Mario Biondi (born Mario Ranno, on 28 January 1971) is an Italian singer.
Mario Biondi (born Mario Ranno, on 28 January 1971) is an Italian singer.
Born in Catania, Italy, the son of a popular singer song/writer, Mario sang in various small choirs during his youth. Years after he accompanied Franco Califano, Peppino Di Capri, Fred Bongusto, Rosario Fiorello, and others on their Concert tours. After a long series of participations with Italian and international artists and a small production of disco music, in 2006 he achieved success with the Schema Records album Handful of Soul. His deep and warm voice recalls the great interpreters of soul and rhythm and blues music. In 2007, he released a double disc containing live material, entitled I Love You More LIVE. In 2010 he released a live album Yes You (Live) and followed that in 2011 with a double CD album Due. In 2013, Biondi released a new album SUN and Mario Christmas.
At 12 he sang in Gregorian choirs in the church and in the squares of Bitetto; after various experiences and apprenticeship around Italy, he perfects himself in the English language, which becomes the language in which he sings.
A shift worker in recording rooms for niche labels, from 1988 he began to support the big of the time, such as Ray Charles. Passionate about the soul, he trained by listening to the records of Lou Rawls, Al Jarreau, and Isaac Hayes, and others, while his friendship with fellow citizen Gianni Bella was important for his artistic growth, he said.
In 2004, This Is What You Are released, a single designed for the Japanese market, but also reached European radios.
The British DJ Norman Jay surprisingly inserts him in the lineup of his program at BBC1 and receives recognition from the British Consulate at the awards ceremony of the UK-Italy Business association.
In 2006 he released his first album, Handful of Soul, recorded with the group High Five Quintet; after three months, he gets the first of two platinum records.
Mario Biondi in concert with the English band Incognito, 2010.
In the same year, he participated in the charity project Alex – Tribute to Alex Baroni interpreting the song L’amore ha Sempre fame.
In 2007 she participated as a celebrity at the Sanremo Festival, where she duets with Amalia Gré in the song Amami per Sempre, written by Gré herself with Michele Ranauro and Paola Palma. In the same year, she released a single called No Matter, in collaboration with Mario Fargetta. In the same year, he participated in the album by Ornella Vanoni, A beautiful girl, singing with her in Cosa m’importa.
He plays covers of very famous songs such as Just the Way You Are, composed in 1978 by Billy Joel and also performed by Barry White. In November 2007 the double live album with the Duke Orchestra was released, I Love You More recorded at the Teatro Smeraldo in Milan in October of the same year. The double cd includes This is What You Are as a ghost track.
In 2008 he was involved by Walt Disney in the remake project of Gli Aristocatti. Biondi is the interpreter of the two soundtracks of the animated film Everybody Wants to be a Cat ( Everyone wants to make jazz in the Italian version) and Thomas O’Malley ( Romeo er mejo der Colosseo ). In the same year, he is imitated, and invited to the last episode in the program of Gialappa’s Band Mai dire Tuesday.
In February 2009 he was a guest at the Sanremo Festival, where he duet with Karima Ammar, competing in the youth section, in the song Come in every hour. On the stage of the Ariston Theater, Burt Bacharach, producer of the record and author of one of the songs, conducted the orchestra and played the piano. He duets with Renato Zero in the song Non stop more, contained in the album Present, and in the song In the gardens that nobody knows, during the concert tour Sei Zero, performance is also contained in the DVD of the concert series. On November 6 of the same year the new album If was released, preceded by the single Be Lonely. A few months later he performed at the Wind Music Awards singing No More Trouble in a new version together with Incognito.
He continues his collaboration with Disney: in December 2010 he lends his voice to the brigand Hook in the animated film Rapunzel – The intertwining of the tower. Around the same time, his fourth studio album, Yes You Live, was released.
In 2010 he collaborated with his colleague friend Pino Daniele, in a duet on the song Je so Pazzo.
In 2011 he duets with Anna Tatangelo in the song of which he is also the author L’aria che breath, and he also signs for her the song Se. Both songs are contained in the Progetto B album. In addition, she plays the Italian cover of the classic soul of The Temptations My Girl, inserted in the double album Due. He also participates in the cast of the Italian voices of the animated film Rio ( 2011 ) dubbing Miguel, the cockatoo in the role of antagonist, a role also reprised in the sequel Rio 2 – Mission Amazonia ( 2014 ).
In 2012, with Pooh, he sings in the symphonic version of their song Ci penserò tomorrow and releases his single Shine On which anticipates the release of the album Sun, which will be released on January 29, 2013 . The Sun album enters the first FIMI position in the first week of the survey. In the same year, he was chosen by Noemi as a music consultant for her team in the first edition of The Voice of Italy. On May 10, the new single Deep Space enters the radio rotation. On November 25 a new album titled Mario Christmas will be released containing numerous jazz reinterpretations of Christmas songs and two other songs, including a duet with Earth, Wind & Fire. Also in 2012 he participated as a guest star in an episode of the fifth season of the popular sitcom Camera Café.
In July 2014 he received the “Lunezia Interpreter Award” in Marina di Carrara. On November 25, 2014, the box set consisting of a CD containing all the songs already present in Mario Christmas, plus three novelties, and a DVD containing videos and images from the concert of the Augusteo Theater in Naples during the “Sun Tour” directed by Sergio Colabona entitled A Very Special Mario Christmas, entered the first place in the charts.
On April 10, 2015, Love Is a Temple enters the radio rotation, the first single that anticipates the release of the new album entitled Beyond, released on May 5. In June 2015 the singer participates in the third edition of the Coca-Cola Summer Festival with the song Love Is a Temple, obtaining a nomination for the RTL 102.5 Award – Song of the summer. The same year he collaborates with Rocco Hunt singing in featuring in a song from his new album SignorHunt; the song is Back in the Days.
On November 18, 2016, the double album Best of Soul is released, anticipated by the release of the single Do You Feel Like I Feel, cover of the homonymous song by Nicola Conte, collects the artist’s best hits, accompanied by seven new unreleased songs.
It presents itself at the Sanremo Festival 2018 with a song entitled Rivederti, ranking in 19th and penultimate place.
On April 20, 2020, the charity single Il nostra tempo, part of the Invisible Enemy project, is released; the piece also written by Mario is sung by him with Annalisa Minetti (creator with him), Gaetano Curreri, Dodi Battaglia, Petra Magoni, Andrea Callà, Marcello Sutera, the latter arranger; the proceeds are donated to Auser, an association which also, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, carries out support initiatives for the most fragile, lonely and elderly people.
The album Dare was released on January 29, 2021. On 24 August 2021, he sings, along with some songs from his latest album, La Fine alle baracche di Fondo Fucile ( Messina ), on the occasion of their demolition.