Before netting top honors at this year’s Sanremo Festival, Sal Da Vinci had been quietly amassing a loyal fan base outside the international media spotlight with his heartfelt love songs.

When Sanremo Music Festival crowned Sal Da Vinci its winner this year, it felt less like a breakthrough than a coronation long delayed. For decades, Sal Da Vinci has been one of Italy’s most beloved musical interpreters of romance, carrying the melodic grandeur of canzone napoletana into pop, theater and television. But his victory with “Per sempre sì” wasn’t simply another career milestone — it was a cultural moment.

It was March of 2025 when I first brought Sal to Chicago. He played my Des Plaines Theatre with another popular Italian star, Arisa.

When he was first introduced to me, he could not have been more endearing. Truly thrilled to be in America to perform, Sal long had a fan base in Chicago and was excited to meet them.

The show was so incredible, the crowd on its feet the entire time. Afterward, I made an extravagant dinner for the entire 30-person entourage. But due to allergies, he only had plain pasta with veggies … no garlic!

Born Salvatore Michael Sorrentino in New York during the touring years of his father, legendary crooner and actor Mario Da Vinci, Sal returned to Naples as a child and seemed destined for the stage. He performed publicly by age 6, acted in films as a teenager and moved fluidly between traditional Neapolitan music and mainstream Italian pop. Long before the Sanremo victory arrived, he had become, for many Italians, a keeper of emotional truth.

And yet, the road to Sanremo glory was anything but smooth.

“I had knocked on that door many times,” Sal said after the win, reflecting on years of setbacks before finally lifting the trophy. “This victory belongs to everyone who keeps believing.”

To understand Sal Da Vinci is to understand Naples.

His music carries the drama of the harbor, the poetry of old streets, the theatrical soul of southern Italy. Even his contemporary hits echo something timeless.

Asked in one interview what drives his songwriting, Sal said, “Everything starts from emotion. If a song doesn’t move me, it can’t move anyone else.”

That emotional directness has fueled a career spanning music, cinema and musical theater, including an acclaimed turn in “C’era una volta… Scugnizzi,” which helped cement his reputation as not just a singer, but also a storyteller.

He enjoyed another breakthrough beyond the boundaries of his longtime fans with the release of “Rossetto e caffè,” a modern classic that introduced him to younger audiences and set the stage for Sanremo.

Then came “Per sempre sì.”

A soaring declaration of devotion, the song feels almost defiantly romantic in an ironic age. Sal described it as more than a love song, calling it “a declaration without barrier” and a message of freedom and universal love.

When his name was announced as the winner, Sal dropped to his knees in tears. For many, it was one of Sanremo’s great emotional scenes.

Asked what the win meant, he framed it not as a personal vindication but in terms of gratitude.

“Sanremo is sacred for Italian music,” he said afterward. “To stand there and feel embraced by the public like this … it is something I carry in my soul.”

He also dedicated the victory to those who “make Italy beautiful, strong and triumphant,” a remark widely quoted after the final.

For Chicago’s Italian community, Sal Da Vinci isn’t just a star from afar — he feels familiar. The Windy City has long been a second home for Italian and especially Neapolitan performers, and Sal has spoken warmly about the city’s passion.

He has praised Italian-American audiences for preserving traditions “with extraordinary love,” and has often noted how deeply Neapolitan music is felt in cities like Chicago.

His upcoming North American appearances are being framed as celebrations of both his Sanremo triumph and his connection to Italian communities abroad.

In discussing overseas audiences, he has often pointed to Chicago as a city where “they sing every word back to you.” For an artist shaped by communal singing and shared emotion, there may be no higher compliment.

One can imagine him loving Chicago for reasons beyond heritage: It’s a city of neighborhoods, memory, food, old souls and big voices — not unlike Naples. There’s a kinship there.

Yes, he honors tradition. But his best work doesn’t feel trapped in the past; it feels timeless. He bridges generations. Grandparents know him. Their grandchildren stream him.

That’s rare.

Asked how he views himself now, after Sanremo, he reportedly answered with humility: “I feel like I’m still learning.” That may be why audiences trust him.

Much of Sal’s story circles back to family. His father’s musical patrimony looms large in his artistic DNA. Yet Sal has never seemed burdened by legacy: He extends it.

After decades in entertainment, he still radiates gratitude rather than entitlement. That may be his quietest superpower.

“Per sempre sì.” The title of his winning song means “Forever Yes.” It could double as a career philosophy.

For an artist who spent years building a fan base outside the international media spotlight, the Sanremo victory introduced him to the wider world in a big way.

Yet Sal Da Vinci doesn’t feel newly made. He feels newly recognized. And maybe that’s sweeter.

As he prepares for larger global stages and adoring diasporic audiences in places like Chicago, he seems less interested in triumph than connection.

That, ultimately, may be why he endures. Not because he sings about emotion, but because he sings from it.

When asked what winning Sanremo felt like, his answer was simple: “A dream,” he said, “but one built with many years of truth.”

Yes, Sal Da Vinci returns to Chicago this summer, and it is sure to be epic. What was a dream for him a few months ago will be like a dream to many, as he brings a full two-hour show back to town. It will be traditional, contemporary, upbeat and tender.

Sal Davinci, Pooh, Eros Ramazzotti, Laura Pausini, Fausto Leali … the list of musicians from Italy coming to Chicago continues to grow. Keeping that music alive will help keep Italian culture alive.

Of course, so will the food, fashion, autos, art, music, etc., etc., etc.

Sal Da Vinci will perform at 8 p.m. on June 19 at the Des Plaines Theatre.

For more, click here.

The above article appears in the June 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

To view a sample copy, click here.

To subscribe, click here.

Trained in classic techniques, Verona-born sculptor Virginio Ferrari now expresses universal themes through elemental forms from his home and studio in Chicago.

As the sun rises over Chicago every morning, thousands of drivers on the Kennedy Expressway see light reflecting off the elegant curves of a sculpture that sits right where the expressway ends at Orleans Street.

The prominent location of this serene 1983 work, called “Being Born,” reflects the city of Chicago’s high regard for its creator, sculptor Virginio Ferrari, who is from Verona but lives in the Windy City.

Over a seven-decade career, Ferrari has created countless works of art, including more than 30 public sculptures in Chicago alone. He has earned praise from admirers on four continents, and his works are also displayed publicly and in collections in Italy, northern Europe, China, Ecuador and many cities in the United States.

Most recently, the village of Niles — hailing Ferrari as an internationally acclaimed artist — commissioned him to create the monumental “Open Symmetry,” which was unveiled in October 2025. The sculpture graces the plaza in front of the village hall, 1000 Civic Center Drive, which is accessible via Oakton Street near Waukegan Avenue.

“The sculpture reflects our natural desire for balance and oneness — a harmony that is both personal and universal,” Ferrari told the Chicago suburb at the time.

Ferrari, 88, continues to design and create art, through which he often expresses universal themes, from nature, to love, to healing.

Being Born” in its original location downtown (above) before being relocated to where the Kennedy Expressway meets Ohio and Ontario streets (below)

Born in 1937 into a family of stone carvers in Verona, Ferrari learned to carve marble the classic way, sculpting human forms and other traditional subjects. But after World War II, modernism blossomed in the art world, and Ferrari began experimenting with materials and paring down shapes to elemental forms that nevertheless expressed ideas and feelings.

