The penultimate evening of Sanremo, Friday 9 February, marked the return to the console of Gigi D’Agostino. The DJ and producer was a super guest of the Festival on board the Costa Crociere. The pseudonyms that he has or have been given are countless, from “il Capitano” to “Gigi Dag”: Luigi Celestino Di Agostino – this is his name at the registry office – was born in 1967 in Turin and grew up in the Mirafiori district .
He made his debut at a very young age, at 16, in the clubs of the Piedmontese capital. With catchy melodies and a progressive sound he immediately stood out in the dance scene. With his style, Gigi D’Agostino coined two genres: the «Lento violent» and the «Mediterranean progressive». The first great success came in 1996 with “Fly”, a cover of «Il tempo passa» by Giancarlo Bigazzi and Marco Falagiani, taken from the soundtrack of the film «Mediterraneo» by Gabriele Salvatores. The song was immediately broadcast on all national radio stations: D’Agostino scored one hit after another. He condenses them all into the first album, which takes his name.
His style evolves, the sound becomes more rounded and melodic, but his career is unquestionably on the rise. His name became known throughout the world in 1999 with «Bla Bla Bla», a song that he said he wrote «against all those people who talk and talk without saying anything». The double album released just two months later, «L’amour Toujours», consecrated him to international success and earned him a platinum record.
Despite the media exposure due to his success, Gigi D’Agostino has always been very reserved about his private life. This is why it was a real shock for fans, in December 2021, to learn from a Facebook post by: «Unfortunately for a few months I have been fighting a serious illness that has affected me aggressively. It’s a constant pain. It doesn’t give me peace.” Already four years earlier, Gigi D’Ag had canceled some dates to undergo a “therapy for a few days”. Years of silence followed, punctuated by a few photos published on social media without too many details on his condition.
Finally, in January, Amadeus announced his return to the stage, on board the ship moored off the coast of Sanremo during the Festival. The performance inaugurates what D’Agostino al Corriere defined as a “second life”. The musician stated that he is feeling better, that he is able to walk, run, and that he has resumed his previous life. The Festival, he said in the interview with Barbara Visentin, «was not calculated. But there is the ship which is a crazy symbol for me: I have always been fascinated by the idea of sailing within music and I have made it my uniform. And then there’s finding the public again.”
The DJ recalled his childhood years, in which he passionately followed the Festival, and revealed his near participation in previous editions. A possibility that he would like to seize in the future: “I hope it will happen later.”
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