Zucchero-Sugar Fornaciari, the documentary film on the Emilian artist arrives at the cinema from today to October 25th. For fans and others it’s an opportunity to take a look atto the life and career of one of the most international stars of Italian music. There are friends and colleagues who tell it Bono, Sting, Brian May, Paul Young, Andrea Bocelli, Salmo, Francesco Guccini, Francesco De Gregori, Roberto Baggio, Jack Savoretti, Randy Jackson and many others. What emerges is the public portrait of a successful musician and that of a man with his fragilities.
Who is Zucchero, the protagonist of the docufilm
Adelmo Fornaciari he is among the greatest Italian interpreters of blues rock. He has sold over 60 million records worldwide. He has played in 5 continents, 69 states, 650 cities, touching unique destinations, such as Oman, Mauritius, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Armenia, New Zealand.
He was the first Western artist to perform in the Kremlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the only Italian to have participated in the re-edition of the Woodstock Festival in 1994to events for Nelson Mandela. He took part in the Freddie Mercury Tribute in 1992. Together with Luciano Pavarotti created the Pavarotti & Friends charity gala.
The documentary film begins with the world tour
Accompanying the words are images taken from the private archives of Sugar and from his last world tour, the World Wild Tour 2022-2023. The documentary starts precisely from this, from the tour that went around the world, sold-out between European capitals, North America, the United States and Oceania. The musicians get ready, he warms up his voice and then goes on stage. The scene shifts to RonchocesiZucchero’s hometown, at the end of the 1950s.
Adelmo Fornaciari “Zucchero” during the World Wild Tour 2023. (Luigi Rizzo).
Here, where the boom doesn’t arrive, the boy discovers the melancholy of bluesthe charge sexual of Rhythm’n bluesthe tears of soul. Inside the music of blacks of America, captures the energy of its places. He tries to play those tunes on the organ of the church in Roncocesi when there is obviously no mass, and he understands that music will save his life. «The blues has no borders, it has no homeland, it has no flags, except those of the soul. I feed on that so as not to break my heart”
Zucchero reveals his suffering in the documentary film
«I wanted the film to tell a story Adelmo and not just Zucchero», the artist explained. «A boy from the Lower Emilia area, that of Peppone and Don Camillo, uprooted in Versilia at the age of eleven, which caused me melancholy and sadness». The documentary also reveals the dimension more private of the artist. There is everyday life. There are also the fragility hey dark moments.
When a great love ended, panic attacks, anxiety and deep depression began. It was the period between 1989 and 1993. «The worst moment, after the separation. I was so sick that I was afraid to feel good. And to enjoy the extraordinary things that happened to me. Then one morning I woke up and wrote Miserere» said Zucchero.
Zucchero (Adelmo Fornaciari) during the world tour told in the docufilm. (Luigi Rizzo)
Lots of music and many international stars
In the documentary film, as is natural, there is a lot of music. After all, Zucchero has shared the stage with major international artists. He played after Bryan Adams and before the Rolling Stones. He was invited by U2’s Bono to the Net Aid charity gala in New York. He participated in two editions of the Rainforest Fund (1997 and 2019), a benefit concert organized by Sting with his wife Trudie Style.
He has collaborated with musicians of the caliber of Bryan AdamsAl Green, The Blues Brothers, Solomon Burke, Rufus Thomas, Johnny Hallyday, Tony Childs, Sheryl Crow, Tom Jones, Scorpions, Jeff Beck, Ray Charles, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Elvis Costello, Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel, Paul Young, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Mark Knopfler, Brian May, Iggy Pop, Queen.
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