“In Verona, there was a facility to work in marble; my dad and grandpa had a stonecutter shop,” Ferrari said in an interview with Fra Noi. “I learned from them how to do marble, and then gradually I discovered there were five or six good foundries for bronze, and I was able to go and work there.”

His son, Marco G. Ferrari, a visual artist and filmmaker who participated in the interview, noted that Virginio created a sculpture called “Caring” at the University of Chicago in 2015.

“It was a 10-foot block of Carrara marble that you carved,” he said to his father. “You chose it because of the meaning — of doctors, caring for people — coming from a block. Sometimes your ideas are connected to the material.”

Virginio reflected that Michelangelo, when he looked at a block of marble, said he could already see what was inside. “Then you take it out, you excavate it out,” he said. “There’s this connection of the idea inside of you and what’s inside the block. It’s a dialogue.”

As a young man in Verona, Virginio created some of his sculptures in wax. Three Venetians spotted his work, were impressed and asked to show it in Venice. The young sculptor acknowledged he didn’t have the money to cast his wax models in bronze.

“The foundryman said, ‘Ferrari, we’ll do the work, you pay us back,’” Virginio recalled.

After a successful show in Venice, Virginio said some American patrons insisted he show his work in New York. Virginio and his sculptures crossed the Atlantic, but a dockworkers’ strike there prevented his crated art from being unloaded. Three or four months passed without the artist having a stable place to live.

“That was frightening to be there,” Virginio said. Eventually, he got his sculptures back, and admirers urged him to show them in Philadelphia. There, an art lover gave him a check for seven sculptures, and he bought a ticket back to Italy.

“So, I was at the foundry, and they said ‘Ferrari, you should come to this party.’ I went, and the first person I saw was this beautiful lady, and I fell in love. I couldn’t move my eyes from her.”

Unfortunately, it was an engagement party for the woman and her fiancé. But when the sculptor was able to approach her, he told her he wanted to marry her.

Marco explained that, though Virginio was previously shy, the successful show had given him confidence.

Virginio won over and married Marisa, and they had three children, including Marco. Through the marriage, Virginio met a key friend and supporter, since  Marisa’s aunt was married to a relative of a wealthy American hotel executive and philanthropist, Albert Pick.

Pick and his wife, Corinne Frada Pick, “embraced my parents and wanted to support my dad’s work,” Marco Ferrari said. After viewing Virginio’s work in Verona, the Picks encouraged the newlyweds to come to Chicago, which they did in the 1960s.

“Chicago was a fantastic city, so contemporary,” Virginio recalled. “My work started to change completely. Before, my work was more organic and then it became more linear, more minimal, more like the architecture of Chicago.

“Chicago was open for my work,” he added. “That was my impression.”

Marco interjected: “There was possibility here for you. It was different in Verona. It was more traditional (there).”

The Picks introduced Virginio to people at the University of Chicago, which invited him to teach and be an artist in residence. He did that for 10 years, through about 1975, according to the University of Chicago’s website.

Virginio created several sculptures on campus, including “Dialogo,” a favorite of his friend Manfred Raiser, a gastroenterologist and art collector.

The sculpture contains “two heads, very simplified, which meet, and above the heads is a crown … Many interpretations are possible,” Raiser said.

After Raiser and his wife came to the Chicago area from Germany in the early 1970s, they saw many of Virginio’s works around town and arranged to meet him. Virginio created a table for their home that was essentially a piece of modern art, Raiser explained, and later, when a group of chefs fundraised for a bust of the late Chicago chef Charlie Trotter, Virginio created a more traditional sculpture for them.

“So, this is how we got to know the genius and the talent of this man,” Raiser said, emphasizing Virginio’s versatility.

In Evanston, Albert Pick had teamed with his brother-in-law to fund the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at Northwestern University, which opened in 1975, according to the university’s website. Ferrari created two freestanding sculptures located near it on campus: “Forme in volo,” started in 1963 and installed in 1975, and “Prism into Two Elements 1979-1980,” according to Marco Ferrari.

Virginio has spent the period from 1960s to the present in a creative fever, making art for civic, museum and corporate collections and individual collectors. He has designed and realized public sculptures in Atlanta; Deyang, China; Florence’ Guayaquil, Ecuador; Los Angeles; Milan; Philadelphia; Parma; Rome; Shanghai, and Verona. He has had more than 50 solo art exhibitions and participated in more than 150 group shows, according to virginioferrari.com.

Marco named other works he finds notable, including “Super Strength” (1995-96), located on Roosevelt Road on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. And Chicago’s Newberry Library so prizes Virginio’s “Umanità,” displayed outside the building, it gives out miniature models as awards, Marco said.

“Earth Form” is showcased in the lobby and is visible from the outside of the Mies Van der Rohe building on DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville boasts the 30-foot bronze sculpture “Cylinder in a Prism.”

Asked what he wants viewers of his art to know about him, Virginio mused: “The form and the concept of (a) piece is what I want for them to know. Those are me.”

“So, what they know about him is what they see in the sculpture,” Marco contributed. “It’s the celebration of life, energy, all these themes of nature that are in the different piece.”

“Yes,” Virginio agreed. “For me that piece is alive. You see it now, you see it six months from now, and it’s different, it’s a new experience. It’s alive.”

The above article appears in the May 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

To view a sample copy, click here.

To subscribe, click here.

 

A standout at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, Laura Pausini has carved a niche for herself in the global music pantheon thanks to her vocal prowess and a multilingual approach to her craft.

It really is incredible just how much the Sanremo Music Festival, Italy’s premier annual song competition, has influenced the music scene internationally. From Andrea Bocelli to Il Volo, more superstars have emerged from this event than almost any other of its kind. The winner of the Newcomer Artist competition in 1993, then 19-year-old Laura Pausini is a perfect example of how singing in restaurants with your father can turn into international superstardom overnight with a little help from Sanremo.

Laura was born in Faenza, in the province of Ravenna, to a musical family. Her father, Fabrizio, was a respected pianist who played with members of ABBA and the Italian pop band Pooh, among many others. As Laura grew, so did her vocal prowess. Her dad worked closely with her as more and more people began noticing her inherent talent.

After her triumphant debut in Sanremo, Laura released her first album, a self-titled smash that sold 2 million copies. The next year, she followed “Laura Pausini” with “Laura,” losing the surname and selling millions of copies more. In just over a year, she became a certified star with a total of 5 million copies sold.

Her quest to go international drew her to multilingual projects. She recorded songs in 12 different languages, with a penchant for Spanish-language projects. Over the decades, she has achieved remarkable recognition in the Spanish-speaking world, becoming the first European woman honored by the Latin Recording Academy as Person of the Year when she netted the award in 2023.

On the way to that award, she earned an astounding four Latin Grammys as well as an American Grammy for the Best Latin Pop Album in 2006 en route to becoming the best-selling non-Hispanic female artist in Latin America. She was also ranked ninth on Billboard’s Best 50 Female Latin Pop Artists of All Time.

In 2025, Laura received Billboard Italy’s Global Icon Award at a Vatican ceremony attended by Pope Leo XIV for her extraordinary accomplishments and contributions to the art and industry of music.

