes of its own history by presenting at the Piccolo Teatro, on the occasion of Milan Music Week, the new triple live album CremoniniLIVE25, out today, a journey that retraces in music a tour that crossed thirteen large Italian stadiums. Places, solid and concrete points, spaces that Cremonini often identifies – in his own words – as cardinal, and which return to sound like this also through the people who made the birth of a live album possible. Places of a passion that for the Bolognese singer-songwriter often also has to do with sport. From the stadiums where, following his Bologna, he returns to being a boy. To large solemn spaces, such as the Imola Autodrome, where Cesare will return to play in 2026 and where, when he was a child, he witnessed the tragic death of Ayrton Senna on May 1st 1994.

Next year he will return to play at the Imola Autodrome, in a new area dedicated to music: what does it feel like to be able to perform in a place with such an important history?

“Combining music with the most iconic places in sport, especially motorsport, represents a great honor for me. I was lucky enough to experience it already in 2022 and returning will be special. This honor has been reserved for very few artists and this stimulates me to create a show that manages to transform people’s lives. But not only that, but also the places.”

Do the symbolic places of sport have a particular importance for you, as you are passionate about it?

“I have a true veneration for places where events take place, not just sporting events but of any kind. Because I believe that when 80,000 people come together something important happens that must be accompanied with the utmost commitment so that something of that experience remains. I believe in the eternity of places.”

She is passionate about many sports. Is there a place, more than others, that you frequent as a supporter and where you allow yourself the luxury of getting fired up like a true fan?

“Yes, when I’m at the stadium to watch Bologna. That’s where I often lose control and forget about myself, who I am, who I’m around. That boy who followed the rossoblù away and went to the corner with his brother Vittorio to sing goes back to the stadium.”

2025 was an extraordinary year for Bologna: what was the night of the Coppa Italia victory at the Olimpico?

“An unforgettable night. It was lucky for me to be there and to be able to hug many players of whom I am friends like Riccardo Orsolini and Lorenzo De Silvestri on the pitch, see their emotion, observe the soul of this Bologna up close.”

“It is a soul that breathes also through the behavior and values ​​that the entire presidency transmits, which has a strong connection with the fans, it is something that makes us all proud. Bologna has finally become great again, demonstrating that football played in a healthy environment is still possible, even today, it is not a utopia at all.”

From this year his city has also conquered F.1 with Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Bologna. Have you met?

“Yes, I like Kimi very much. We met in the Misano paddock for MotoGP, which he is passionate about, and he immediately seemed like a really special guy. One of those who represents the best of the new generations, who can make us dream not only for his sporting results.”

“He, as well as obviously Jannik Sinner and all our new great Italian champions who are giving us emotions in every sport, have the opportunity to show what today’s kids in our country and beyond are made of. They are succeeding very well and I think that the music of this latest generation should be inspired by them”.

You share a great friendship with Valentino Rossi. Now that “Vale no longer races”, do you think that MotoGP is the same without Rossi?

“Obviously not. It’s what happens when every great sportsman leaves. But Valentino’s human and professional path has left a very important legacy that still influences and can be felt in the paddock: it’s something that doesn’t go away when a legend retires, but that continues to be felt in the environment.”

Is there anything that still surprises you about Valentino, even after so many years?

“Vale always knows how to amaze you, on and off the track. It’s one of the things that makes him unique because he knows how to be special in the most normal things. Even as a dad, now that he has two splendid daughters, he’s a true champion.”

As a fan, if you could sit down to dinner this evening with three sporting greats of your choice, who would you choose?

“It’s difficult, as a great sports fan I would bring many. But if I had to choose three I would say Adriano Panatta, for his personality, Alberto Tomba, for his friendliness, and Michael Jordan for his passion. Three different greats, for three different reasons”.