Paolo Rossi

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Paolo
Background information
Genres Alternative, pop
Occupation(s) Singer · songwriter
Years active 2016–present

Paolo also known as Paolo Giovanni Rossi is an Italian singer/songwriter who first rose to fame as a founding member of group Dante. The group achieved one number one album and four number one singles and a URAPS Award. Rossi embarked on a solo career in 2016. He has so far achieved four Top 5 singles and two Number One albums. He has become a political activist and is especially involved in immigrant welfare campaigns.

Personal Life[edit | edit source]

Paolo was born in Naples on 20th July 1988 to parents Giovanni and Corelia Rossi. Rossi's mother is originally from Iraq and met his father when she studied in Naples. Whilst his mother initially gave up her Iraqi citizenship when she moved to Italy and acquired Italian citizenship, both Paolo and his mother acquired Iraqi dual citizenship in 2007 when nationality laws were changed. Paolo is the eldest of six children. Paolo attended school in Italy and eventually moved to the UK in 2008 to study at University of Manchester. It was here that he first came into contact with Callum Andrews, who Rossi would then go onto set up the group Dante with. Rossi has had a number of relationships with both men and women. He is currently dating Norwegian television presenter, Liv Olsen. It was revealed in late 2016 that Paolo had cheated on Liv Olsen with a woman. His debut album Odes of a Boy reflected on this affair.

Dante[edit | edit source]

Paolo joined Dante in 2010 along with band members Callum Andrews, Jake Cohen, Harry Hindley and Niall O'Malley. In their short time in the public mainstream, the band achieved four Number 1 singles along with a Number 1 debut album 'Casanova Supernova. The boyband had been praised as unique and 'different' from many other boybands. Even though they had initial success, the group never released a second album. It was believed that the group would reunite in 2016 however Rossi confirmed their indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Solo Career[edit | edit source]

Odes of A Boy (September 2016 - April 2017)[edit | edit source]

Paolo's solo career started in September 2016 when he recorded tracks for his upcoming release "Odes of A Boy". Initially Rossi had no plans for a solo career, however girlfriend Liv Olsen convinced him to go into the studio to record some tracks which focused on his affair with another woman during his relationship with Olsen. Paolo recorded with a number of different producers and eventually released single Ten Months which debuted at #2 in the UK charts and eventually being certified platinum with over 750,000 copies being sold. In November 2016, Paolo released his debut album Odes of A Boy, which received critical acclaim for its brutal honesty as well as the production and lyrical content. The album debuted at #1. In December 2016. Paolo released the next single from the album, How Much Longer? which was written by James Frost. The single charted at #9 which was due to Rossi's lack of promotion of the single except for a performance on X Factor. However, the following week it rose to #3. The single was also performed on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Rossi also revealed that a short 'film' would be released by him that would act as a visual accompaniment to "Odes Of A Boy". Part One premiered in January 2017 whilst Part Two premiered in February 2017. The film has been greeted with acclaim Stay or Go was the third release from the album in February 2017. It debuted at Number 5 in the charts before rising to Number 4 the following week. In the promotion for the single, Rossi came into controversy for the lyrics of b-side Borders which criticised the actions and attitudes of the US and Britain in regards to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Boys Don't Cry (May 2017 - Present)[edit | edit source]

At the end of April 2017, Rossi announced that he would release his next album Boys Don't Cry. The news took music journalists by surprise as Rossi had not spoken about the album prior to the announcement. Not much was initially known about the new album, however b-side "Borders" (which was released as a b-side to Stay or Go) was one of the tracks that was mentioned on the announcement on his website. Rossi announced the tracklisting in May 2017 and confirmed that singer Justyce would feature on the album on a track called Fuckboy. It was also confirmed that singer Paul had wrote a track on the album entitled Forgive Me. In an interview on the TV show Later With Jools Holland, Rossi revealed that tracks on the album dealt with Paolo's struggle with depression and the death of one of his close friends as well as other issues including the Pulse Club Shooting. The album debuted at Number One. Paolo revealed that Fuckboy would be the first single to be released from the album.

Discography[edit | edit source]

Albums[edit | edit source]

  • 2016: Odes of A Boy - Diamond - (#1)
  • 2017 Boys Don't Cry - Platinum - (#1)

Singles[edit | edit source]

  • 2016: Ten Months- Platinum (#2)
  • 2016: How Much Longer - Platinum - (#3)
  • 2017: Stay or Go - Platinum- (#4)
  • 2017: Fuckboy - Silver - (#4)