Along with Mina, Eros Ramazzotti, Tiziano Ferro, Zucchero, Umberto Tozzi, Jovanotti, Adriano Celentano and a few other superstars, Laura has successfully made the leap from Italian pop stardom to international fame, not just by recording in various languages, but also by helping to transform Italian music into a global phenomenon.

In 2014, I had the honor of bringing a Laura Pausini concert to the Chicago Theatre. It was an incredible experience and a fabulous show. All 3,600 seats were sold, and it was an international party that I won’t soon forget.

Much like the other acts from Italy I’ve worked with, she had a huge support crew, including personal assistants, makeup and hair professionals, sound and light technicians, guitar and drum techs, public relations contacts, and others. And the person at the top of the support pyramid was none other than the man who helped start it all, Laura’s father, Fabrizio. I spent a lot of time with him while the show was in town and there was no doubt who was in charge: Fabrizio was warm and fatherly, but all business.

Although she was an internationally renowned vocalist, television star and songwriter, Laura gladly yielded behind-the-scenes control to her father, who made certain that every decision was made in her best interest. Backstage felt more like a family party than high-security rock-star setting. Laura was sincere, playful and friendly, but at the same time professional, focused and decisive.

When I initially put the tickets on sale, the Italian community went crazy, gobbling up the first few rows on the main floor and in the balcony. I kept getting asked if the show would feature the “real” Laura Pausini or a tribute act! “No, it is REALLY her,” I would say.

When I got the word out to the Latin communities, you would think I was bringing Elvis in! They truly embraced her and couldn’t wait to see her live. Ticket sales went through the roof.

At that point, it occurred to me that she would be playing to two completely different fan bases. So which song, I asked her, would she sing in what language?

“I generally have my set list preplanned,” she said. “But I also read the room and change it a bit if I see that there is much more of one than the other. Sometimes I’ll just ask the audience.”

Before the show, I brought a few friends backstage to meet her, introducing her as “The Queen.” She looked at me and said, “Oh, no, I am not the queen.”

She was quite humble, as I expected, but her response was interesting because it was more than just a sign of personal humility. She meant that she wasn’t the queen, her songs were. “It is the music that has the respect of the masses. It is the music that directs my entire team to come together under one focus. I am merely the humble subject that delivers the song, but it is the music that rules in the end,” she said.

Fast-forward a dozen years to the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. The opening ceremony was nothing short of breathtaking, with the featured performer being Andrea Bocelli. Italy did an impressive job of showcasing the wonders of the country and the welcoming nature of its citizens. One of the most awe-inspiring moments in the festivities was the Italian national anthem sung by Laura Pausini.

The ceremony began with a reverent procession of dozens of fashion models attired in green, white and red Giorgio Armani pantsuits. Laura was dressed in a stunning black gown, also by Armani, all as an homage to the late, great designer.

Her performance was powerful and emotional, rooted in national identity and unity. As each line was sung, and as the Italian flag rose in unison with her vocals, it was evident that Laura was overcome with pride. “I do not believe I have ever been more proud of being Italian than I was during that performance,” Laura said afterward.

Her sincere affection for people regardless of national borders can be seen in her efforts to fight poverty and hunger, especially among children. “My heart breaks for those who suffer,” she said about her participation in a benefit concert in Chile. Last year, she threw her support behind the Wildfire Relief initiative that was launched to aid the victims of the wildfires in Los Angeles.

After 75 million albums sold and countless nominations and awards, Laura Pausini continues to wow audiences and sell out shows all over the world. To me, she is the best Italian female vocalist out there, transcending genres, generations and cultures. And I’m confident that there’s plenty of success ahead for this “Olympian” of a pop star!

Laura Pausini will perform at the Rosemont Theatre on May 30. For more, click here.

The above article appears in the April 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

To view a sample copy, click here.

To subscribe, click here.

A legend in the Chicago-area culinary community, Phil Stefani will be exporting his talents to Italy as one of two partners in a ground-breaking restaurant on Vatican property.

“There’s only one Chicago restaurateur who has the connections you need in Italy. It’s Phil Stefani.”

That’s what Art Smith, known as “Oprah’s Chef,” recalls being told, and the two restaurateurs formed a partnership to create a unique-in-the-world restaurant on Vatican land near Rome. The restaurant’s mission is to honor the late Pope Francis’ vision of environmental sustainability, and the project has Pope Leo’s full support.

Stefani, whose ancestors hail from Lucca, has opened about 25 restaurants in his 45 years in the industry, including Stefani Prime and Tavern on Rush, and has served four U.S. presidents. Celebrity chef Smith heads six restaurants, including Reunion by Chef Art Smith at Navy Pier, and two nonprofits, and has cooked for numerous A-list celebrities, including Lady Gaga.

With their new adventure, they’ll be opening the as-yet-unnamed restaurant in another country, cooking for an audience ranging from tourists to international dignitaries to the pope himself. And they’ll have to make the business a model of environmental stewardship to help execute the late Pope Francis’ vision.

“Obviously I’m honored to have this opportunity bestowed on me,” says Stefani, 75. “It’s indescribable. I don’t think there’s a person in the world who wouldn’t want to have this project, and for me as a Catholic and knowing the history of Castel Gandolfo, I feel especially blessed.”

The idea for all this started with Pope Francis, who in 2015 wrote a papal encyclical, or letter, Laudato Si’, that urged all people, not just Catholics, to care for nature, the planet and by extension, its people.

Putting words on paper wasn’t enough for the pontiff, however. Francis set aside part of the papal grounds at Castel Gandolfo — a town about 16 miles from Rome that has served as the summer residence of the popes for more than 400 years — to be transformed into a model of sustainability. He wanted the orchards and farmland to produce food and offer training in sustainable agricultural practice to workers who were to be hired mainly from marginalized populations.

One of Francis’ ideas for environmental development, which he called Borgo Laudato Si’, with borgo meaning hamlet, was to allow tourists and anyone interested in environmentalism to visit and learn. Borgo Laudato Si’ Officially launched in September.

The Stefani-Smith project, which will be the sole restaurant at Borgo Laudato Si’, is due to open by Easter, April 5. The restaurant will be located in a 12,000-square-foot building, one of three already built on the grounds. Work was scheduled to start in January to build out the kitchen and the seating areas, Stefani says.

Plans call for creating a stand-up caffe and panino bar as well as a sit-down restaurant, to be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The restaurant will cater private functions in the evening.

The menu will feature 70% Italian food, 20% American food and 10% Peruvian food, Stefani says, the last two to honor Pope Leo’s time in the United States and Peru. And the rumors that it will offer a Chicago hot dog are true, he says. Ketchup will not be provided.

The 50 acres of farmland and 85 acres of orchards at Borgo Laudato Si’, as well as a greenhouse with 3,000 plants, will be a plentiful source of fresh food for the restaurant, Stefani says. Cattle grazing on the land will be a source of milk and cheese. But the animals at Borgo Laudato Si’ won’t be killed for food, so the restaurateurs will seek local Italian vendors for the eatery’s meat and fish.

“We (Borgo Laudato Si’) have chickens and turkeys, and they’ll lay eggs, and there’s 1,500 olive trees where we produce olive oil already. We’ll follow the rules of sustainability to the best of our ability,” Stefani says, adding that he and Smith are still exploring how to do that.

