Salvatore Adamo Net Worth and Biography 2022: Relationship, Awards

Salvatore Adamo Net Worth

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Who is Salvatore Adamo? (Biography)

Salvatore Adamo, Born on November 1, 1943 in Comiso, Sicily (Italy). Adamo is a Belgian chansonnier and composer of Italian origin.

Father – Salvatore Antonio Adamo.

Mother – Conchitta Adamo.

Early life

In 1947, his father got a job in a mine in the Belgian city of Mons and emigrated there with his family. After 13 years, the Adamo family had two sons and five daughters.

Parents did everything so that their children remembered where their roots were, and in memory of his father, Salvatore retained Italian citizenship. While studying at school, Salvatore sang in the church choir and learned to play the guitar.

After leaving school, he continued his studies at a Catholic college, intending to become a school teacher of foreign languages, but did not finish his studies, as he decided to take up music.

Since the late 50s, Adamo has taken part in a number of music competitions. In December 1959, Radio Luxembourg broadcast a competition of young talents live from the Royal Theater of Mons, 16-year-old Salvatore sang a song that he himself came up with – Si j’osais (If I dared).

Salvatore Adamo in his youth

In the final of the competition, held February 14, 1960 in Paris, Si j’osais won first place. After that, Adamo spent three years recording records which did not bring him any success.

In December 1962, Pate Marconi chose Salvatore’s song En blue jeans et blouson d’cuir (In blue jeans and a leather jacket) to record. As a condition for further cooperation, the company set the sale on the first day of at least two hundred records.

In reality, ten times more were sold on the first day, and by February of the next year, one hundred thousand. At the same time, Polydor released a record with eight songs, among which was Si j’osais.

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Adamo to fame

In 1963, the singer recorded the song Sans toi, ma mie (Without you, dear), which, in his own opinion, determined his popularity. In 1963, Adamo composed a song called “Snow is Falling“. She quickly gained worldwide fame.

On November 1, 1963, on the day of his twentieth birthday, Salvatore performed on one of the main concert stages in Brussels – at the Ancien Belgique Theater.

Later, He stepped on the stage of the Paris Olympia for the first time, anticipating the performances of the already established stars of those years – singer Cliff Richard and instrumental ensemble Shadows.

In September 1965, Adamo performed for the first time at Olympia with a solo concert. Then, until 1977, he repeatedly performed on this most prestigious French pop scene.

Salvatore Adamo health problems

In 1984, the pop singer suffered a heart attack, which forced him to stop his active work for a long time. A new rise in the singer’s popularity began in 1998, when a concert at Olympia, which took place after an almost twenty-year break, ended in triumph.

Salvatore Adamo awards and achievements 

In 1993, Salvatore Adamo became the UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for Belgium.

On July 4, 2001, King Albert II of the Belgians granted Salvatore Adamo the honorary title of knight of the Belgian King. Adamo was the first person in popular music to receive it.

Salvatore Adamo is the author of the music and lyrics of all the songs of his repertoire, with the exception of the very first few songs. He was strongly influenced by Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, French poets such as Baudelaire , Verlaine, Hugo , as well as Italian traditional song.

More about Salvatore Adamo’s career

At the very beginning of his career, in 1962, with the songs Cara bambina, Rosina, Poor fool, the singer paid a small tribute to the yeh style. Simultaneously with these songs, he also recorded the song Si j’osais (If I dared), with which the general lyrical line of his entire work began.

In addition to Sans toi, ma mie and Tombe la neige, Elle (She 1964), Amour perdu (Love Gone 1964), La Nuit (Night 1965), J’aime (I love 1965), Mes mains became the most popular of Adamo’s lyric songs.

Sur tes hanches (My Hands on Your Hips 1965), Une mèche de cheveux (Hair Lock 1966), Elle était belle pourtant (She Was So Beautiful 1966), J’avais oublié que les roses sont roses (I forgot what color a rose is 1971) and many others.

It was the lyrical theme, addressed primarily to young listeners, that formed the initial image of the singer, which stuck with him for many years. For this reason, Jacques Brel called Adamo un tendre jardinier de l’amour (gentle gardener of love).

Despite the fact that the Belgian chansonnier sought to free himself from this image, however, the lyrical theme has always occupied the main place in his work.

Addressing social problems 

Nevertheless, in the work of Salvatore Adamo, a significant place belongs to songs of a social orientation. The first of these is Inch’ Allah (Inshallah), written in 1967 about the Six Day War.

This song, calling for mutual understanding of cultures and expressing grief for six million Jews, was banned in Arab countries and made its author “persona non grata” in the Arab world.

In 1971, inspired by a racist incident at one of his concerts, Adamo wrote the song Que voulez-vous que je vous chante? (What would you like me to sing to you?), in which he stated that one should sing not only about the joys and the festive side of life, but also about injustice, poverty, violation of rights and freedom.

Adamo touched on the Middle Eastern theme again in 1986 in the song Les collines de Rabiah (The Hills of Rabia), dedicated to Lebanon suffering from civil war. In 2002 he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Also in 2002, Adamo became an honorary citizen of the city of Mons.

In 2003, he wrote the song Mon Douloureux Orient (My Sorrowful East). The song Tout le long du Mekong (Along the Mekong), 1979, is dedicated to the realities of post-war Vietnam and the children immersed in these realities.

Three of Adamo’s songs – Manuel, Vladimir (dedicated to Vladimir Vysotsky ) and Chercheur d’or (Gold Seeker) represent a kind of triptych “Songs of Freedom”. The singer dedicated the song Noel Sur Les Milandes (1970) to Josephine Baker, and Mourir dans tes bras (To die in your arms), written in 1973, to Jan Palach.

Salvatore Humour and movie appearances.

Humor is inherent in many of Salvatore Adamo’s songs – J’ai raté l’coche (1963), Ma tête (My head 1964), Le barbu sans barbe (A tramp without a beard 1965), Louise (Louise 1977), Ce Georges (This Georges 2007 ).

Sometimes Adamo’s humor turns into light social satire, as in the songs: Vous permettez Monsieur (Will you allow me, monsieur? 1964), Les Filles du bord de mer (Girls from the coast 1965).

After the events of September 11, 2001 in New York, Salvatore Adamo’s song Les Gratte-Ciel (Skyscrapers 1969), which tells about the war and the fall of two skyscrapers, began to be perceived as visionary.

Also in 1967, Salvatore Adamo played one of the main roles, along with Bourvil, in Leo Joannon’s film “The Arno Family” (Les Arnaud) and wrote the song “Live” / Vivre for the same film. In addition to the list, he played the title role in Claude Bernard-Aubert’s film Pay the Bill (L’Ardoise).

The same year, he acted as a director, actor and producer of the film Poppy Island (L’Île aux coquelicots).

Personal life of Salvator Adamo

In February 1969, Salvatore Adamo married childhood friend Nicole Duran. Salvator Adamo has three children – sons Anthony (1969, civil aviation pilot), Benjamin (1980, rock musician) and daughter Amelie (1979).

Salvatore Adamo dedicated the song Petit bonheur to the birth of his first child.

Salvatore Adamo and Nicole Duran

Interested in painting. He wrote an autobiographical book Le souvenir du bonheur est encore du bonheur (Memory of happiness is also happiness).

Adamo performs his songs in nine languages and the volume of sales of his CDs around the world is more than one hundred million.