Quick Facts
Biography
Giovanni Caccamo (born 8 December 1990, Modica, Sicily), also known as Joe, is an Italian singer-songwriter. After being discovered by singer Franco Battiato and producer Caterina Caselli, he won the Newcomer's section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2015, with the song "Ritornerò da te", and released his debut album, Qui per te.
He also worked as a television presenter, and he dubbed the character Uku in the Italian version of Pixar's short film Lava. As a songwriter, he penned songs for Italian recording artists Malika Ayane, Francesca Michielin and Emma.
Early life
Giovanni Caccamo started singing as a child. In 2001, during a Zecchino d'Oro TV special celebrating the Mother's Day, he performed as part of the Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano, a children's choir from Bologna.
Career
In 2009, Caccamo began working in RAI, as part of the cast of the Rai Gulp's show Music Gate, presented by Georgia Luzi and Michele Bertocchi, and produced by Rai Ragazzi and the Institute of Antoniano. During the TV programme, he appeared as a VJ, under the mononym Joe.
In 2010, he auditioned for the fourth edition of the Italian TV series X Factor, but was eliminated by Mara Maionchi during the Home Visits. Maionchi later selected Caccamo as her potential new finalist of the contest during the 8th live show. He performed the song "50 Special" by Italian pop band Lùnapop, but the public vote selected Anna Tatangelo's contestant Marika Lermani, and he was therefore eliminated.
In the same year, for 30 episodes, he was part of the cast of Social King, hosted by Metis Di Meo and Livio Bashir, which also aired on RAI. In the summer of 2012, he met Franco Battiato and opened some of his tours, including special shows with Antony and the Johnsons.
In 15th of August, 2013 he released his first single L'indifferenza written by himself and produced by Franco Battiato and Pino Pinaxa Pischetola.
Since November 2013, he had the Live At Home tour, which sees him perform at the piano in several private homes in Italy and Europe.The initiative is taken in March 2015 in anticipation of the official tour Qui Per Te. During that time, he was part of the radio show Edicola Fiore hosted by Rosario Fiorello.
In October 2014, he signed a recording contract with Sugar Music.
In 2015, he participated in the 65th edition of the Sanremo Festival and won in the "New Comers" section with the song Ritornerò da te; He also won the Mia Martini Critics Award, the Emanuele Luzzati prize, and the Sherman Press Award (Press Radio-TV).
He has since then appeared in many concerts and music festivals, including as an opening act for famed singer Biagio Antonacci.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| ITA | |||
| Qui per te |
| 29 | |
| Non siamo soli |
| 30 |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certification | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA | ||||
| "Mezze verità" | 2012 | — | Non-album singles | |
| "L'indifferenza" | 2013 | — | ||
| "Ritornerò da te" | 2015 | 33 | Qui per te | |
| "Oltre l'estasi" | — | |||
| "Distante dal tempo" | — | |||
| "Via da qui" (with Deborah Iurato) | 2016 | 35 | Non siamo soli | |
| "—" denotes singles that did not chart or were not released | ||||
Writing credits
| Song and co-writers | Year | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Adesso e qui (nostalgico presente)" (written with Malika Ayane, Pacifico & Alessandra Flora) | 2015 | Malika Ayane | Naïf |
| "Tutto questo vento" (written with Francesca Michielin, Gianclaudia Franchini & Federica Abbate) | Francesca Michielin | di20 | |
| "Finalmente" (written with Alessandra Flora) | Emma | Adesso |
Sanremo Music Festival entries
| Year | Section | Song and writer(s) | Final result | Additional awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Newcomers | "Ritornerò da te" (Giovanni Caccamo) | Winner |
|
| 2016 | Big Artists | "Via da qui" (with Deborah Iurato) (Giuliano Sangiorgi) | 3rd place |
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Lava | Uku | Voice role – Italian dubbing |