Smith and Stefani marvel at the tale of how they got connected to the project.

It started, Smith says, when he wrote the cookbook “Back to the Table,” around 2000. Smith had a connection to the Bush family because he had cooked for former Florida governor Jeb Bush, and former First Lady Barbara Bush chose Smith’s book as a selection for her reading program.

Around 2011, the Bushes arranged for an NBC executive and a Catholic priest to dine at Smith’s former Chicago restaurant Table 52.

“So it was through Barbara Bush that I met Fr. Manny,” Smith says, referring to Rev. Manuel Dorantes of Chicago. Pope Francis appointed him director of the Higher Education Center at Laudato Si’ In Italy in 2024, according to Chicago Catholic.

Smith says he helped Fr. Manny with various charitable projects over the years, and last March Fr. Manny called.

“He says, we’re going to have a restaurant, would you be interested in that,” Smith recalled. Smith flew to Italy within days, told Fr. Manny he’d like to cook for him and to invite some people. As he served the fried chicken he’s known for, Smith met some of the guests: Cardinal Fabio Baggio and Sister Alessandra Smerilli, both administrators of Borgo Laudato Si!, and a then-cardinal named Robert Prevost, who told Smith that he, too, was from Chicago.

Back in Chicago, Smith says he heard from Fr. Manny and then thought, “I can’t do this on my own. I’m not Italian. I’m good at ideas … but I need a partner.”

He phoned Mary Kay Bonoma at the Illinois Restaurant Association, who recommended Stefani, who was enthusiastic, and a partnership was born.

Stefani had planned to fly to Italy around April, but Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025, and he never got to meet him. Cardinal Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, and he decided to continue the Borgo Laudato Si’ program and restaurant.

Stefani and Smith started discussions with Fr. Dorantes in May, Stefani says. Smith credited Stefani with using family connections to find an Italian lawyer to get the restaurant contract signed in August — when Italy largely shuts down for vacation.

Stefani says he has met Pope Leo three times, including one proud visit when he got to introduce his family members to the pontiff at the Vatican.

His children, Anthony Stefani and Gina Stefani Ilic, will be managing the operations of Stefani’s five Chicago restaurants while Stefani spends about two weeks of every month at Borgo Laudato Si’, along with Smith.

“It’s a tremendous honor to have the chance to do this project,” Stefani says. “I’ve been opening up restaurants for 45 years, but the one thing no one will ever be able to do is duplicate this.

“This will be the one and only, and it’s an achievement Art and I will share.”

The above article appears in the March 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

To view a sample copy, click here.

To subscribe, click here.

Blind since the age of 12, Andrea Bocelli has shed a joyous musical light throughout the world in the course of a three-decade career that has skyrocketed him into the popera firmament.

It’s been 31 years since Andrea Bocelli won the newcomers’ section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival with his performance of “Il mare calmo della sera.” Almost 100 million albums and countless awards and recognitions later, he remains one of the world’s greatest living tenors.

Andrea was born in a small Tuscan town in 1958, where his family had a farm and made wine. He was diagnosed in utero with congenital glaucoma, which would render him visually impaired from birth. His mother’s doctor advised her to abort the baby with the impending disabilities, but she was wholeheartedly against the idea.

Andrea did have partial vision early in life and had a relatively normal childhood, even playing soccer regularly with his friends. He was a tall boy, which made him a regular at the goalkeeper position. At the age of 12, he was struck in the eye with a ball, causing him to completely lose his eyesight.

He learned to play the piano and flute at age 6, and as he got older, he performed in local piano bars, becoming a favorite to many, including Italian blues-rock superstar Zucchero.

I have had the honor of working with Zucchero on several concerts in Chicago and around the country. At dinner after a show one night, he told me about his contribution to Andrea’s career.

Zucchero was a close friend of and collaborator with Luciano Pavarotti. In 1992, he wrote what he thought would be a sure hit for the legendary tenor, titled “Miserere,” but he needed someone to audition the tune for Pavarotti.

Immediately thinking of his friend at the piano bar, “Zu” gave the song to Andrea, who recorded it on a cassette. Luciano was smitten with the song and the singer. After a brief deliberation, he said, “Andrea should be the one to record it.”

Over the decades, the relationship between Luciano and Andrea blossomed along with the maestro’s respect for the next-generation phenom. In 2003, Luciano asked Andrea to perform at his wedding to his second wife, Nicoletta. Four years later, Nicoletta asked Andrea to perform at Luciano’s funeral, a full circle of respect.

After Luciano’s ringing endorsement in 1992, Zucchero brought Andrea on tour to perform the song as a duet with him, drawing attention to the latter’s talents and helping him develop his own fan base. He was eventually given solo sets on the tours, which were regularly met with standing ovations.

Andrea returned to the Sanremo event in 1995, performing “Con te partiro.” The following year, he recorded the English version, “Time to Say Goodbye,” with British soprano and classical superstar Sarah Brightman. The song became one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Andrea went on to record three albums beginning in 1994, one more popular than the other, before releasing “Romanza” in 1997. Although it was a compilation, it was considered his breakout album. It achieved triple-platinum status in the U.S. and became an international smash.

The following year, another duet, this time with Canadian icon Celine Dion, rocketed Andrea to another galaxy of musical popularity. “The Prayer” took the world by storm and was everywhere on the radio, turning him into a pop superstar.

Andrea’s subsequent American tour was a massive arena-by-arena sellout. When he was to come to Chicago, his American promoter, Frank Gelb, needed a photographer. Through a series of connections, my wife, Elena, a talented photographer, got the gig. They gave us front row-center seats to get the best shots, and that she did!

Over time, Andrea’s quiet, reserved personality has blossomed into a more accessible, communicative one as he continued to make inroads into other nations around the world and with ethnic groups here in America. He has re-recorded many of his albums in different languages, vastly expanding his global reach. His frequent shows across America have provided me with plenty of opportunities to spend time with not just him, but also his wife, Veronica; daughter, Virginia; and son, Matteo.

Veronica has been instrumental in Andrea’s career, providing guidance and support daily. Virginia is a budding young vocalist who appeared as a singer in the recent biopic “Cabrini.”

When his son Matteo, an incredible vocalist in his own right, went on his first solo tour of the United States, the opportunity to present him came across my desk.

“Are you kidding?” I asked the agent for the tour. “Absolutely! I’ll bring him to my theater in St. Charles!” Relationships matter in this business.

Matteo put on a spectacular show that night. He brought a bit more pop to the stage, but his father’s musical essence was felt by all.

I invited a young lady with whom I am very impressed, Daniela Crocco, to have dinner with Matteo and me the night before his show. The goal was to introduce the two in the longshot hope that Daniela might join Matteo onstage for a duet. She has the voice of an angel and I truly could see them performing together.

The possibility wasn’t mentioned overtly, it was more of a conversation about topics of professional relevance. But as we were leaving, Matteo casually asked Daniela, “Do you know ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’? Learn my father’s version and come to my sound check tomorrow.”

At the sound check, Daniela sat patiently in the audience. It was a couple of hours before the show, and nothing had yet been said to her regarding her possible presence onstage. As the sound check was coming to an end, Matteo said in Italian, “Get her a microphone.”

“Is this really happening?” she asked herself.

