20: The Greatest Hits

Biography

Laura Pausini is a five-time Grammy Award winning Italian singer, songwriter, producer and TV host. She is the most famous and successful Italian artist worldwide. Pausini is famed for her soulful voice and her romantic Latin pop and Pop ballads and love songs, although she has also dealt with other subjects such as poverty, war, and racism, among other social issues. She is fluent in several languages. Although she mainly sings in Spanish and Italian, she also sings in Portuguese, English, and...

Laura Pausini is a five-time Grammy Award winning Italian singer, songwriter, producer and TV host. She is the most famous and successful Italian artist worldwide. Pausini is famed for her soulful voice and her romantic Latin pop and Pop ballads and love songs, although she has also dealt with other subjects such as poverty, war, and racism, among other social issues. She is fluent in several languages. Although she mainly sings in Spanish and Italian, she also sings in Portuguese, English, and French. She has sold over 40 million album copies around the world.

Laura was born in Faenza (province of Ravenna, Italy) on May 16,1974 and was raised in Solarolo (Ravenna). She started to sing in local piano bars with her father when she was 8. In 1993, her career was launched when she won the prestigious Italian Sanremo Music Festival with one of her best known songs, "La Solitudine". The song also has an English version with lyrics written by Broadway composer Tim Rice.

In 1994, she released her first Spanish album, Laura Pausini, a compilation of adapted versions in this language from her first two Italian CDs, Laura Pausini and Laura. The album was very successful that made her a household name in the Hispanic and Latin world.

In 1999 she recorded a song titled "One More Time" written by Richard Marx for the soundtrack of the hollywood movie "Message in a Bottle" (with Kevin Costner and Paul Newman). In 2000 she participated with the theme "The Extra Mile" for the soundtrack of the movie "Pokemon 2000: The Power of One".

She released her first full album in English, From the Inside with Atlantic Records in 2002, working with producer Patrick Leonard, among others. The song, "Surrender" saw some limited exposure on the Adult Contemporary radio format. In an Australian release of the album, she has two versions of "Surrender" included - the original dance version, and a downtempo version called the "Toronto Chilled Mix. Both "Surrender" and "If That's Love" reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. They also fared well on the U.S. Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. Unfortunately, the album did not obtain the success the label had hoped for, failing to sell more than 100,000 in the long run.

In 2004 she released Resta in ascolto. The Spanish version of this album, Escucha, awarded Pausini a Latin Grammy in 2005 and a Grammy in 2006. This made her the first Italian female to receive such honors. The song "Víveme" was featured as the theme music to La Madrastra, a popular Mexican telenovela, in which she had a memorable cameo appearance.

About her album Io canto (Spanish Yo canto) she has said: "I chose the music I listen to, in sad moments as well as in other, more special ones, those tunes that have taught me how to feel, how to love music beyond genres and styles." On the 2nd of June 2007, Laura Pausini was the first female artist to play at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy in front of a crowd of 70,000 spectators. Later that year the concert was released on CD and DVD and became very successful in Italy and Spain.

On the 8th of November 2007, Laura won a Latin Grammy Award for the best female album with 'Yo Canto', the Spanish version of the album 'Io Canto'. Laura dedicated the award to the memory of Italian legend Luciano Pavarotti. Later on during the show she sang songs from her album 'Yo Canto' alongside Italian singer Andrea Bocelli.

Her album "Primavera In Anticipo" ( "Primavera Anticipada", spanish version) has been a totally success in her country Italy. The album remained on the top of album charts for 9 weeks straight selling more than 500.000 copies only in Italy , and it's still on the top selling albums after 7 months. Around the world Pausini's single, "En Cambio No"( "Invece No" in Italian) climbed to the top of severals Latin-American countries like Mexico and Panama. Her duet with James Blunt, which is album's second single, became a smash-hit in many European countries including Germany, Spain and Austria.

On 30 December 2010, Pausini announced her eleventh studio album, Inedito / Inédito, released both in Italian and Spanish on 11 November 2011. The title and the tracklist of the album were announced through Pausini's website on 10 September 2011. The first single from the album, "Benvenuto" / "Bienvenido", was released on 12 September 2011. In order to promote the album, Pausini engaged the Inedito World Tour, starting with 11 shows in Italy in late December 2011. The tour reached Latin America in January and February 2012. The European leg of her tour visited the principle arenas of France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Holland, and concluded at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The album also spawned the singles "Non ho mai smesso" / "Jamás abandoné", "Bastava" / "Bastaba", "Mi tengo", "Le cose che non mi aspetto" / "Las cosas que no me espero" and "Celeste". The song "Troppo tempo" was originally chosen as the sixth and last single of the album, but when Pausini discovered her pregnancy she changed her mind to "Celeste". On 25 June 2012, Pausini took part in the mega-concert Concerto per l'Emilia, organized to raise funds in support of the people affected by the 2012 Northern Italy earthquakes. During the show, Pausini duetted with Cesare Cremonini, performing a cover of Lucio Dalla's "L'anno che verrà".

On 27 November 2012, a special edition of Inedito, in both Italian and Spanish, was released, featuring a live DVD recorded during the 2012 Inedito World Tour. The Italian-language version and the Spanish-language version of the DVD were recorded in Bologna on 17 April 2012 and in Madrid on 20 April 2012, respectively. The CD included in the new edition of Inedito also features a live medley performed by Pausini on New Year's Eve 2012, as well as a duet with Venezuelan singer Carlos Baute on the track "Las cosas que no me espero", released as a single in Spain and Latin America. In 2012 Pausini also recorded an Italian-language duet with Josh Groban, "E ti prometterò", included in his album All That Echoes, released in February 2013.

On 26 February 2013, in order to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of her career, Pausini released a digital single including the original versions in Italian, Spanish and English of the song which launched her career in 1993, "La solitudine". The track was launched as a limited-edition single, available for purhcase for a week only. Later during the same year, she confirmed that a greatest hits album will be released for the same purpose by December 2013.

On 1 June 2013 Pausini took part in the concert Chime for Change in London, supporting the global campaign of the same name for girls' and women's empowerment. Pausini performed the songs "Io canto" and "It's Not Goodbye". During the same year, she appeared as a featured artist on the track "Sonríe (Smile)", included in American singer Gloria Estefan's album The Standards. A new world tour has also been confirmed by Pausini through her official website. Starting from December 2013, Pausini will promote her greatest hits album with concerts in her native Italy, as well as in other European countries, in Latin America, in the United States and in Canada. The tour also includes a performance during the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile.

On September 9, 2013, Pausini released a new single named "Limpido" (in Spanish, "Limpio"), in order to promote her new album. The song is a duet between Pausini and the Australian singer Kylie Minogue. On the same day, the name of the album was confirmed to be 20 - The Greatest Hits / 20 - Grandes Exitos. On September 20, 2013, Pausini posted the official cover of this new album in her Instagram account, created in order to share the image. On September 9, 2013, Pausini released a new single named "Limpido" (in Spanish, "Limpio"), in order to promote her new album. The song is a duet between Pausini and the Australian singer Kylie Minogue. On the same day, the name of the album was confirmed to be 20 - The Greatest Hits / 20 - Grandes Exitos.

On September 20, 2013, Pausini posted the official cover of this new album in her Instagram account, created in order to share the image.
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