A few minutes later, she was running through the number with him onstage. And when the time came during his show for them to perform together, she killed it! It was a magical moment not only for Daniela, but also for every person in the audience that night.

I prefer to experience an Andrea Bocelli concert in the same way that he experiences life. At moments throughout the show, I close my eyes and listen in darkness, albeit a darkness illuminated by music that permeates the soul. His darkness has provided great vision, yielding musical experiences that flow from his heart directly to ours through the illuminating power of his voice.

At 67, Andrea shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, he’s doing more now than ever. His recent duets with modern superstars the likes of Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa are bringing his greatness to the attention of new generations. Andrea Bocelli is truly the voice of this millennium.

Andrea Bocelli will perform at 8 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the United Center. To purchase tickets, click here.

The above article appears in the February 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

To view a sample copy, click here.

To subscribe, click here.

Nearly half a century after “I Just Wanna Stop” skyrocketed to No. 4 on the U.S. charts, Gino Vannelli’s still wowing audiences and collaborating with fellow music legends.

In August of 1978, the Pop/Adult Contemporary hit “I Just Wanna Stop” blasted onto the radio airwaves, launching a musical journey for Gino Vannelli that continues to excite live audiences to this day.

Gino was born in Montreal to Italian parents who immigrated to Canada to escape the daunting era of World War II Italy. Many of the Italian traditions he still practices were brought over by his grandparents from Molise and Calabria.

Growing up in Montreal, Gino and his brothers, Joe and Ross, went to French schools and spoke the language fluently. But that did nothing to diminish their passion for their Italian roots. “We basically grew up French, but Italian blood still flowed through our veins,” Gino says. “The sermons at church were in Latin and French, but then we went home to traditional Italian dinners.

“Italian programs like the San Remo Festival were always on television, and my dad regularly went out and got the Italian newspaper, ‘Il Corriere,’” he continues. “My mom loved the operas of Verdi and Puccini, and the contemporary tunes of Sergio Franchi, Connie Francis and Frank Sinatra. Her pasta sauce and love of Italian culture was what gave me the passion and appreciation for good music at such a young age.”

His father, Joseph, who went by the name Russ, was an aspiring vocalist who sang with a variety of dance bands and orchestra leaders, including Maynard Ferguson. That sparked an interest in music in his sons, but when the expenses of raising a family became overwhelming, his singing career had to take a backseat to putting food on the table. When Gino was 10 years old, his dad took over the family barbershop, but by then the musical fire had been ignited and Gino formed his own band at the age of 12. It was called The Cobras, and he was on his musical way.

Gino began his career as a drummer, having been mesmerized by the virtuosity of Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. “By the time I was 16, I was traveling to the U.S. At 17, I got signed for a bit to RCA Records using the name, ‘Vann Elli,’ and I moved to New York City,” Gino says. Back then, he would sing with a band, make a few dollars and fly back to Montreal. Then his parents would give him some money to go back to the States, and he would do it all over again.

But that approach wasn’t exactly a recipe for long-term success, and the soon-to-be-superstar was about to give it one last shot. “I pretty much became desperate, so my brother Joe and I moved to Los Angeles,” Gino explains. “Swallowing my pride, one day I waited outside the gates of A&M Records. When (label co-founder) Herb Alpert showed up, I decided to make that my chance.

“I literally ran after the Tijuana Brass legend, guitar in hand, with the security guard chased right behind me!” he recalls with a laugh. “But Herb could tell I was sincere, so he let me sing a couple of songs. I sang. He smiled. Then Herb said, ‘Fine, let’s do it!’ The next day, I went back to Montreal with a record deal!”

In 1974, Gino had a song that hit 22 on the American charts, “People Gotta Move.” He began touring with Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight and the Pips, becoming one of the first Caucasians to perform on the television show, “Soul Train.”

The “I Just Wanna Stop” craze swept across the continent in 1978, catapulting the track to No. 1 in Canada and No. 4 in the U.S. The closeness of Gino to his brothers was reflected in that song, with Gino singing the tune, Ross writing the lyrics, and Gino and Joe arranging, which produced a smash hit.

Under pressure from the record label to produce more hits, Gino recorded and toured non-stop. He released the single “Living Inside Myself” in 1981. It became another chartbuster, shooting to No. 5 on the U.S. charts.

After producing more than 20 albums over a decades-long career, Gino continues wowing audiences and collaborating with other superstars. “One of my favorite artists to work with is the Italian superstar Massimo Ranieri,” Gino says. “We have done two albums already, and we’re working on a third. That European passion gets my creative juices flowing, and the sessions are magical.”

Like most people, Gino has suffered his share of personal losses. In 1995, the Vannelli boys lost their father, Joseph. It was a huge blow, but they kept going, knowing that was what their dad would have wanted. Gino released the album “Yonder Tree” that year, dedicating it to his father. He also penned the song, “Parole per mio padre” (“Words for my Father”), a tune so heartwarming Gino performed it at the Vatican at the request of Pope John Paul II.

In January of 2020, the matriarch of the family, Delia, succumbed to COVID-19, a tragic and unexpected blow to the Vannelli family. Then in 2024, tragedy struck yet again. Patricia, Gino’s beloved wife of 49 years, passed away after a long battle with cancer. In her honor, Gino released his 22nd album, “The Life I Got (To My Most Beloved).”

As our friendship has grown over the years, I have come to sincerely respect the Vannelli family. His brother Ross is 100% “Team Gino,” managing his day-to-day touring schedule and tour production duties. I have been working with my brother for decades, so I get the bond between the brothers. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for Ross’ attention to detail and his total commitment to his sibling. And to learn that he wrote the lyrics for “I Just Wanna Stop,” it just blew me away!

Gino Vannelli is one of the best-loved voices in pop-music history. These days, he lives in Oregon and teaches private vocal lessons. He’s also about to complete an 800-page novel and come out with more music!

The article above appears in the October 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

To view a sample copy, click here.

To subscribe, click here.

The former CEO of America’s largest bookseller found himself championing an obscure Italian novel in his retirement.

Stephen Riggio believes it was his destiny to translate Luigi Natoli’s epic Sicilian novel, “I Beati Paoli,” into English.

The former CEO of Barnes & Noble spent three years immersed in the project, whose roots trace back to the passing of his daughter Melissa.

“From that tragic event, I returned to the study of the (Italian) language, visited Sicily four times, traced my family’s roots back 400 years, discovered distant relatives, translated a classic work of literature and published it the day before I turned 70 years old,” he recounts.

Natoli — a native of Palermo, Sicily — was a teacher, journalist and historian who published more than 25 adventure and historical novels. Written between 1909 and 1910, “I Beati Paoli” was published in installments under the pseudonym William Galt in the Giornale di Sicilia.

Set in early 18th century Sicily, the novel centers around a real-life sect of hitmen and avengers that has been described as a forerunner of the Mafia. The plot incorporates historical figures such as Girolamo Ammirata, who has been identified as an actual member of the sect, according to Riggio.

Published in two volumes and dubbed “Sicilian Avengers,” Riggio’s English translation of the novel was released in October.

“‘Sicilian Avengers’ will appeal to readers on many levels,” he says, describing it as a big, epic adventure story. “Its action scenes are reminiscent of the adventure novels of Alexandre Dumas; its plot is full of intrigue and the machinations of unfettered power as in Hilary Mantel’s Tudor trilogy; its story about a secret sect will appeal to readers of Dan Brown’s ‘Da Vinci Code.’” he says. “And there’s a love story as well.”

Riggio’s passion project started after his daughter Melissa lost her battle with leukemia at age 20 in 2008. Riggio and his wife have two more daughters, Laura and Christina.

“I was searching for something to do with my wife, Laura, to fill the huge hole that had opened in our lives. I came up with the idea of taking Italian lessons together,” Riggio explains.

Several years into their lessons, their Italian teacher gave them Natoli’s novel to read. Riggio, whose paternal ancestors are from Sicily, says he was drawn into the novel by its sweeping narrative.

“After diving into the story and learning it had never been translated into English, I told her I was going to translate it,” Riggio recalls. “After finishing the novel with my wife and with our teacher’s encouragement, I turned what began as a homework assignment into a three-year translation project.”

The central theme of injustice in “Sicilian Avengers” will resonate with modern-day readers because it is timeless, Riggio says.

“It principally revolves around an injustice perpetrated by an aristocrat against an innocent individual,” he says. “But there are other layers to the story: the injustices of an aristocracy of awesome power and privilege that preys on the commoners; the injustices of the Church, still performing horrific tortures as part of the Inquisition; the injustices of the great powers of Europe that toss Sicily about as a pawn in their own great game.”

Growing up in the mostly Italian American neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Riggio’s first exposure to the Italian language came from his maternal grandmother, who spoke Sicilian and Italian and read to him from the Italian American newspaper Il Progresso. Riggio studied Italian in junior high and high school but did not continue in college.

His was a close-knit family, proud of being Italian American, he recalls.

Riggio’s father, Stephen Riggio, was a professional boxer in the late 1930s and early 1940s who twice beat Rocky Graziano. He later drove a taxi for 17 years and also worked at the main Barnes & Noble store in New York City’s Greenwich Village after it was purchased by his son Len.

Riggio’s mother, Pasqualina Capuccio, was a homemaker who sewed decorations for the weddings of the children of family and friends.

“My upbringing was typical of most children of second-generation Italian American parents, whose parents wanted their children to become American and that certainly flowed down to my generation,” he says. “My paternal grandparents never went back to Sicily. My parents did not visit Italy until they were in their 50s. While my Sicilian grandmother spoke Sicilian and Italian, my parents hardly spoke the language. But we were proud of our Italian ancestry and kept many traditions alive.”

Encouraged by his parents, Riggio was always a voracious reader.

“I read every night,” he recalls. “I loved adventure stories, big novels: Hugo, Dickens, Dumas, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne. Later on, Huxley, Orwell, Vonnegut, Ian Fleming, Roth, DeLillo, Updike, Austen. I especially enjoy reading history that has a big narrative sweep, like Tuchman, Mattingly and McCullough.”

In fact, books have “absolutely” been central to his life, he says.

“I am fairly catholic in my reading tastes, but tend to do a deep dive into a subject when I get hooked. Right now, that’s World War I.”

He also reads crime fiction for enjoyment, especially the novels of Andrea Camilleri and Donna Leon, he says.

As a high schooler, Riggio began working in his brother Len’s first bookstore, before he bought Barnes & Noble. After graduating from Brooklyn College with a degree in anthropology, he joined the Barnes & Noble company in 1974.

“I loved the idea of serving people,” he explains. “Bookstores are incredibly stimulating environments; I call them ‘amusement parks for the mind.’ We were always doing innovative things. It was exhilarating.”

Through the years, Riggio worked his way up in the company.

He was appointed executive vice president of Barnes & Noble’s direct mail division in 1981. After the company acquired B. Dalton Bookseller in 1987, he became president of the new division, which operated more than 700 nationwide stores.

When the company went public in 1993, Riggio was appointed chief operating officer and joined its board of directors.

In the 1990s, Riggio led the company’s transformation from small format B. Dalton shopping mall locations to large Barnes & Noble superstores. He became CEO in 2002.

Riggio attributes the success of the bookstore giant to its innovative approach.

“We expanded the markets for books like no other company in history, democratizing bookselling, bringing books to communities that never had access to a large well-stocked store with passionate, knowledgeable staff,” he says.

Deeming four decades in the industry “a good run,” Riggio retired in 2012.

“After the loss of our daughter, I decided it was time to move on with my life and explore new opportunities. I had no specific plans, but it does seem like this translation project was waiting for me.”

Learning Italian with his wife proved to be fulfilling on many levels, he says.

“We’ve not only enjoyed learning the language but have taken over a dozen trips to Italy. It was not until my first visit to Sicily in 2013, when I was 59, that I began an earnest search into my Sicilian ancestry — with excellent results!”

His family rarely talked about ancestry when he was young, and they didn’t keep records of birth, marriage or death. Discovering one’s roots so late in life brings enormous pride, but also regret, Riggio says.

“I wish I had taken the initiative to do a deep dive into my ancestry years ago, but better late than never,” he says. “I’ve not only learned a great deal about our family’s roots in Sicily, but have discovered distant relatives with whom we have developed a special bond. And I’ve read dozens of books on Sicilian history, giving me a greater knowledge of Sicily’s history and appreciation for the island’s rich culture.”

His hope is that his English translation of “I Beati Paoli” spurs an interest in Sicily, he says.

“It’s a glorious, picturesque island with wonderful people. And it is perhaps the most multicultural place on earth. After all, it has been invaded for over two thousand years by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards … The effects of these colonizations can be seen everywhere, in its architecture, language, food. And Natoli’s novel is practically a guidebook to the city, since so many of the churches, buildings and places still exist as he depicted them.”

The article above appears in the August 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

Steve Augeri’s eight years at the helm of one of rock’s most successful groups was but a single stop in an ongoing musical sojourn that has spanned more than three decades.

From 1977-1987, the rock band Journey emerged as one of the most popular and commercially successful musical acts in history. “Don’t Stop Believin,’” “Open Arms,” “Faithfully” and several other of the band’s megahits have become anthems in the live music world, cherished by the young and young-at-heart alike.

But when Journey’s popular lead singer, Steve Perry, left the band in response to health challenges and internal conflicts, the group went on a live-tour hiatus. For the next few years, Journey continued to work on commercial projects, including a “Greatest Hits” compilation album. That one release spent 853 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart, going 18 times platinum.

Meanwhile, vocalist Steve Augeri was helping to form the New York City band Tall Stories in 1988. Its self-titled record was nominated for Best Debut Album and Steve for Best Debut Male Vocalist at the 1992 NYC Music Awards. Tall Stories disbanded in 1995.

As news of Perry’s departure from Journey spread, Steve submitted an audition tape to the band at the suggestion of mutual friend Joe Cefalu. he was working as a maintenance manager at a Gap clothing store, a gig he got through a cousin. As he was about to hit his one-year mark with the store, making him eligible for 401(k) benefits, he received a phone call that changed his career path from maintenance man to magic man.

The call came from Journey keyboardist and co-writer Jonathan Cain and band founder and guitarist Neal Schon, offering him an audition. A bundle of nerves, he tried out live for the guys, winning them over with his charm, stage presence and vocal range. Steve joined Journey as lead vocalist in 1998. Although he was thrilled beyond words, replacing Perry was, in his words, “incredibly daunting.”

“I went from fixing toilets to fronting one of the biggest bands on the planet,” Steve recalls. “I remember my first show. It was June of 1998 in California. Before the show, I was standing next to a garbage receptacle. I stuck my head in there and relieved myself. I never had that happen to me before. My stomach was in jitters and butterflies. Once I was done, I cleaned up and hit the stage. I was fine for the first minute or so, but then I locked eyes with my son and my wife in the 20th row. That’s when the waterworks happened. That’s where the reality crept in. That’s where the emotions started: This is really true. This is happening.”

For the next eight years, Steve toured and recorded with the band. Bandmate Cain has stated, “Without Steve Augeri, Journey would not have continued.”

(On a side note, Cain was born in Chicago and was a survivor of the tragic Our Lady of the Angels School fire in 1958, which claimed the lives of 92 students and three nuns.)

As one of six lead vocalists in Journey’s half-century-plus history, Steve’s physical similarity to Perry and his command of the Journey catalog has made him one of the most memorable. But the fact that he was the official “replacement” for Perry made it exponentially more difficult for him.

“I was getting death threats, folks protested at the concerts … it was tough in the beginning,” Steve says. “I took it one day at a time, one concert at a time. Eventually, the fans came around. It speaks volumes about the power of the songs themselves.”

In 2006, Steve was forced to leave the band due to vocal cord damage. “They never really told me,” he says. “They sent me to doctors and soon after replaced me with Jeff Scott Soto. I understood, though. The touring train had to keep going.”

After extensive therapy and healing time, he formed the Steve Augeri Band in 2012 as a salute to the music he performed with Journey.

Steve was born in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. His father, Joseph, was of Sicilian descent and his mother, Emma, traced her roots to Calabria. His grandfather came to America and was a proud “sanitation engineer.”

“My grandfather worked hard as a garbageman,” he says. “He was the first guy on the block to have a car. If someone was having a baby and had to get to the hospital, he took them!”

Steve worked at Martino’s Dairy when he was 13 years old. “Mr. Martino made the best mozzarella in New York. I would make deliveries on my bike. I was busy. There was a pizzeria on every block, and a café on every other block. I visited every one of them!” he fondly recalls.

“I grew up in a close-knit, very Italian neighborhood,” he explains. “As we would walk to St. Rosalia Church on Sundays, we would smell the aroma of red sauce being made from every house we passed. To this day, I could still smell the garlic in the air.”

I have been lucky enough to work with Steve on many occasions. He has performed his show at the Arcada Theatre several times as well as at festivals and private events. He has been one of our most popular acts with one of the most electrifying shows we have presented.

It’s no secret that the songs of Journey are vocally taxing, possessing a huge range and high notes. The band’s power ballads are difficult to perform, especially in the course of a two-hour show. I have found it truly incredible that Steve not only “nails” the songs, but also can do that after permanent damage was done to his vocal cords — truly a magical feat.

These days, Steve continues to perform, and when we talk, it’s evident that his upbringing and the lessons learned back in his Bensonhurst neighborhood still resonate with him. He is always generous with the fans and never shies away from young future stars who seek his advice.

Beyond working hard, being professional and taking care of yourself, his words of wisdom come down to these three: “Don’t stop believin’!”

The article above appears in the June 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

One of the architects of the iconic rock group Chicago, Danny Seraphine has never lost touch with his roots on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side.

Danny Seraphine first picked up a set of drumsticks at 9 years of age, beginning a musical roller-coaster ride that gave the world some of the best-loved pop hits of our lifetime.

Sixty years ago, the 17-year-old from the Far Northwest Side of Chicago was asked to be a drummer in Dick Clark’s road band, Jimmy Ford and the Executives. While in that band he met bassist extraordinaire Terry Kath and saxophonist Walt Parazaider. That chance encounter changed their lives — and rock music — forever. It also pulled Danny off the streets and out of a gang he was in.

Two years later, Danny approached Terry and Walt with the idea of adding horns to a rock band. They auditioned and then welcomed James Pankow on trombone and Lee Loughnane on trumpet, as well as Robert Lamm on keys and Peter Cetera on bass after Terry shifted to his first love, guitar.

They called themselves The Big Thing until James Guercio — the producer who helped skyrocket The Buckinghams to fame with five top hits in the same year — took the group on. The Big Thing soon morphed into The Chicago Transit Authority.

“Thank God for that,” Danny told me in a recent interview. “We hated to be called The Big Thing, wouldn’t you?”

After the name change in 1968, the Chicago natives moved to Los Angeles and put out their first album, a self-titled, double album that produced several hits, including the prophetic classic “Beginnings.” The album stayed on the Billboard charts for 171 weeks, breaking a previous record, and got the band nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of the Year. It ultimately went double platinum and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.

“One of my proudest moments was when we first came home to Chicago from LA after we hit it big,” Danny says. “It was two sold-out nights at The Auditorium Theatre. We played so many encores, we ran out of songs and repeated a few. All our friends, families and what felt like the rest of the city were there. We really felt like hometown rock stars!”

But then, a legal issue with the actual Chicago Transit Authority compelled the band to shorten its name to Chicago while still honoring its roots.

Danny not only set the tone with his masterful and highly physical drumming — the co-founding member also wrote or co-wrote several hits for the band, including “No Tell Lover,” “Lowdown,” “Street Player” and “Take Me Back to Chicago.”

Twenty years and 20 albums later, Danny had become one of the most respected drummers in the industry in addition to being one of the architects of the band Chicago. So it was a shock to him as well as millions of fans when he was asked to leave the band in 1990.

“After doing so much recording and touring, we started to have personnel changes and disagreements about the direction of the band, and who was calling the shots,” Danny says. “I was asked to leave by guys who I considered to be my brothers. It was heartbreaking.”

For the next 15 years, Danny barely performed. Then in 2006, he put a band together featuring guitarist Marc Bonilla, keyboardist Ed Roth, Tower of Power vocalist Larry Braggs and other top musicians, and California Transit Authority (CTA) was born.

The group played a jazzy combination of original tunes and Chicago classics. Demand for the band grew, and it still tours today with the aforementioned founding members.

During his exile from Chicago, Danny served as executive producer and music supervisor for successful Broadway musicals as well as the film “Lonely Street.” In 2010, he published his autobiography, “Street Player: My Chicago Story,” and released the biographical and instructional DVD, “The Art of Jazz Rock Drumming.” He kept busy.

When I was blessed to finally work with one of my musical heroes, I was tremendously excited. I hired CTA for the first time about 15 years ago. It was and still is a spectacular group of musicians playing the hits of my favorite band. At the forefront was my favorite drummer, Danny Seraphine.

I didn’t know what to expect. His book was a tell-all and I wasn’t sure if I was even supposed to mention his former band to him. I knew he was still quite sour about his separation from the band and I wondered, “Is he going to be a pretentious rocker?”

Well, Danny wound up being one of the warmest and most sincere music professionals I had ever met. His show was a throwback to the hit-after-hit-after-hit experience I was accustomed to when I attended any one of Chicago’s thrilling live concerts back in the day.

We have since worked together on countless projects, festivals, concerts and corporate events. But more importantly, he has become a mentor, a brother and a confidante. We talk regularly about life and the music biz.

In 2016, Chicago was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I was elated! And to the credit of the band and its management, they invited Danny to participate in the festivities as a founding member. Danny, being the brother he had come to be to me, invited me to attend.

“I have been waiting 25 years for this,” Danny proclaimed as he held the trophy high above his head. His adrenaline-fueled use of expletives during his speech was met with mixed reviews, especially from a few members of the band. But he was so excited, he didn’t care.

A couple of years back, he came into town a few days before one of his shows just to hang out. He attended a concert I was producing at Park West in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. A couple of guys who had a bit too much liquid fun got in my face, threatening to get physical. Out of the shadows Danny stepped between me and the would-be assailants, strongly suggesting they back down. They did.

“Now THAT’S a ‘neighborhood guy!’” I thought.

Danny Seraphine has a stretch of Normandy Avenue named in honor of him in the Harlem Avenue neighborhood where he grew up. His Far Northwest Side Little Italy roots run deep, thanks to his Abruzzese and Neapolitan parents and Grandma Philomena, who created a truly Italian American household for Danny and his sister, Rosemary, to grow up in.

At 76, he lives in Las Vegas and still loves playing for the fans, with no intention of stopping anytime soon. He is a “Street Player” with a heart of gold. And how can you not love a guy who wrote the lyrics: “Take me back to Chicago, with street corners and Tastee Freez”?

The article above appears in the May 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.

Founding members of the standout ’60s pop band The Buckinghams, Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna were instrumental in the band’s resurrection in 1980 after a decade-long hiatus.

1967 was quite the year in pop music history. Elvis and Priscilla got married. Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and The Doors all released their debut albums. The Aretha Franklin anthem “Respect” hit the airwaves. And The Buckinghams charted five Top 40 hits that to this day remain fan favorites.

Undone by the British Invasion, the band broke up in 1970. But they re-formed in the early ’80s, thanks to two original members — Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna — and they have been making the musical rounds ever since.

The Windy City in the 1960s was quite the music mecca. Whether it was live shows at the Empire Room in the Palmer House, Franz Benteler and his Royal Strings at the Continental Plaza Hotel, or the country-folk sounds of John Prine at The Earl of Old Town, Chicago had it all.

Another musical form brewing at the time was alternately known as “Sunshine Pop” and “Garage Band Rock.” Named for the garages and basements where budding high-school rockers rehearsed in, the scene spawned such groups as The Ides of March, The Shadows of Knight, The Lemon Drops, The Flock, The Mauds, New Colony Six and the Cryan’ Shames, to name a few. And it all came about because a bunch of 16-year-old boys were trying to get noticed by the girls in the high schools.

One of those bands began as a combination of two local groups, The Centuries and The Pulsations. It was 1965 when Giammarese, Fortuna, Dennis Tufano and John Poulos came together, adding keyboardist Marty Grebb in 1966. The guys entered a local competition to become the house band on a new WGN-TV variety show called “All-Time Hits.” They got the gig and their popularity skyrocketed in the Midwest during the 13-week contract.

Before the band hit Chicago-area living rooms live on television, the producers of the show suggested that they change their name as an answer to the British Invasion that was sweeping the nation at the time. A random security guard at WGN offered an option, and it stuck. Changing their name to something more “British sounding,” “The Buckinghams” were born. The band warmed to the name because of its subtle salute to Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain. Sixty years later, they’re still rockin’ ’n’ rollin’ to the delight of loyal fans of all ages.

Just like all the other fledgling groups of that era, the guys rehearsed in each other’s garages and basements until the respective parents got fed up with the noise. Then they’d move to the next guy’s basement.

“We were rehearsing ‘Kind of a Drag’ in my basement, and my mother came down to tell us that we had a hit on our hands,” Giammarese says. “She called it something special: the only song she would say that about. That’s how I knew it would be a hit.”

“Kind of a Drag” was the title track of their debut album, and it became the first No. 1 hit of 1967, replacing The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” and going certified gold. It was followed up the charts by “Don’t You Care,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song)” and “Susan.” Their success was fueled by more than 300 tour dates and appearances all over television, including “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “American Bandstand” and “The Jerry Lewis Show.” Billboard magazine named them the “Most Listened-to Band in America” that year.

The Giammarese family lived near the Grand and Ogden Italian enclave. “My grandparents were from Bagheria and Ciminna, Sicily. Our house became the place where the family congregated, and the pasta was made from scratch,” he says. “My grandmother lived with us, and SHE kept our culture alive.”

Giammarese’s father, Nicholas, was a tailor by trade, but he had a baritone voice that eventually earned him a spot as vocalist for the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He grew up on the streets of Chicago and would hang around North Avenue and Clark Street. “My dad actually saw what came to be known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” he says.

Tufano, the band’s original lead singer, was the heartthrob of the Holiday Ballroom in Chicago. He hailed from the Riis Park neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side. “My Neapolitan father taught my Polish mother how to cook,” he says. “My Uncle Dom had an Italian grocery store and, on many nights, we had snails and other traditional Italian foods.”

Like Giammarese’s dad, Tufano’s father was a singer, and also played the violin, saxophone and harmonica. Tufano left the band in 1983 to pursue an acting career and Giammarese stepped into the lead vocalist role.

Fortuna, the Buckinghams’ bassist, was born in the Cabrini-Green housing project at a time when the Near North Side neighborhood was still predominantly Italian. “My Sicilian grandfather had the corner grocery store in the neighborhood, and my uncle had the bakery,” he says. “My grandfather was also president of the Sons of Italy, so we went to every St. Joseph’s Table and procession and participated in all the Italian traditions of the day.”

Fortuna originally played guitar and his experience and passion for rhythm and blues brought a funky rhythm to the band. Because Giammarese was already deemed the band’s lead guitar player, Fortuna was offered a place in the band only if he played bass. He wanted the gig, so bass it was!

The Buckinghams’ first personal manager was another Chicago-based Italian-American musical genius, Carl Bonafede, who co-produced “Kind of a Drag” at Chicago’s legendary Chess Records studio. They were then managed by James William Guercio, who went on to shepherd a new group called The Big Thing, which eventually became the band Chicago. He also produced records for another power-horn band, Blood, Sweat & Tears. His time with The Buckinghams had a strong impact on those “Brass Rock” bands of the 1970s.

Tufano and Giammarese got together after the band’s breakup in the 1970s and toured as Tufano & Giammarese. They put out three albums together and performed regularly, including tour support for Cheech & Chong.

In 1980, Giammarese and Fortuna re-formed The Buckinghams, which became a much sought-after live act. National tours, cruises, PBS specials and benefit concerts kept the band in the limelight. Support from disc jockeys like Bob Sirott, John “Records” Landecker and Dick Biondi kept them going strong.

Tufano performed the theme song for the hit television series, “Family Ties.” He then joined Olivia Newton-John on the road, performing hugely successful duets with the superstar. Continuing to appear in many films and television shows, he also performed in a very popular live show in tribute to the music of Bobby Darin.

The Buckinghams are true unsung heroes of American pop music. Their British-style haircuts and suits in the ’60s may have been an homage to the Beatles, but they have been bringing great pride to Chicago for decades.

The article above appears in the March 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.